Prince of Heart Final Mix
by TLSoulDude
Summary: Sora and his friends go off on a quest to cure King Mickey and Queen Minnie, with the help of four new characters and two people from the future, they must stop universal conquest. SoKai and OCsxOCs. Current World: Destiny Island. COMPLETE!
1. Crystalli

**Prince of Heart Remix**

**By TLSoulDude**

**Edited by Dimensiondude**

Prologue: Crystalli

??: Before time began, we were here.

A large, white crystal erupted from the surface made of black rock. Then, it jutted out, creating more crystals that rocketed out to parts unknown. Eventually, several began to turn into shaded, humanoid figures.

??: We are the Crystalli. Beings created from inorganic matter. We may look ordinary, but given the chance, our shapes will change. We then learned of other worlds out there and explored. You find most of us if you find an ordinary gemstone. We were willing to make peace, but, like most great civilizations, some beings wanted to use the power for the greater good, others for their own twisted desires.

A massive, crystal foot crashed into the black ground and night seemed to come early. The only things that pierced the darkness were a pair of blood-red eyes. Then, a sick roar echoed through the sky.

??: One of our own kind turned on us and attempted to purge our planet of those he deemed "unworthy". I learned of this treachery and barely escaped with our civilization's most priceless treasure. I then traveled through the stars in search of the one person who could help restore our world to the paradise it used to be. While I was gone, this monster quickly turned his attention to a newly discovered world called Destiny Island.

A boy with copper hair, wearing an Organization XIII cloak was running with two others—one was another boy with black hair tied into a ponytail and the other was a girl with hair the same shade of silver as Riku's. They were being chased by several figures that looked like they were made of crystal and they were shooting at them.

??: Meanwhile, a boy named Sakuzy and two friends race for their life to go on a mission that will change the universe…forever.

Sora was fast asleep on his bed, dreaming. There was a photograph on his dresser of him, Riku, and Kairi. Riku had an arm slung over Sora's shoulder and Kairi had both arms around his midsection. He, on the other hand, had his arms over both of them.

??: None of what's happening with Sakuzy and his friends is known to Sora. Little does he know that he will go on the biggest journey he has done since his journey to stop Organization XIII. His life and the universe will NEVER be the same again.

Three people were running in the streets of Radiant Garden. One was the tallest and was wearing a large Australian hat, the other was wearing a black jacket and sunglasses, and the last was the youngest and was wearing a red hoodie.

??: The same will be said for these three outcasts who run for their freedom from the law.

The three were soon surrounded by police officers and put their hands up in defeat.

??: Though these stories seem too far apart, they WILL connect and I will be there when it does.

Meanwhile, a massive crystal floated through space like a meteorite, passing several worlds. As it floated out of sight, a beam of light shot past.

??: I was already too late to stop this evil being or these stories from coming together. Who am I? I am…

A part of the crystal shifted before the entire screen snapped to black.

??: This civilization's only protector.

_In this adventure, Sora and his friends will visit 36 worlds. Twenty-five are Disney Movies, two are from Final Fantasy games, three NON-Disney Movies, three from the Kingdom Hearts series, and two of my own creation._

_Well, the ORIGINAL POH was removed, so I'll be rebooting it. I won't be using script-format (save on this chapter, I dunno. Just seemed right), because that's the ONLY reason that it was removed. I'll be re-doing this entire fic, so it can be better than it was before. All credit of the edits go to Dimensiondude._


	2. Dreams of a Stranger

Chapter 2: Dreams of a Stranger

Two boys with Organization cloaks, hoods covering their faces, were walking side-by-side. They were on the shore and turned to look at the giant tree near the center of the island. One took a deep breath and exhaled, taking a good inhalation of fresh air.

"So, THIS is what Destiny Island looked like in the past?" He asked himself, but quickly replied to himself, "It's...beautiful, even at night."

The other figure turned to his friend, then scoffed before he spoke in a cocky voice.

"O-kay, there's hardly a difference from where we come from. And what if THEY are here?"

The first figure turned to the second and answered in a downright serious tone. "If they ARE here, then I'll fight them like I always have."

The first cloaked figure walked off as his colleague stared after him.

"Well, SOME people sure are obsessed." He said.

The second cloaked figure then strode off towards the island's jungle after his friend. THESE were heroes from an unknown world and THIS is where our story begins...

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

The sun had just peeked out from the ocean when Sora woke up, opening BOTH eyes at the same time. He sat up and looked toward his window to see the sunrise.

"THOSE two again?" He asked, drowsily, "That's the third time this week, but…who are they?"

Sora flopped out of bed and began to rummage through his dresser. This wasn't the first time he had strange dreams, nor, he guessed, would it be the last. He dressed in the drive clothes he acquired on his second journey and went out to the island, yawning and stretching. A stroll usually helped to clear his mind. It was still pretty early in the morning, so Riku and Kairi were probably still in bed. Sora wondered how those two were as he returned to his house.

He flopped down on his bed and saw the one thing that confused him. A note. He picked it up and read it. "Thank Namine". Jiminy found this in his journal when they woke up in a strange pod eerily similar to a lotus flower. He knew Namine, Kairi's Nobody, but what did he have to thank her for? He had a vague memory of something in a giant castle, but it seemed like no more than a long-forgotten dream.

He heard a knock on the door and someone open it. His mother had probably beat him to the door. Suddenly, his mom called.

"Sora!" She called from downstairs "Someone's here to see you!"

"Sora!" Shouted a nasally voice.

Sora sprang out of his bed and rocketed out the door to see his friends, Donald and Goofy.

"Donald!" Sora shouted out of surprise and joy "Goofy!"

Sora sprung on his two friends and actually knocked them down. After hugs were exchanged, the two got to their feet

"Ahyuck! Hey, Sora! It's been a while, hasn't it?" Goofy asked in his...well...goofy voice.

" Well, I guess." Sora replied.

"Yeah, but Goofy and I aren't exactly here to brainstorm." Donald pointed out.

"Well, why'd you come?" Sora asked.

"Well, the King found a way through the worlds and he's havin' a party! And you, Riku, and Kairi are invited!" Donald replied, with a smile that appeared on Sora's face immediately.

"Really?!" He asked, excited "I'll get 'em!"

Sora ran off to fetch his best friends. He just wanted to have a good time, no Heartless, no Nobodies, nothing. THIS was an opportunity he didn't want to turn down.

Unbeknownst to them, a man watched them from the shadows. He had wiry, white hair, a heart-shaped face, and a mouthful of hideously bent-outta-shape teeth. He wore a black cloak with various crystals sticking out of his body.

_Hello, friend._ The figure thought_ MY name was Fred. The words I tell you are in my head. Now I am Chrysallis, I'm no longer Fred, and I have been very…_

The man's grin widened to an abnormally large and crooked grin as his tone went surprisingly devilish.

_NAUGHTY._


	3. The Party

Chapter 3: The Party

The two cloaked figures were gazing upon the island from the giant tree. They had arrived here just the other day, but had stayed the entire night without detection. The first cloaked figure seemed a little ticked, yet calm at the same time.

"Well, Joyex, since you busted our way back," he stated, somewhat stiffly "I guess we'll just have to make do."

"Hey," the second figure growled, somewhat comically "It wasn't MY fault that some bird pooped on it. Heck, I didn't even know if the gadget would explode."

"Well, at least we know that we're in the time period that Chrysallis came to." Said the first figure, ignoring his companions statement "And I think I spy everyone we're looking for."

They saw Sora, Riku, and Kairi running towards Donald and they vanished.

"THAT would be a yes." Stated the second figure before using the famous Ghost Rider line, "Let's ride!"

The two cloaked figures jumped off a branch of the tree, slid down the trunk, and ran into the portal that appeared.

Disney Castle…

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy landed in the courtyard of Disney Castle. Kairi had never seen Disney Castle, nor did Riku. So both looked at it in awe.

"Wow..." Riku said.

Sora went to the large door with Donald. Riku sensed what Sora was obviously trying to do.

"Uh, Sora?" Riku asked "I think that door's a bit too big to-"

Sora simply opened the smaller door hidden inside it and Riku stood there as Kairi walked through.

"Open?"

After a second's silence, Riku hastily followed. When they got in, they took in the massive courtroom. Even though he had been here previously, Sora still admired the place.

"Good to be back here." Sora sighed with content.

Sora was about to search the king out and find out where the party was. However, he hadn't gone two steps when two figures fell out of the sky and landed in a heap. Sora leapt back in surprise, as these two nearly landed on top of him, and summoned his Keyblade. He was expecting a fight, because he noticed that the two were wearing Organization XIII cloaks.

"Joyex!" Shouted the first figure "GET OFF ME!"

The other cloaked figure's voice was slightly weak, as though he received an injury.

"Not until my bones knit…" moaned the second figure.

All five of Sora's group stood there with confused looks on their faces. They hadn't exactly met Organization members like this, well, except possibly Demyx or Axel.

"Something tells me that these aren't exactly the Organization members that we're used to." Riku pointed out.

The first guy rolled the second guy off him and sprung to his feet, leaving the other guy on his back, groaning slightly.

"Organization?" The first figure asked, "As in Organization XIII? MAN! You've got it all wrong. HERE'S my proof."

The cloaked figure placed his hands together and quickly drew them apart. Then, to everyone's surprise, a Keyblade flashed into the cloaked figure's hand. Its blade looked like three eagle feathers, the rest of the blade looked like a diving eagle, the hilt looked like a pair of wings, and the keychain looked like an eagle feather.

"Not many Organization XIII members have Keyblades...except Roxas, of course." The first figure said before realizing an imporant detail, "Oh yeah, the intros."

The other cloaked figure painfully got to his feet. He massaged his head and let out a little moan.

"Joyex, time to unmask ourselves." The first figure stated.

The second cloaked figure sighed in what could only be described as relief.

"Good. The mask is cutting off my oxygen." The second figure replied.

The two removed their hoods. The first one had auburn hair, which had a small trident formation in the front and parted in two large spikes near the back. He also had blue eyes, and facial features VERY similar to Sora's, though there seemed to be a few years difference between them: this guy was about sixteen, possibly seventeen.

The second one had black hair tied back into a ponytail, a pair of violet eyes, and the expression of someone much younger than himself. He was a bit older than the other one, maybe eighteen.

"My name's Sakuzy and this is my buddy Joyex." The person, named Sakuzy, stated.

"What up?" Joyex asked before adding, "And if you wonder WHY my name's unusual, it's because I'm a Nobody."

Riku crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, an old no-heart, huh?" He asked.

Joyex scratched the back of his head, nervously, then continued. "Uh...no. Not exactly. I AM a Nobody, but I have half a heart." Joyex replied before correcting himself, "Well, actually NOW, I've got a quarter of a heart."

THIS was new. A Nobody that had part of a heart? Sora had never seen anything like it.

"Well, what happened to that other part?" Kairi asked.

Sakuzy reached under his cloak's collar and pulled out a heart-shaped, gold-plated locket out of his cloak.

"It's in HERE. I took part of the half-heart out so I could teach Joyex to...behave." Sakuzy replied before he slipped the locket back under his shirt, then added, "I'd give you a visual aid, but it'd hurt Joyex...a LOT."

Donald, avoiding Sakuzy altogether, addressed Joyex. "I take it that you two bums are invited?" Donald asked, somewhat rudely.

Joyex's eyes widened, then he went over to the court mage and gave him a glare. "Hey, who're you callin' a bum?!" Joyex growled, seriously offended.

Sakuzy looked at his friend, then rolled his eyes as Joyex reached out to try and strangle the duck. "Looks like the visual aid is needed after all..." Sakuzy said.

Joyex looked ready to spring on the duck when Sakuzy pulled out the locket and gave it a good squeeze in his hand. The shape of a fiery red heart appeared on Joyex's chest and he fell down, writhing in pain until Sakuzy stopped squeezing the locket.

"I don't really enjoy using that." Said Sakuzy as he put the locket away.

Joyex lay flat on his back, looking like he had run a mile and was gasping for breath like his life depended on it. "I don't...enjoy it much...either." Joyex gasped.

Donald stared at Joyex, then over at Sakuzy, then cleared his throat.

"Anyway, BEFORE the Nobody tried to pounce on me, do you guys have tickets?" The court mage repeated.

"Obviously." Sakuzy replied, coolly.

Sakuzy reached into the hem of his Organization robe and took out two battered-looking tickets. Sora got a good look at them, then whistled in an impressed manner.

"Those tickets look pretty old. Where are you guys from?" Sora asked.

Sakuzy put the tickets away, then simply answered, "You wouldn't believe me if I told ya."

"Well, is this a party or what?! Let's have a BLAST!" Joyex shouted, excitedly.

Before anyone knew it, Joyex had run off so fast, he had seemingly teleported. The party was in the ballroom, so that's where the others had to go.

There was a big party, but Joyex and Sakuzy stayed behind, whispering to each other in hushed voices. When Sora got close, he heard Sakuzy say this to Joyex...

"No worries, Joyex. He's gotta show up sometime."

"Who?" Sora asked.

Sakuzy paused, then pointed to the balcony.

"Case and point." Said the new Key-bearer.

As Sora directed his attention to where Sakuzy was pointing, he suddenly noticed the cloaked figure that was standing right over the party like a vulture watching a dying animal.

"The living crystal has ordered me do this. I want it to be nice and not NAUGHTY..." said the figure.

As Sora got a good look at the cloaked man, Mickey, King of Disney Castle, stood in front of the menagerie of creatures.

"Thank you all for coming today. I'd like to dedicate THIS party to all my friends who got all the decorations AND my friends Sora, Riku, and Kairi. For, without them, this whole thing would NOT be possible." Announced the king.

"But, alas I could not help but be NAUGHTY." The figure ended.

As Sora watched, Chrysallis raised his hand as something materialized into his hand.

"Sora, RUN!" Sakuzy shouted.

Before Sora knew what was going on, Sakuzy had tackled him to the ground and something whistled past them, burying itself in the floor. As Sora got a good look at what was thrown, he saw that it was a javelin made completely of crystal.

"Wait, who is this guy?" Sora asked.

"Somebody you don't want to get on the wrong side of!" Joyex shouted.

The cloaked person whipped off his cloak to reveal a man with wiry, silver hair and electric blue eyes. It was the same man who saw them back on Destiny Island, the same crystals coming out of various places in his body, everything. Sakuzy summoned his Eagle Feather Keyblade and Joyex got out strange weapon. It was a chain with a large, three-pronged blade on the end that bore some resemblance to the Nobody symbol.

"Chrysallis! THIS time, we settle things!" Sakuzy shouted "Come down here and try that again!"

The man named Chrysallis' crooked smile widened as he moved his index finger back and forth.

"Oh, how I wish I could, but I cannot stave off an urge. An urge to be NAUGHTY!" Chrysallis replied, speaking as though he were talking to a young child.

Chrysallis raised a hand again and summoned, not a spear, but a ball of white energy. He put his hand up into the air, then hurtled the orb like a fastball. The orb of pulsating energy rocketed at the king amidst the chaos, but Riku ran out with his Way to Dawn Keyblade drawn. He pushed the king out of the way, but the energy struck the hand he held his weapon with. Riku yelled in pain as the energy ball vanished. Sora gasped, then rushed over to his friend, who was gasping for breath, trying to make the pain subside.

"Ow…THAT was painful." Riku groaned.

Suddenly, Sora noticed something that Riku hadn't.

"Riku! Your hand!" Sora shouted.

"What about it?" Riku asked.

"Just don't look at it." Kairi warned.

Too late, Riku had already looked at it and exclaimed, "WHAT THE?!"

Riku's hand, along with his Way To Dawn Keyblade, had been fused together and had turned into a perfect carving of solid diamond. Riku then looked, worriedly, at his other hand.

"Oh, you're afraid that I'll turn your other hand to diamond? THAT would be weird and not to mention NAUGHTY." Chrysallis said, still retaining his crooked grin.

Sora stared, dumbfounded, at this guy and scratched his head. "What's with this guy and 'being naughty'?" Sora asked.

Joyex opened his mouth to answer, but then looked to the side, nervously. "You know, we're STILL trying to figure that out." He replied, vaguely.

"Now for the reason why I'm being NAUGHTY." Chrysallis said.

Chrysallis, still keeping his freaky-looking expression, summoned two balls of energy in his hands: the same ones that hit Riku's hand. This time, he didn't miss his targets: they hit King Mickey and Queen Minnie dead-on. One second later, BOTH of them were solid diamond statues.

"Wak!" Squawked Donald.

"Chrysallis!" Sakuzy shouted, "Stop your interference in the past!"

"I would, but the crystal wishes that I be NAUGHTY." Chrysallis chuckled.

Chrysallis let out a somewhat devilish laugh as an array of blue lights began to envelop his body. When the lights cleared, He was gone. However, Sora still had questions that needed answering.

"What's this 'living crystal'? And Sakuzy, what do you mean by 'Stop your interference in the past'?" Sora asked.

"I'll explain later. Right now, we have to move." Sakuzy stated, then reached back to grab Goofy's collar, "Leave them. There's nothing we can do here…" He added, dragging Goofy backward by the collar.

Sakuzy

A mysterious Keyblader from the future who wants to fix the past because of something that destroyed his world. He claims that one of the heroes is one of his ancestors, but which one? And why is he hanging around a Nobody? Other than that, he wields a Keyblade that looks something like an eagle.

Joyex

A Nobody from the same time period and world as Sakuzy. Unlike other Nobodies, he has half a heart, or at least a quarter of one. Sakuzy keeps half of it in a locket to make sure that he 'behaves'. He wields a chain with a large blade on the end.

Chrysallis

A mysterious person who has the power to change people and things into crystal. His reasons for this is unknown and he claims to be working for something called "The living crystal". He also refers to what he does as urges to be 'NAUGHTY'.

_If you're wondering what's with Chrysallis...I just couldn't resist making a villain like Fred on the Courage the Cowardly Dog episode Freaky Fred. BTW, no name in the stories for a while, because you know all the Summon Charms until one part at the end. Still, everyone has claims on their Crystalli Hosts._


	4. A Beginning Quest

Chapter 4: A Beginning Quest

Having escaped to the Royal Library, Donald was searching through a gigantic spell book, while examining Riku's hand. For the moment, it was only from the Way to Dawn Keyblade all the way down to his wrist. Riku, on the other hand (no pun intended), couldn't even move his fingers.

"Alright, from what I've read, there's some good news and some bad news, guys." Donald said, putting his feathery finger on the part he just found.

"Okay, what's the good news?" Sora asked.

Donald ran said feathery finger on part of a page of the book, marking where he read. "The GOOD news is that we CAN reverse this spell."

"And the BAD news?" Kairi asked, expecting the worst...

Donald looked at the paragraph he read, then relayed the bad news. "The bad news is that we need something called 'Pure Hearts'. And the problem is that they're scattered throughout the worlds."

Goofy brought one of his hands slamming into the other palm, as he usually did when he understood something important. "Well, looks like we've got some sorta new adventure on our hands."

Sakuzy and Joyex walked up and Sakuzy said, "We'll come too. I feel like it's my duty to protect you, Sora. I dunno why, it just seems that way."

Joyex nodded, then added, "Yeah, because he's your..."

Joyex never finished that sentence because Sakuzy started squeezing the locket. The heart appeared on his chest and he fell to the ground until Sakuzy stopped squeezing.

"Remember, Joyex, we are NOT allowed to reveal ANY secrets from the future." Sakuzy hissed to him. They had obviously been through this before.

"Excuse me?" Sora asked, in a manner eerily similar to when he first encountered Demyx in the Underworld.

Sakuzy took a deep breath, then exhaled softly. He had just blabbed, so he figured he might as well tell a FEW things. "Well, how do I explain this? Joyex and I are from the future, about a hundred years to be precise."

Sora thought this over, then it hit him "Oh, so that's what your earlier statement with that Chrysallis guy was about. Well, what happens in the future?"

"Well, you see, that's a problem." Sakuzy stated, then added, "You see, when you're time traveling, there are STRICT laws that we can't reveal certain things that will happen."

"Well, THAT stinks." Riku said, Donald still inspecting his crystal hand, "Tidus was wanting to know who would win the Blitzball championship."

Joyex moved Donald aside, inspected Riku's hand, then went off-topic from the future. "I'm no medical expert, but if you have that little problem, Diamond Fist, I think that you'll have to stay out of the action."

Riku gave the Nobody a slight glare. "DON'T call me Diamond Fist."

"Oh, come on!" Joyex begged, "It's a cool name!"

"No."

"Lighten up, buddy!"

Sora chuckled to himself. From what he could tell, Riku and Joyex were going to get along REAL well. He then brought something up with Donald. "Hey, Donald, what ARE these Pure Hearts?"

Donald quickly opened the book again and flipped through the pages.

"Lemme see…" Donald said as he ran his finger through the glossary of his spell book until he came to a part of the P section. He flipped through the pages again, then put his finger on "Pure Heart".

"Ah, here it is." Donald said, reading it aloud, "Pure Heart: the pure light of a world that takes the shape of a heart. It is often guarded by the person of the greatest light in that world and can take the shape of the most prized treasure in that world." Donald suddenly realized something and pointed it out. "Oh, that's sorta like those Princesses of Heart."

"Well, let's go!" Sora said, "They shouldn't be too hard to find, right?"

The whole group ran to the Gummi Ship factory without another word, Donald leaving so suddenly that he left the book on the floor. Upon arrival, the group immediately noticed that Chip and Dale were tiny, diamond statues.

Sakuzy groaned to himself at the sight of the crystal chipmunks. "You've gotta be kiddin' me!"

The group was about to take another step forward when several small balls of smoke appeared. When it cleared, a few Soldier Heartless materialized into existence.

"Huh? How'd they get in the castle?" Sora asked, "The cornerstone of light should keep them out!"

Kairi summoned the Flowering Strength; the Keyblade Riku gave her at The World That Never Was. "I don't know." She answered, "But if they're going to try and stop us, we'll have to fight."

Before any of them could make a move against the Heartless, the Soldiers jumped into the air and merged into the Guard Armor that Sora faced when he first arrived at Traverse Town. "Him again? How many times do I have to get rid of this thing?!" Sora asked.

Sakuzy summoned his Eagle Feather Keyblade and readied himself for what he hoped to be "I take it that you know this thing?" He asked.

Sora grinned and calmly said, "Yeah, but he's REALLY easy to take out!"

With just one flick of his wrist, Joyex whipped out his chain and took the blade-like front of the chain in his right hand. "'Really easy', huh?" He asked, "THAT sounds good."

Sakuzy and Joyex jumped at the Heartless, but The Guard Armor simply whacked them aside like an annoying fly. It sent them tumbling backward, but the pair quickly regained their plans.

"OK, usual plan for us--BAD." Sakuzy said as he got back to his full height again.

"This isn't gonna work..." Sora pointed out, "We're gonna need a plan for this."

Joyex didn't really share Sora's thoughts, especially from his answer to it. "Oh, plan shman. I'm just gonna go in and THRASH him!"

Joyex spun his chain whip over his head in a lasso fashion before whipping it around the Heartless' hands. The Heartless jerked its hands up, but Joyex wanted it to do just that. He gave his chain a good jerk and shot right on top of the Heartless' head. "That all you got, tin can?" He asked.

The Guard Armor made to grab at the nuisance on its back, but Joyex kicked the oncoming hand away. Sakuzy dashed forward with his Keyblade and slid between its legs. When he was behind it, he hacked at one of the Heartless' legs. It spun around in surprise as it turned around to try and bat at him. Sakuzy simply ran at the wall of the factory, got enough momentum, and actually dashed up the wall. He then kicked off and landed on one of the Guard Armor's arms. Then he rammed his Keyblade into its hand and the Guard Armor growled in surprise. Joyex jumped off its head and whipped the chain around the Guard Armor's legs just as Sakuzy shouted, "FIRA!"

A burst of fire erupted from the tip of Eagle Feather and blasted into the Guard Armor's chest. The impact caused the massive Heartless to topple over and it came down with a thunderous CRASH.

"O-kay, cancel the plan." Sora said, seeing the attack, "Kairi! Let's go!"

Sora summoned his Kingdom Key Keyblade and Kairi summoned her Flowering Strength Keyblade. Sakuzy gave Kairi a quick glance and nodded.

"So, she WAS a fighter back then..." He said to himself.

The three ran at the Heartless, ready for anything it would throw at them. The Guard Armor got back to its feet and threw a punch at Sora, who jumped onto its fist. When the fist came back to its owner, Sora jumped onto the armor's head and started to strike it repeatedly on the head. The Guard Armor thrashed around wildly, trying to get the Keyblader off its head, but when it got a hold of Sora around the collar, there was a piercing pain in its leg. Kairi had taken her Keyblade and stuck it into its leg right where the knee ligament would have been. It was enough for it to let go of Sora, who landed on his feet from the drop.

Sora and Kairi looked at each other and nodded. The two took their Keyblades and threw them in a boomerang fashion: The Strikeraid. The two Keyblades struck the Heartless across the head and it was stunned. Before it could even recollect itself, several beams of light shot from Sakuzy's Keyblade and shot right through its chest. The Heartless began to twitch violently as its helmeted head fell off its shoulders. Out of the chest armor's neck came a pink heart. As the heart floated out of sight, the entire armor vanished in a puff of black smoke.

Sakuzy, Sora, and Kairi's Keyblades all vanished in a sparkle of lights. Sakuzy let out a small chuckle before saying, "You were right, that WAS easy."

Sora shrugged, then said, "Well, I don't mean to brag, this isn't the first time that I've fought it. And since I've fought things bigger and badder than that, it was a piece of cake."

The group boarded the Gummi Ship and the instant they were all in, Sakuzy started giving out orders.

"Joyex, you make sure that the ship is working properly." Sakuzy ordered, earning himself a glare from Joyex.

"And if I don't?" The Nobody asked.

Sakuzy's answer was to take the locket out of his pocket and begin to move it around in his fingers. "Then I squeeze this." He added.

"You win." Joyex said as he SLOWLY walked into the control room.

Sora turned to Sakuzy and asked a question he immediately knew the answer to. "You weren't going to use that at all, were ya?"

Sakuzy laughed a short chuckle, then answered with just one word. "Nah."

The ship took off into space, traveling into the unknown. When Sora was in private, Jiminy Cricket hopped out from Sora's pocket and onto his shoulder. "Sora," He asked, "There's something…familiar about this Sakuzy guy."

"Yeah, he reminds me of Kairi." Sora said, his mind sort of wandering.

Jiminy's gave Sora a questioning look as he corrected him. "I was going to say that he reminds me of you."

Sora glanced, curiously, at Jiminy. "Why's that?"

The little cricket could only shrug. "I don't really know. He just…does."


	5. A New Crew

Chapter 5: A New Crew

In the World That Never Was, a group of people were observing the group in the Gummi Ship. Ever since Organization XIII was wiped out, Maleficent had taken over and redecorated it to fit her own tastes. The first one to speak had VERY pale skin, grey and black robes, and blue fire for hair.

"So, they took down that Heartless again." He said, "WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT IT?!"

The next one to speak was a large tiger that spoke in a deep, British voice that was male and cold as ice. "Such is the power of a Keyblade, their strength is not their own."

The next person was a man in green armor that made him look like a goblin. His voice was high-pitched and almost sounded like a madman. "Why don't we just turn him into a Heartless again?" The goblin cackled, then regained himself to add, "THAT'LL settle things a lot quicker."

There was another pale man, only with black clothes and black hair pulled back into a ponytail. When he spoke, it was in a thick, European accent. "And those newcomers are from the future! They might know our plans, the little vermin." He said with, almost a sneer.

The next one up was a long, lithe, lizard-like creature with a weird frill and purple and blue scales. He chuckled, then said, in a cheeky sort of way, "You're no prize yourself, bat guy." The lizard laughed at the end of his sentence, but apparently the dark man didn't like that. He emitted a loud, echoing roar and the reptile cringed in fear. "ALRIGHT! I TAKE IT BACK! No need to get all freaky on me."

"You'd better." The dark man said.

The squabble was interrupted when two more people showed up. They consisted of a scarred grasshopper and an octopus woman who looked like Ursula, only thinner and green.

"Will you two SHUT UP?!" The woman snarled at them.

"Yeah. I can hardly hear myself THINK!" Added the grasshopper.

At that moment, Pete and Maleficent walked in along with a black-robed man with a glove, who was accompanied by a flying eel.

"You'd better believe it, bug boy!" Pete said, pointing one of his sausage-sized fingers at the grasshopper.

"Cease your useless bickering." Maleficent ordered, in a calm, yet demanding tone. "Go to your worlds and cause as much chaos as possible. Report to me if you survive an encounter with Sora, his friends, and the newcomers."

The gloved man slowly nodded as a malicious smile crossed his face. "I'll be in Agrabah for that maggot, Aladdin. Let's just say that we have...some past issues."

Again, another person entered. He was, by far, the nastiest-looking with an octopus for a head and with every step on his left foot, there was a "thunk". "Well, then, good luck to thee, matey. I have business in me own territory."

As the group vanished to their respective worlds, Maleficent had a strange look on her face. _They had better not fail me like the last group._

Hades

The god of the Underworld who acts like a bad comedian. He's got a short temper even though he acts 'cool' most of the time.

Shere Khan

A tiger from a deep, untamed jungle. He hates humans of all species, so he was outraged when he found that one had joined a pack of wolves.

Green Goblin

A madman with enhanced strength, advanced weaponry, and a glider. He enjoys making his opponents suffer and often gives them a life-and-death choice.

Dracula

The ruler of many monsters in a world that lives in darkness. He has a lust for blood and can turn into a giant, bat...thing.

Randall

A power hungry monster who can blend into his surroundings. With that ability, he can often go around unnoticed.

Morgana

Ursula's crazy sister who always seemed to be second best. Her kind of magic includes ice and water.

Hopper

A grasshopper who enjoys keeping the native ants under his thumb and do his bidding in return for their 'safety'. His main tactic: Psychological warfare.

Mozenrath

An evil necromancer who is always accompanied by his flying eel, Xerxes. He often enjoys watching his enemies squirm like worms before destroying them.

Davy Jones

An evil pirate who's cursed for all eternity to sail the seas because he ripped out his own heart. He will collect the souls of the desperate and make them his loyal henchmen.

_Please review Maleficent's new group._


	6. High Speed

Chapter 6: High Speed

Radiant Garden…

The hours passed until the Gummi Ship spat the new group out in the all-too-familiar rest stop that was Radiant Garden. Kairi looked around, then brushed a lock of her hair back behind her ear. "Where are we?" She asked.

Sora instantly thought of the best example to use. "Well, you remember the Hollow Bastion?" Kairi nodded. It wasn't exactly a place for her to forget: where Sora had turned into a Heartless and she revived him there. "This is it, but reborn as the glory it once was."

Kairi's mouth dropped open as she looked around the town, then to the castle. This place was a lot more beautiful since she first got here. Sakuzy also seemed impressed at the place.

"Well," Sakuzy said, taking in the glory, "Some things REALLY change."

"Yeah, in the future, it's a real tourist trap." Joyex threw in.

Sora glanced, curiously, at Joyex, then asked, "What happened to 'Never reveal the secrets of the future'?"

"Well, we have a limited amount of info to give." Sakuzy answered, "As long as we don't give details such as biological futures, we're safe."

Suddenly, before Sakuzy could continue, an elderly man in blue robes and a pointed hat the same color as the robes, appeared so suddenly that Sakuzy and Joyex actually drew their weapons, possibly considering an attack. Sora put a hand on the tip of Sakuzy's Eagle Feather Keyblade, then said, "Ease up, guys. This guy's a friend."

Sakuzy looked at Sora, then at the man, then dispelled his Keyblade in an instant. "Sorry. I'm just used to solving all my problems that way."

Joyex rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Whatever. And that's MY line, Sakuzy." He said, gesturing to himself with his thumb.

"Anyway, what's up, Merlin?" Sora asked.

Merlin's brow furrowed, as though he were somewhat discouraged. "Well, not much, Sora. Only a man called Chrysallis has been causing mayhem around here."

Sakuzy's hand clenched into the tightest fist he had, then said through clenched teeth, "RRGGHH! He's HERE, too?!"

In a strange turn of events, Joyex actually tried to calm an out-of-control Sakuzy rather than the other way around. "Ease up, buddy."

Merlin continued, looking past Sakuzy and Joyex. "Other than THAT, the Heartless are back and attacking the townsfolk."

Sora sighed. First the Guard Armor, and now this? "Great." He said to himself, "How many Heartless do we have to fight in one day?"

"Fear not, Sora. You will not fight alone." Merlin took out his pocketwatch and squinted at it behind his glasses. "Cloud should be here right about…NOW."

Merlin vanished in a puff of bluish-white smoke just as Cloud Strife arrived on the scene. He was riding on a motorcycle that looked as bulky as an army tank and as streamlined as a phantom jet.

"Hey, Cloud!" Sora said, catching up to Cloud, "Long time no see!"

Cloud glanced over at Sora and removed his sunglasses to get a better look at him and his group. "Sora." He said in his casual tone, "I had a feeling you'd survive. I see you also brought some friends."

Sakuzy held out his hand, as though expecting Cloud to shake it. "The name's Sakuzy and the other guy behind me is Joyex."

Joyex waved with a simple "Yo". Cloud didn't shake Sakuzy's hand, but he did take the gesture as one that meant no harm. "Well, Sora, turns out that there's more problems here than we thought."

"You mean other than Heartless and this Chrysallis guy?" Sora asked.

"Yeah. I searched the whole city, but there's no guy named Chrysallis here." Cloud stared at the ground, but then added, "There's also a new evil by the name of Kefka."

Goofy scratched his head and repeated the name Cloud mentioned. "Kefka?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. He appeared a while ago, but the one thing I've learned is that he never stays in the same place twice. He said that he knows where Sephiroth ran off to after our last clash. But before I could interrogate him further, he disappeared."

Sakuzy sighed. This was getting nowhere, fast. "Well, this was a waste. C'mon, guys, let's get going and find these Pure Hearts…"

As Sakuzy made to walk away, Cloud knew that was the time to talk. "I wouldn't do that yet, Sakuzy." He warned, "The Heartless are multiplying at a constant rate. I've been assigned to help take them out, but I'm pretty much on my own. The Restoration Committee is already taking care of things on another part of the city."

Sora took quick notice of the bike that Cloud was riding on. "What the motorcycle's for?" He asked, actually wanting one for his own.

"It's for the Heartless." Cloud answered, "They're capable of great speed and this thing can carry more if you feel like helping. Just enough for three people, though…" Cloud added the last sentence, because everyone was looking a little eager. Upon hearing Cloud, several slumped in disappointment.

"Go ahead, guys." Riku said, waving them off with his untouched hand, "Kairi and I can deal with the other Heartless." Riku inspected his hand, which still seemed capable of more than just being decorative. "I'll be able to handle myself…even with this little handicap."

Kairi looked between Sora and the motorcycle, then heaved a defeated sigh. "Yeah. Go and get 'em. I'm not a huge fan of motorcycles, anyway."

Sora nodded to his friends, then hopped onto Cloud's bike, sitting right behind him. Donald and Goofy were soon to follow. "You ready?" Cloud asked as he took a pair of sunglasses from around his neck and slipped them on. On seeing all three nod, he said, "Then let's go."

Cloud revved up the bike and zoomed off for the Radiant Garden's interior. However, he didn't exactly notice the two he left behind.

--

Joyex waved his arms like a windmill trying to get Cloud's attention, even if his voice carried far. "Hey! Wait! YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE US HERE!!"

Cloud had completely overlooked Sakuzy and Joyex, leaving them with nothing but a disturbed attitude and a mouthful of dust. Sakuzy could only say, "How do you like that? We come all this way and what happens? We try to help those guys kill common Heartless."

While Sakuzy sighed in defeat, Joyex noticed a motorcycle just outside of a shop full of the same thing: bikes. The Nobody instantly jumped onto the motorcycle, whipped on the helmet, and took off. When he saw the manager giving him an odd glance, he quickly said, "Sorry, I'll bring this back, thank you!"

Sakuzy sighed at his friend's mischief, then handed the storeowner some munny. "THAT'S for the motorcycle and HERE'S for mine." Sakuzy handed him some more munny and jumped on another motorcycle. He started it up and zoomed after his Nobody friend.

After the two were out of sight, Leon walked in. He looked around in surprise that something was missing, then checked the entire dealer. "Hey…Where's my bike?"

--

When Sakuzy caught up with Joyex, he immediately scolded him. "Joyex! You stole some guy's bike!"

Joyex would have shrugged if he wasn't trying to keep a hold on the bike's handlebars. "What can I say? I had an urge to be…" Joyex did a very believable impersonation of Chrysallis as he hunched over and did a similarly crooked smile behind his helmet. "NAUGHTY..."

Sakuzy didn't laugh, nor did he suppress any. His look was dead-serious and hard, as was his voice. "Joyex, NEVER do that impression again."

Joyex winced, then cocked his helmet-clad head as he asked, "What happened to that fun-loving guy that I used to know?"

Sakuzy's answer was slightly curt. "He grew up because of that guy you imitated."

"Just keep riding and LOOK WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"

Sakuzy wondered what his friend's exclamation was about for just a split second, then looked over to his right, and swerved back onto the road.

"You almost HIT a person!!" Someone shouted at both of them.

_I have a voice actor for Joyex--Shia Labeouf. You know him better as Sam Witwicky from Transformers and Stanley Yelnats from Holes. At first I wanted him to be voiced by Frankie Muniz, then I wanted him to be voiced by James Arnold Taylor, but now I've settled. For Sakuzy, I chose Andrew Lawrence (further details in my sig), and Chrysallis I've decided to be voiced by Paul Schoeffler, Freaky Fred on Courage the Cowardly Dog._

_Please review._


	7. Chase Scene

Chapter 7: Chase Scene

Cloud was riding around Radiant Garden on Fenrir with three passengers riding on the same bike. In a matter of minutes, Sakuzy and Joyex arrived on their choppers, but had barely caught up when suddenly, several Heartless appeared of a kind they had never seen before. They were the trademark black color, but they were doing something no other Heartless did: riding pitch-dark mini-motorcycles. They wore helmets on their heads, goggles over their yellow eyes, and had sharp claws on their hands.

"THIS is why I needed Fenrir. Chopper Heartless." Cloud said, Sora guessing that Fenrir was the name of the bike.

Sora turned to get a good look at the newcomers, then summoned the Ultima Weapon Keyblade in his right hand. Joyex and Sakuzy noticed them when suddenly, something ran into them from behind. One of the Heartless had bumped them, trying to knock them off their bikes.

"GREAT. I'd bring out my Keyblade, but I need BOTH hands to do so!" Sakuzy growled under his breath.

Joyex got an evil twinkle in his eye, then threw out the blade end of his chain whip so that it dragged behind him. "Lemme show ya how Ghost Rider does these things!" Joyex said as he extended his chain whip and rode around, swinging it above his head like a lasso.

The blade part of it slashed through the Heartless with different results. It would hit the rider, causing the bike to ride around blindly until something stopped it, or it would hit the bike, causing the Heartless to spin out of control. He actually hooked the back of one of the Chopper Heartless' bikes and slammed it into another.

Sakuzy waited a moment for a straight path, then took both hands off his handle with absolute focus and whispered, "No accidents..." He quickly summoned his Eagle Feather Keyblade and got one hand back on the handle bar just as a Chopper Heartless took a swing at him. He quickly parried its claws, then hit the brakes, winding up behind the Heartless. "LET'S KICK SOME HEARTLESS BUTT!" Sakuzy roared as he sped up on his bike and slashed right through the Heartless from behind.

Joyex smiled at his friend's newfound strength. "Now THAT'S the Sakuzy I know!"

Joyex got one Heartless and whipped him off of his motorcycle to slam him into another one opposite of him. Joyex then proceeded to use him to knock the others off and threw him into a wall. However, one actually bumped Sakuzy until he was sandwiched between two of the Choppers. They would keep bumping him back and forth, each taking a turn to slash him. Sakuzy didn't know if he would be able to hold on much longer, but before one of the Heartless could try again, something caught a Chopper in the chest. It fell off its bike, then disappeared in black smoke.

Sakuzy got a good look to the side just as the other fell off its bike from a flying kick. What he saw was a guy with spiky, platinum blonde hair that looked like he had an albino porcupine was nestled on his head. He wore purple, skintight clothing with Japanese writing on its shoulders and chest, he had a sword strapped to his back and amethyst-purple eyes. Strangely enough, he was keeping up with the Choppers just by running on his own two feet. He then addressed them like he was simply taking a simple stroll.

"Hi there! The name's Crescent! Did you get in trouble?" The ninja asked, casually.

Sakuzy stared at the ninja, wondering if he was even sane, then answered his question. "Well, you're right about that!"

Crescent, as he was called, pointed at himself with mock-confusion. "I am? WOW! No one has told me THAT before!"

Sakuzy simply stared at this Crescent guy, then put his focus back on the road ahead. "I can't believe this guy…FIRE!" A fireball shot from the tip of the Eagle Feather Keyblade, which struck an oncoming Heartless' engines, setting it on fire. One second later, both Heartless and bike exploded in a blast of superheated gas.

"BLIZZARD!" Sakuzy shouted as he pointed his Keyblade in another direction and a ball of ice struck another Heartless. Ice climbed up the bike, eventually freezing the Heartless and making it look like an ice sculpture. It slid out of control, eventually smashing into a rock and shattering like glass.

"THUNDER!" Sakuzy pointed Eagle Feather at the sky and a thunderbolt hit rained down from the sky. As Sakuzy watched, it struck another Heartless, instantly killing it. Then, Sakuzy smiled as he saw the Heartless turn into a pink heart and float away. "That was kinda fun..."

Crescent suddenly held up a finger and asked, "Think you'll do it again if I paid ya ten bucks?"

--

Back with Sora's group, Sora was slashing through Heartless while Cloud steered the Fenrir, Goofy threw his shield like a discus and defended from others, and Donald crashed one with a Graviga spell.

"You guys might wanna hold on TIGHT for this." Cloud warned.

Before Sora could even register what was going on, there was a sudden sound of metal sliding on metal and a compartment opened up in Cloud's bike. Cloud reached into the said compartment and pulled out his traditional Buster Blade, then started hacking through any Heartless that came too close. It still amazed Sora on how Cloud could wield such a weapon with just one hand.

Pretty soon, the Heartless' numbers started to dwindle. Sora could only guess that they had done a good job, but soon he suddenly felt Cloud grabbing him by the collar and he guessed that Cloud had Donald and Goofy, too.

"Sorry to do this, Fenrir." Cloud apologized, talking to his bike. Cloud, much to everyone's surprise, jumped off of the vehicle with the three and the motorcycle veered off-course and exploded when it fell to the bottom of a canyon.

"WHOA!" All three of Cloud's passengers said, scrunching their eyes shut.

Cloud landed on his feet as though he had simply jumped a slight distance, then dropped off Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Donald and Goofy were scared out of their wits, even when they were back on terra firma. At that time, two motorcycles revved into the picture along with some other guy who plowed into the ground. As the new guy picked himself up, Sakuzy and Joyex removed their helmets and rejoined them.

"What took you guys so long?" Sora asked.

"We'd have gotten here sooner if it weren't for those lovely things called Heartless." Sakuzy said, gesturing behind him.

"Not to mention this guy who won't shut his trap!" Joyex said, gesturing to where Crescent was.

However, the new guy, Crescent, was no longer behind Joyex. Instead, he had run over to Sora and began to shake his hand vigorously. "Hel-lo, Sora!" Crescent greeted, somewhat over-enthusiastically, "I've heard ALL about you! I'd love to join you any other day, but right now, I've got my own buddies to attend to...like Kefka! He's always inviting me to his carnival for some reason."

Suddenly, something in Sora's mind clicked: Kefka. It was that guy that Cloud mentioned. But before Sora could ask about Kefka, the air just in front of them wavered and turned a dark red. He could barely make out the features of a man with a sinister, serpentine smile. "Oh, talk about Satan!" Crescent said, pointing at the holographic face in front of them.

Cloud gave Crescent an odd look, then corrected him. "Don't you mean 'speak of the devil'?"

Crescent nodded, but then added, "Yeah, but I want to be original. We all don't want to be sharing the same sayings, do we?"

Suddenly, Kefka spoke in, what could only be described as, sinister tone. It was deep, but not like a baritone. It had an edge of only one thing in it: insanity. "Hello, Crescent. Ready for a fun-filled day at my Carnival of CHAOS?" Kefka asked, his smile threatening to split open his face.

Crescent simply folded his arms and answered casually, even in the face of danger. "Yup. I've got sunscreen on and I've taken my motion sickness pills, so bring on the rides!"

Kefka seemed irritated, yet tried to keep his cool as he tried to explain to Crescent, like a child. "I don't think you understand. You will DIE there!"

"Yeah, carnival rides ALWAYS slay me." Crescent said, reminiscing the past event.

If Kefka was annoyed then, he was surely TICKED now. Sora could see him clenching his teeth, trying to keep his cool. "No, you will PHYSICALLY die! As in stop breathing. You will CEASE to EXIST!"

Crescent seemed to get the idea as he slowly nodded. "Riiight…" Crescent paused for a while, then asked a very eager-sounding (and somewhat stupid) question. "So, do you have bumper cars there or what?"

Kefka finally snapped as he roared in pure frustration, then emitted a single huff. "This guy's more trouble than he's worth!"

"Wait!" Kefka turned his attention to Cloud now, whose face was clenched like the time he met Sephiroth at Hollow Bastion. "Where's Sephiroth?" Cloud asked, now that he had Kefka's attention.

Kefka shook his holographic head back and forth and he clicked his tongue. "Now, now, Cloud. I wouldn't push me if I were you." The man warned, as though Cloud was a begging child, "If you really want answers, you'll have to meet me face-to-face. If you can't, then you're on your own."

Before Cloud could say another word, the image flickered out of existence. Crescent stared at the place where the hologram once was, then scratched his head and shrugged. Cloud, on the other hand, scowled and walked away without another word.

Crescent walked away, then waved goodbye to the group that helped take out the Choppers. "Bye, everybody! Say 'hi' to Rikku for me!" He said to them.

Sora stared at Crescent, wondering if this guy was for real, then corrected the ninja. "That's RIKU. Rikku's the fairy."

Crescent rolled his violet eyes. "Whatever. One more 'k', but virtually the same name." Crescent, after that last sentence, took off at a run at high speed. He ran for a few seconds, then leapt onto the ledge of a building, vanishing without a trace.

Joyex stared after him until the ninja was out of sight. "THAT guy scares me."

"So," Sora asked, "Any other way how we can help out Radiant Garden?"

"Just let ME answer that." At that moment Merlin, in his own traditional style, poofed in front of them and seemingly out of thin air. It scared the heck out of Joyex, who clutched his hammering heart.

"STILL not used to that..." He said as he tried to steady himself.

Merlin shuffled his foot, apologetically. "Sorry about that, lad. Anyway, the Restoration Committee can handle the rest of this. Thanks to all of you for the assistance, lads."

Sora gave a thumbs' up to Merlin and grinned. "Glad to be of assistance, Merlin."

"Yeah, but why'd we go through that cool, but somewhat pointless, chase scene?" Sakuzy asked with a cocked head.

Merlin removed his pointy hat, then scratched his head of white hair. "Gee, I thought Cloud explained it to you a while ago. The Heartless were too numerous for the Restoration Committee to handle. I must say, however, that you did do a good job on taking care of them."

Sora took his all-too-familiar "eager" stance, clenching his fists and tucking his arms close to his body. "Really?"

Merlin nodded, then stroked his mustache. "Yes, indeed. I'm pretty sure the Restoration Committee can handle things from here."

"Alright, then. Sorry to be brief here, but we've gotta go." Sora said, looking up to the sky to emphasize his point, "Places to see, worlds to save, you know the drill."

Merlin nodded. "Of course I do. Farewell, lads. Hope to see you soon!"

At the same moment that Sora and co. went back to the Gummi Ship, Merlin vanished in a cloud of blue smoke. The journey was soon to begin…

Chopper

A new species of Heartless that can move at high speeds because of their motorcycles. If you take out the Heartless or their ride, then you win. However, because of their claws, taking it out may be a hassle.

Crescent

A crackpot from Radiant Gardens trained in the deadly arts as a ninja. He acts like a lunatic at times, but his skills are quite impressive. He fights with moon-shaped shuriken and has a long sword with a crescent moon in its hilt (hence his name). He also seems to be acquainted with a man by the name of Kefka.

_I'd like John Kassir to voice Crescent. He voiced Deadpool on Marvel Ultimate Alliance, along with a couple X-Men games. I played through Ultimate Alliance and Deadpool was HILARIOUS! I couldn't resist making a character like him!_


	8. Amputate

Chapter 8: Amputate

Upon being on the Gummi for a few hours, the crew quickly found out that Joyex was an excellent cook. He would whip anything up and everyone would probably enjoy it. However, like most good things, there was a problem…in fact, there were two problems: One--he had a VERY short temper and two--Donald and Goofy kept getting under his skin. Every time this happened, he would say, "I'll get you two and I'll make it look like an accident!"

It kept going and going until one night, something went horribly wrong. They were all in the kitchen that time and Donald and Goofy were harassing him as usual.

"Aren't you done YET?" Donald asked, virtually begging for some kind of food, "We'll be waiting all day at this rate!"

"Yeah, and we're hungry!" Goofy added.

Then, Joyex snapped at them. At the moment, he was cutting up meat with a large butcher knife, so he didn't really know the dangers he was currently putting himself in. "I MEAN IT! I'LL END YOU TWO!" He snarled. Joyex then slammed the knife down in an attempt to make a point to them, but failed to notice where he put it. Unfortunately, Sora and Kairi, who heard all the ruckus and came to investigate, did.

"Uh...Joyex?" Sora asked, getting the Nobody's attention.

"What?"

"Your fingers." Kairi said, pointing at the cutting board, a slight look of horror on her face. However, Joyex seemed oblivious to what she was talking about.

"What about them?" Joyex asked. He looked down to see that his knife did, indeed, land on his index and middle fingers. The blade had cut them clean off his hand, just above the knuckle. "Oh, yeah, I've chopped them off. Well, it's nothing I can't..." The Nobody picked up the two severed digits and suddenly realized what he had done, his eyes growing wide in both fear and pain. "SON OF A (censored)!!"

While Joyex swore at the top of his lungs in pain, Sakuzy made several slashing movements across his throat with his fingers. Goofy covered Sora's ears while Donald covered Kairi's; neither wanted them to hear what Joyex was cursing.

_**We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please Stand By...**_

After THAT mess, Sakuzy was soon stitching Joyex's severed fingers back onto their stumps and every time the needle pierced his skin, the Nobody would go 'ow'. "Ow…ow…ow…And make, ow, the stitches, ow, SMALL. Ow." Joyex said, trying to speak with the constant piercing.

Sakuzy rolled his eyes. Joyex was getting ridiculous…again. "I'm doing the best I can, Joyex." He replied.

As Sakuzy continued stitching, a very awkward silence filled the air. Already feeling uncomfortable, Sora broke the silence. "Never knew that Joyex knew such language."

Sakuzy spoke with his back turned. He had finished stitching the fingers together and was now trying to put them in casts…with extreme difficulty, of course. "You'd be surprised on how many swear words he knows." Sakuzy informed, this time turning to face Sora, "Believe me, you don't want to be on the receiving end when he drops something on his toe."

"Whatever words he uses, I don't think that Joyex should go into battle, or at least until his fingers reattach themselves." Kairi pointed out.

Joyex groaned in what could only be described as pure disappointment. "Well, THIS stinks!"

"PLUS you'll need a cast to help your bones knit and your nerves reattach." Sakuzy said, pointing at Joyex's casts.

Joyex looked at his hand, noticing that the index and middle fingers stuck out. Already, part of his hand was feeling stiff. Joyex walked over to Donald and poked him in the eyes with them out of simple irritation.

"OW!"

Joyex noticed something…normally, it would have hurt him just as much as it hurt Donald.

"Hey, where's the pain?" He asked just as the pain kicked in, "OW! THERE it is…"

Donald massaged his eyelids with his fingers, then growled at Joyex. "What was THAT for?!" The duck squabbled.

Joyex held up his injured hand, then answered, "For my injured fingers."

Joyex pointed at his cast-clad fingers to emphasize his point. Goofy, on the other hand, scratched his head in his usual confused look. "But I thought YOU were the one who cut them off?" He said, trying to straighten things out.

Joyex poked Goofy in the eyes and both recoiled in pain. "Ow! Well, YOU two provoked me!" Joyex came back.

Sakuzy walked over to Sora and Kairi and whispered something to them out of the corner of his mouth. "Well, he'll be like that for a while..."

Sora nodded. "I could guess."

"Now, where's that first Pure Heart?" Kairi asked.

Sakuzy walked over to the Gummi Ship's dashboard and activated the scanner. During their trip in Radiant Garden, Sakuzy did his best to update their Gummi Ship (though he wasn't much of a mechanic). Yet, he somehow installed a toaster, a DVD player, a gravity control, and even an arcade game (he said it would be helpful in the long run). Anyway, a radar of sorts appeared on the computer screen with a heart-shaped object on another part of the screen, pinging every time sound went out.

Donald put his feathery finger on the spot and the camera quickly zoomed in on the world it inhabited. "Well, it should be around here."

Donald whipped out a book of sorts that indicated a map of all known worlds. After searching around a bit, he put his downy finger on part of a page. Sakuzy got out of his seat, then got a good look at what world Donald was pointing at.

"Narnia, huh?" Sakuzy asked, "Well, the first world awaits. Let's move…"

_Who likes the idea of Narnia for Kingdom hearts? I know I do. I've liked it since I saw it with my Youth Group and I've liked the book series ever since. Review the idea._


	9. New Crew

Chapter 9: Recruits

The World That Never Was…

Randall, Shere Khan, Dracula, and the Green Goblin were in Maleficent's meeting room: the same place where they met previously. Randall seemed more impatient than the others, because he was strumming his three-fingered hand on a meeting table. "Sheesh. How long does it take the boss lady to get a few lousy recruits?" He asked to no one in particular.

"As long as it needs to, lizard." Shere Khan answered, "You need not rush Maleficent."

"But by now, I probably would have gotten SOMEONE by now." Randall said, strumming his fingers a little faster than he normally was.

"If you can, I'd like to see you try." Shere Khan said, flexing his claws and admiring them like one would a fresh gun.

Green Goblin suddenly turned on them. "Will you two just SHUT UP?!" He snarled, "If you don't, I'll have me a new rug and a pair of boots, too."

Dracula, at that moment, became so irritated at them that he unleashed a bloodcurdling roar. When all three of them had quieted down, Dracula spoke in a deep, growling voice. "This bickering is POINTLESS. If you have nothing better to do, you can go back to your own worlds and rid us of your stupidity!"

Suddenly, Maleficent's voice rang through the air. "Not a good idea. The more people we recruit, the more chances we have at the multi-verse."

Dracula turned to see Maleficent and Pete walking in with four other people. There was a pale-skinned woman in polar bear fur, a skeletal creature in a cloak with horns on his head, a man that seemed to be made of ice with a white and blue suit, and a large, red insect...creature. Randall rolled his eyes. "Finally. I was wondering if you guys would ever GET back."

Pete obviously didn't like this comment, because he popped his knuckles, threateningly, at Randall. "You'd better shut your trap, lizard boy! I won't have YOU messin' with Maleficent like dat!"

Maleficent couldn't believe her group's foolishness sometimes. She waved her long-nailed hand over the table and green magic swirled into the form of Sora and the group on their Gummi Ship. "Jadis, I would suggest getting ready. The Keybearers are entering your world…"

The woman in polar bear fur smiled as she lifted her scepter and popped its tip into the ground. "I've been wanting to meet this Keybearer for a LONG time. It will truly be an honor..."

Jadis turned to leave just as a snowy blizzard enveloped her. When the blizzard disappeared, Jadis was gone.

Randall rolled his eyes. "Showoff…" He muttered.

The icy man, however, seemed a bit more offended by Jadis' exit. "Hey, that's MY shtick!" He called to her, even after she was long gone.

Jadis

The white witch who cast her homeworld into a hundred years of winter. With just one twitch of her staff, she can turn people into stone.

The Horned King

The evil lord of Prydain. He seeks the Black Cauldron, which can turn any corpse dipped into it into an invincible zombie in hopes of taking his world over.

Jack Frost

A crazy, ice guy who wants his own holiday and will do ANYTHING to get it. And that will even include using the Heartless and working with Maleficent.

Scroop

A malevolent alien creature who gives everyone the creeps. He wants to get his filthy claws on treasure and lots of it, no matter what they said.

_Yes, I'm updating more than once a day, so I can get it done easier. I won't be finishing it up in a hurry, so don't expect it to end quickly. The last one of the day's after this. R&R new group._


	10. Lost in a Snowy Wood

Chapter 10: Lost in a Snowy Wood

Narnia…

The Gummi Ship, with a little help from Joyex, clumsily departed its entire crew out into the new world. At the same time, it crashed a few yards away from where it deposited its contents. Sakuzy fell out first and landed in the branches of a jumble of pine trees. The branches kept him suspended in midair as he searched around the immediate area for something. "Ow! Wait a minute…Where's my charm?"

Suddenly, one of the branches snapped and Sakuzy plummeted to the ground with a comical scream. He landed on the ground in a heap while Sora and the rest landed with a little more balance, using tree branches to slow their fall, then landing on their feet. They found Sakuzy picking himself up and rubbing his backside in an attempt to ease the pain.

"Jeez, you'd think that I'd easily get this ancient history downpat, but no." Sakuzy grumbled, brushing snow off his robe, then noticing something on the ground. "Oh, HERE'S my charm."

Sakuzy went over to a part of the snowy ground and picked something up. Sora instantly recognized it, because part of the charm looked something like a lily pad. "Is that…a Summon Charm?" He asked.

"You know it." Sakuzy answered, pocketing the charm, then he seemed to realize how cold it was. "Oh MAN! I'm FREEZING! FIRE!"

Sakuzy pointed his Keyblade at a small mound of wood and a Fire spell started to melt the ice. Soon a fire was burning and the entire group gathered around it to try and get warmed up. This was one world they hoped would be over…quickly.

_A quill wrote, in large, red letters, the word "Narnia", which was soon surrounded by golden sparkles that shone like stars. The sparkles took the form of a majestic-looking lion, then the entire thing faded away into the same sparkles._

After a quick warm-up from the momentary fire, the group set out into the snowy wood. So far, there seemed to be no real threat or anything. There were no Heartless or Nobodies to be seen anywhere. So far, the only real threat was what Sakuzy asked. "You're lost, aren't you?"

Sora turned, offended by Sakuzy's words, then retorted, "No, I know EXACTLY where we're going."

Sakuzy shook his head. That was a lie if he ever heard one, because Sora had never been to this world before. He pointed in a direction and said, "Ask the rodent for directions."

Sora looked over in one direction to see that a beaver was waddling around in the wooded area. He then looked back at Sakuzy as though asking "are you crazy?", then said, in a firm voice, "No. I won't ask a beaver, because, in case you haven't noticed, THEY DON'T TALK!"

Sakuzy shrugged, then walked over to the beaver. "Fine, I'll ask him. Hey, bucky! Can you give us a hand?"

The beaver turned on being addressed, then hurried over to them. After a brief pause, it actually did something they didn't expect…it spoke. "You talkin' to me?" It asked.

Everyone stared in great surprise as they pondered what had just happened. "O-kay…am I the only one who heard that?" Kairi asked, dumbfounded.

"You TALK? But beavers don't talk!" Sora said

Donald stared at Sora in amazement. "Sora, you've seen dragons, lions, and even FISH talk." The duck pointed out, "This shouldn't come as a surprise…especially to you."

Sora suddenly realized what he said, then scratched the back of his head. "Well, uh…" In the end, Sora couldn't think of an excuse and the beaver rolled its beetle-black eyes.

"Real clever one, aren't you?" The semi-aquatic dam-builder asked, then gave a proper introduction. "I'm Beaver, but you can call me MISTER Beaver."

Sakuzy snorted. This beaver was a bit of a smart-aleck…reminded him a lot of Joyex. "Well, MISTER Beaver, where are we?" Sakuzy asked, looking around the snowy wood.

Mr. Beaver pointed over to something not too far away. It was a lamppost, but there was something odd about it. At its base were roots, like with a tree. "Why you're in Lantern Waste, of Narnia to be precise." He answered.

Sakuzy went over to the lamppost and shrugged. _Well, I suppose it helps. At least we'll know where the Gummi is._

Mr. Beaver looked the group over, then gestured at Kairi and asked, "Lucy Pevensie?"

Kairi pointed to herself, as though asking, "Who? Me?" When Mr. Beaver nodded in response, Kairi shook her head. "Sorry. I think you mistook me for someone else." She said, apologetically.

Sakuzy quickly returned to the rest and hastily introduced himself. "I'm Sakuzy and these are Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy."

Sora folded his arms and made a mock-scold at Sakuzy. "Sakuzy, I'm afraid I do the intros, not you." The Keyblade master said, pointing an accusing finger at him.

Sakuzy hung his head slightly, then simply said, "Sorry."

Sora summoned his Ultima Weapon and put it so close to Sakuzy's face that he almost touched his nose. "I have this, and I'm not afraid to use it."

Sakuzy knew that Sora probably didn't mean his little threat, so he simply chuckled and pushed it away from him. Mr. Beaver, however, seemed fascinated by the Keyblade. "So it's TRUE!" He exclaimed. Sora looked over at Mr. Beaver to see that the flat-tailed rodent was staring in awe at his Keyblade. "You're the Keyblade's chosen one! Oh, thank the heavens it came! I think that Aslan could use you in his army."

Sora was going to think things over on the word "army", but amongst everyone in the area, one name stuck out.

"Aslan?" Goofy asked.

A quizzical look crossed Kairi's face as she asked, "Who's Aslan?"

Mr. Beaver burst into small fit of laughter, as though he heard a funny joke. "'Who's Aslan?' You cheeky little..." Upon further investigation, Beaver saw that no one was laughing with him, but had confused and, somewhat freaked, faces. "You don't know, do ya?"

This seemed to ruffle Donald's feathers the wrong way, because he stamped his webbed foot and said, "We just got here, beaver! Cut us some slack!"

Mr. Beaver shook his head, then decided to explain who Aslan was. "Well, he's only the king of the whole...wood. The top geezer. The REAL king of Narnia."

Everyone now had a slight understanding of who Aslan was, but Sakuzy still had a few questions. "Wait. What do you mean by the REAL king?"

Mr. Beaver pondered how to put it. "Well, the White Witch has dominated our land for hundreds of years." He gestured to the bitter cold around them. "It explains why this world has been in a cold winter for a century and never Christmas."

Goofy looked around the entire area to inspect the snowy ground and cloudy sky. "No Christmas? That's HORRIBLE!" He said, horrified by the fact.

"I know." Mr. Beaver said, solemnly, "However, we the people of Narnia can't really do anything. The only one who can stop her is Aslan himself."

Sora planted one fist into his other palm. "Well, what are you waiting for? That hag needs to be taught a lesson. Take us to Aslan."

Mr. Beaver held up his hands to try and calm Sora down. "Alright, chum. Don't get too grumpy, just follow me." Mr. Beaver quickly darted into the forest with everyone else in hot pursuit.

Sakuzy, on the other hand, stayed behind a moment to think something over. _The White Witch? So, she WAS here at this time…then I guess I'll have to be a LOT more careful._

Mr. Beaver stopped, then turned to see Sakuzy staring into space. He waddled over to him, then asked, "Everything alright?"

Sakuzy shook the thoughts out of his head, then answered Mr. Beaver's question as he made to follow. "Yeah. I'm fine…"

Mr. Beaver

A kindly, talking beaver from Narnia. He gives Sora, Kairi, Sakuzy, Donald, and Goofy information of the land. He's a bit of a smart aleck, but is a nice rodent when he wants to be. He first appeared in _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_, 2005.

_I'm putting in the logos for all worlds, except the ones that already have 'em. Review, please._


	11. Near Miss

Chapter 11: Near Miss

Back in the Gummi Ship, Joyex was grieving the fact that he couldn't do anything until his fingers reattached themselves. He couldn't play video games, hold things properly, or even use a communicator. And to make matters worse, people often knew that he would choose scissors in rock, paper, scissors and win every time. In the end, he had decided to stay behind and try to fix up the Gummi Ship.

"It's only for a day, it's only for a day…" Joyex muttered to himself.

"Wolves!"

The sudden exclamation from outside made Joyex do the wrong thing with a tool he was holding. And he happened to be working on the fusebox with a screwdriver, which he inserted in the wrong place. Electricity flowed through his body and he let out a comical scream until he let go and fell to the ground, smoking slightly. As he regained his eyesight, he went outside the Gummi and saw a light that reflected off a shiny, clear surface.

"Riku?" The Nobody asked.

Joyex was right. It was Riku, because the reflected light was coming from his crystal hand. Yet, just as Joyex's eyesight fully recovered, he saw a gray wolf coming for him. He hadn't even reached for his chain when Riku caught it with a Dark Firaga. It fell to the ground, inches from where Joyex's right foot was. "That was too close for comfort." Joyex said, trying not to imagine if it had landed a few inches to the left.

Joyex gave Riku "the look", which looked very accusing to him. "Let me guess…"

Riku hung his head, then surrendered to the look. "Yeah." He admitted.

Joyex and Riku then spoke at exactly the same time with almost the exact same sentence coming out.

"You stowed away."

"I stowed away."

Joyex walked over to Riku, then slung an arm over his shoulder. "Ah, No worries, pal, I would've done the same thing."

"Really?" Riku asked.

Joyex opened his mouth to speak, then couldn't come up with an honest answer. So, he simply did what he did best…come up with something you couldn't decide on believing. "Maybe. Anyway, how about you and I sneak out of here? There's not much to do here anyway..."

Riku forced Joyex's arm off him and gave him a stern look. "Hey, we're BOTH handicapped here. Your fingers are still recovering after you cut them off and my hand is basically a carving."

Joyex put his left, unharmed, finger to his chin in thought. He then took that same finger and held it up to point something out. "But, knowing you, you won't let THAT minor detail slow ya down. And neither will I. Besides, I'm ambidextrous." Joyex pointed out, waggling the fingers of his left finger.

"THAT'S good news. At least you can wield your weapon with both hands and with equal dexterity…" Riku said, somewhat relieved that he wasn't the only fighter.

"Well?" Joyex asked, trying to get somewhere.

Riku sighed, then headed off where Sora and the others went. "Let's go."

Without further ado, the quarter-hearted Nobody followed chase.

--

Meanwhile, Sora and the others were headed off for…they didn't really know where. But the good thing was that Mr. Beaver did know where to go. The only hard part was getting there. At the peak of a high cliff, Sora could see all of Narnia.

"Wow!" Kairi said, taking in the sun at the distant sea, "Look at that…It's beautiful!"

Mr. Beaver looked up at Kairi and smiled as he said, "You should see it in the summer. Now…" Mr. Beaver shaded his eyes from the sun and peered over at Narnia's vast landscape. "Aslan's camp should be near the Stone Table, just across the Eastern River."

Mr. Beaver pointed at a place a good few miles from where they were. If they had started from the lamppost, then the camp would have been on the other side of the area.

"Well, THAT'S real nice." Sora said as they slowly descended from the outcropping of earth.

However, the minute they had reached the bottom, a voice rang from the pine trees that lined the path. "WOLVES!"

Sora turned at the sound of a VERY familiar voice to see Joyex and Riku run out of the forest with a group of wolves in hot pursuit. "Riku?"

"Joyex?" Sakuzy asked, staring at the pair that was now racing through the snow.

Joyex's answer was hurried as he tried to escape the oncoming wild dogs. "Yes. Us. No time for explaining, because we have a group of canines after us!"

Sora, Kairi, and Sakuzy summoned their Keyblades as some of the wolves changed targets with a snarl.

"Guys, let's get them!" Sakuzy said, a battle-ready tone in his voice.

Sakuzy went for the biggest one and blocked one's pounce just as it came for him. With one movement of the Eagle Feather, the wolf went tumbling to the ground only to come back for more. Sakuzy, this time, gave it a good whack on the side of the head and stunned it. Sakuzy headed off into the trees, hoping that the undergrowth would help restrict maneuverability.

"O-kay…Looks like we're on our own." Sora said, his Keyblade still at the ready.

"I know! Thunder!" Donald said as he raised his staff and a Thunder spell struck down a wolf that was about to pounce on Goofy. Goofy nudged it with his sizeable shoe. It didn't respond.

"Thanks, Donald!" Goofy called before knocking an angry wolf out of the air with his shield.

Sora and Kairi started going through wolves with their Keyblades, but with different styles. Sora's was his traditional style, holding the Ultima Weapon with both hands and striking with a mix of speed and strength. He would take down any wolf in his way with just one strike of the Keyblade and be able to respond to danger just in time. Kairi's style was different, however. She held her Flowering Strength with just one hand and maneuvered quickly, striking with the deadly precision of a fencer. One wolf didn't even come close to hitting her when she quickly veered to the side and caught it in the back with a strike of her own.

Riku and Joyex, on the other hand, were left behind to deal with their own wolves. But so far, things didn't seem to be going their way. Riku was still a bit clumsy with his crystal hand, which couldn't maneuver the now-crystal Way to Dawn Keyblade in the way he wanted. Joyex wasn't doing too well either, because his two injured fingers made gripping things a lot harder. Joyex emitted an annoyed growl as the wolves kept coming and coming.

"Look," Joyex pointed out, "I know you think that diamond fist is a handicap, but maybe we could use it to our advantage. Use your head!"

Suddenly, an idea sprung into Riku's head as Joyex finished his sentence. He quickly swung his right hand so that it smashed into the face of an oncoming wolf, breaking its jaw with a CRUNCH and sent it into a tree. The wolf crumpled to the ground, then remained motionless.

"ALRIGHT! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Joyex cheered, then quickly added something under his breath. "Not exactly what I had in mind, but not bad."

Joyex wrapped his chain whip around his injured hand and used it as a weapon in his left. He then wrapped it around a wolf's tail and began to spin it around in wide circles, the wolf whining in fear as it spun through the air. "Round and round you go, where you stop, nobody knows!" Joyex said, just as he gave the chain a flick of his wrist and it detached itself from the wolf, sending it flying off into the distance.

The wolves knew that they had been beaten, their numbers having dwindled so suddenly, and went into an immediate retreat. As everyone was catching their breath, Sakuzy came back with a large, gray mass of fur on his shoulders.

"Well, the big one's down for the count." He said, then with a strenuous heave, Sakuzy threw the wolf off him. Sora took a quick look, then realized that it was dead.

Mr. Beaver, on the other hand, was quite frightened. "Well, it seems that the White Witch's already hot on your heels." He said, somewhat worried by the current situation.

"In THAT case, let's get to this Aslan guy! QUICK!" Donald said, wanting to get out of there ASAP.

"Well, then, we move out! DOUBLE TIME!" Mr. Beaver said just as he took off like a flash, but hadn't even gone a few steps when he found the others hadn't come with him. Riku had stayed behind for some reason and the others stayed behind to see what was wrong.

"What's up, Riku?" Sora asked, somewhat concerned.

Riku simply pointed down at his hand and answered. "THIS is a problem."

Riku's crystal hand had spread a few millimeters above his wrist. And, upon further inspection, they found out that it was slowly spreading even further up his arm.

"Oh my gosh…" Kairi said as she stared at the limb.

"That is one FREAKY mutation." Sakuzy thought out loud, earning a hard glare from Riku.

"You know, you're not exactly making this better." Joyex said, referring to said wielder of darkness, who now looked ready to disembowel Sakuzy there and then.

Donald went over to Riku, who kneeled so that Donald could examine his hand. A solemn expression soon crossed the duck mage's face as he said, "Yup, this Chrysallis guy REALLY knows how to cause pain."

"Why's that?" Riku asked.

Donald stopped examining Riku's hand and explained. "THIS is the Diamond Skin Disease. If used on a single part of the body, it will spread, eventually turning the ENTIRE body into solid crystal." Donald noticed that Sora, Kairi, and Goofy looked very worried when he said the word "disease". He simply chuckled slightly and quickly said, "Ah, don't worry, it's not contagious." That saying worked like a charm, because everyone sighed in relief.

"Well, is there a cure for it?" Kairi asked.

Donald nodded. "Yep. But the problem is that we need about five Pure Hearts to do so."

Riku looked at his hand, then shook his head in slight disappointment. "Well, THAT'S a spirit breaker." He said, moving his arm so that he could inspect it himself.

Joyex clapped Riku on the back and said, "No worries, buddy. Knowing Sora, we'll get those Pure Hearts in no time flat."

Joyex made to put his arm around Riku again, but it earned him a glare from the user of darkness. He raised that arm, raised his other, then began to SLOWLY inch away.

"C'mon, fellas, while we're still young." He said.

Sakuzy glanced over at Mr. Beaver and let out an exasperated sigh. He had been urging them to keep moving since the wolves attacked. And, to tell the truth, it was getting more and more irritating every time he said it. "If you say that ONE more time, you COULD end up over a fireplace." He threatened the rodent.

Mr. Beaver turned on that comment and put his fists on his hips. "Well, aren't we a little cheeky today- LOOK OUT!"

Sakuzy and Sora whirled on the spot in time to see that several Heartless had surrounded them. It was another new species, but not the Choppers back at Radiant Garden. These Heartless looked like black wolves with hunched backs, glowing, yellow eyes and blood-red claws. In their mouths were sharp fangs coming from an elongated snout and a long, black tongue was hanging from their mouths.

Sora and Sakuzy both said the same word: "Heartless!"

Before Sora could even do anything, one of the Wolf Heartless attacked. It pounced with a deranged-sounding howl and took a swipe with one of its claws only to miss Sora by a mile. Yet, just as Sora made a counterattack, the Wolf dashed away with arcane agility and began to circle him. Sora followed its movements, his Keyblade poised for defense.

At that same time, Goofy quickly repelled an oncoming Wolf with his shield, but the king's captain only managed to dislodge the agile Heartless. The Heartless circled Donald and Goofy, who were now going back-to-back to prevent the Wolves from attacking them.

Kairi seemed to be having a better chance against the Wolf Heartless. Her swift strikes often proved just as fast as any of her enemies. She even took one out with a slash of Flowering Strength. This was, unfortunately, a small victory. One down, eight to ten more to go…

Sakuzy, getting more and more frustrated by the Wolf Heartless, whipped out the charm that had the lily pad on it. "If it has to come to this, then it'll come to this. Kermit!" There was a flash of light and a green frog appeared next to Sakuzy. The thing was less than a meter tall, had long, gangly legs, and a strange collar of sorts around his neck. He also had bulgy, white eyes that looked like Ping-Pong balls.

Sakuzy turned to the frog, Kermit, then pumped a fist. "Let's get him, buddy!"

Kermit nodded to Sakuzy and readied himself against the Heartless around them. "Alright, Sakuzy. Hi-ho!"

Sakuzy took one of Kermit's hands as the large amphibian coiled his legs like a spring with pressure applied to it. In the blink of an eye, Kermit sprung a good twenty feet in the air. At the peak of the climb, Sakuzy raised his Keyblade and pointed it at the sky. "THUNDAGA!"

The Keyblade's tip sparked with electricity for one brief moment. Another brief moment later, a blitz of lightning destroyed every Heartless in a fifty-foot radius. When all the Heartless were gone, both Kermit and Sakuzy landed on the ground with a dull thud.

Kermit bowed, then said, "That's all for today. See ya!" Kermit waved to Sakuzy, then vanished back into his own world. As soon as Kermit was gone, Sora gave Sakuzy a curious look.

"You have summon charms?" Sora asked.

"Yeah." said Sakuzy, "I have nine with me at the moment. The one I used was the Frog Charm, which can summon a friend I like to call Kermit the frog. I did have others, but when I came back in time, they scattered across the worlds. Anyone who finds them can wield them, until my job here is done."

Sakuzy pulled out six other summon charms and set them on the ground. Each one came in different shapes and colors…and symbols, too. "Here. But three of these are mine." Sakuzy said as he held out three charms. One had a thunderbolt on its surface, one had a giant boot, and one had a dog collar. "I'll be taking these, because they're my personal favorites. Now, take your pick…"

Joyex studied them, then came to the only reasonable solution. "Looks like we've gotta divide them amongst ourselves. Anyway, I've got dibs on the Dragon Charm!"

Joyex quickly snatched a charm that had a scarlet dragon on it before anyone had time to register that it had vanished. Sora took one with a sword and another one with a shark fin on it. He fiddled with them in his hands, taking in their appearance. "Wonder what THESE are…" He said, inspecting each of them.

"I know," Joyex answered, "Cuz I've used them PLENTY of times, but you'll find them out on your own, so my lips are sealed."

Kairi was soon left with a charm with a fox's tail on it and another with a tiny chef's hat on it. She shrugged, then pocketed them. _Better than nothing, I suppose. _She thought to herself.

Joyex took notice of the charms she took and nodded, as though he took in a very interesting gact. "Not bad. You got Health Restoration galore." He said.

Kairi's expression brightened up by a very dubious amount as she asked, "Really?"

Sakuzy took something from his pocket and turned to Joyex. "Sorry, Joyex, but it looks like you're left with Kermit." Sakuzy said as he tossed the Frog Charm to Joyex, who caught it in midair.

Joyex could only shrug as he said, "Ah well, better than nothing."

Mr. Beaver waddled over to the group from behind a rock, an insecure look on his rodent face. "If those…" He struggled to find the right words to describe the Wolf Heartless, "Things were workin' for the Witch, she must be on our trail for sure. Come on!"

As Mr. Beaver ran off in the right direction, Sakuzy gritted his teeth. Now, the rodent lumberjack was starting to get under his skin. "Urge to kill rising…" He said through clenched teeth.

"Let it go, Sakuzy." Sora said, but suddenly noticed one of their number was missing. "Hold on…Where's Riku?"

Everyone looked around and saw that Riku was nowhere to be seen. Kairi only had one suspicion…and it haunted her to the core. "Uh oh…I bet one of the Heartless got him."

Sakuzy looked at the snowy ground and saw footprints amongst other tracks. He bent down to inspect them, often using his hands to help out. "Well, they didn't vanish. I don't think Wolf Heartless can do that…" Sakuzy said, inspecting the tracks, "One obviously got him since there's a limited number of footprints. He's most likely been dragged away judging by this trail of plowed snow."

Mr. Beaver took notice of Sora's expression, one willing to find the Heartless and make them pay. The rodent took the hem of Sora's shorts and held him back. "I wouldn't. Those things'll have taken him to the witch's place. And they say that few go in there that come out again."

Joyex turned to Mr. Beaver upon seeing worried faces all around him, then asked, "Uh, Beaver? Where is this White Witch?"

Beaver gave Joyex a questioning look, then turned and pointed at a pair of mountains. "Her palace should be somewhere between those two mountains. But I wouldn't suggest goin' there unless…"

Beaver had just turned when he finished his sentence only to find that Joyex had gone. Sakuzy smacked himself in the face. "Oh no…NOT AGAIN!" The future Keyblader growled to himself.

Kermit the frog

A puppet frog that used to come whenever Sakuzy called, but now comes whenever Joyex calls. Kermit isn't much of a fighter, but he will give his friends a good boost into the air. He bounces his wielders high up, allowing them to strike from a height. He's also the emcee of a theater and a whole gang of creatures known as the Muppets. His first Disney movie was _The Muppet's Christmas Carol_, 1994.

Wolf

A new kind of Heartless that look like wolves and attack using their speed and agility. Like their namesakes, they hunt in packs to take down large victims and create a devastating force.

_That would be Kermit's Hopping Hand. Hope you're enjoying this remake, it's takin' a lot out of me and D-Dude. Hope you enjoy! Review._


	12. Capture and Escape

Chapter 12: Capture and Escape

Joyex sprinted across the snowy landscape, towards a pair of mountains. He had to find Riku for two reasons. One: he didn't want Sora or Kairi to worry about him. And two: because he had grown…attached to him, should we say? The Keyblade Master who now had been handicapped reminded him a bit of himself, he once could wield a Keyblade, but THAT was another story.

The Nobody followed Mr. Beaver's instructions until he came to the point between the two mountains. There, in front of him, was a large castle that seemed to be made of ice and had an eerie, blue glow to it. The castle also had large spires that looked like giant icicles and a single door that wouldn't budge an inch. Joyex went up to the walls, not exactly trusting the witch to just open the door and welcome him.

"Tall walls? Man, this witch is predictable." Joyex said to himself. He then rummaged through his pockets and pulled out the Frog Charm that Sakuzy gave him. "Kermit!"

With a spring from frog legs, and with a blur of green, Joyex found himself in the courtyard of the castle. He looked around, but when he turned, he nearly fell back on his seat. Right in front of him was a statue of a man as tall as a tree, wielding a giant club in his hands. Joyex clutched his hammering heart and looked around the courtyard to see several other statues of many different creatures, both real and mythical.

"Does this witch collect lawn ornaments or what?" Joyex asked to no one in particular. He then saw the statue of a snarling lion and got an idea. He took a stick from what was once a fire and used its ash-covered tip like a pencil. When he was done, he giggled slightly and ran off, leaving the lion statue with a mustache and a goatee "That oughta tick someone off..." he snickered to himself.

Joyex continued through the courtyard and tried stepping over what he thought was a stone wolf. He thought it was a statue because it was covered in snow, but was suddenly proven wrong when the "statue" stood up with a snarl, causing Joyex to lose his balance. The wolf pinned him with one leg, then spoke in a growling voice that chilled him to the core. "Be still, stranger, or you'll never move again!"

Joyex simply stared back into the wolf's eyes as it seemed to glare right through him. Then, to Joyex's great surprise, the wolf sniffed him and actually SMILED. The next thing he knew, the Nobody was being dragged away by the arm...his good arm to be precise. He couldn't reach for his chain because of his bad fingers, so he flailed around to try and get free, but the wolf's grip was true. As he struggled, the best he managed to do was slow the wolf down a bit. His struggling suddenly ceased as Shadow Heartless got on top of him, gripping his limbs and ceasing his movement.

Eventually, the wolf dragged Joyex into a jail cell and dropped him there while the Heartless locked his ankles in iron shackles and chained him to the wall. "Enjoy your stay." The wolf said in a mock-waiter voice, "My mistress shall be here soon..." The wolf walked away, laughing slightly until he was completely out of sight.

Joyex stared at his hand, then at his legs as he said, "Great. First my fingers, NOW my legs."

"Take it easy, Joyex. It could be a lot worse." A familiar voice responded.

Joyex recognized that voice and turned to see that Riku was chained to the wall in the same way he was. "What're YOU in for?" The Nobody asked.

Riku scowled, then spoke through gritted teeth. "Don't act like a moron, Joyex!"

"Hey, as long as we're prisoners, we should lighten up the mood and SING." Joyex said.

However, the Nobody hadn't even taken a breath when Riku said, "Don't even think about it." in what was possibly his coldest voice yet.

Joyex looked surprisingly apologetic as he said, "Sorry...can I at least whistle a jailsong?"

"NO."

Before Joyex could ask another question, a woman's voice barked a single command at them. "SILENCE!"

Joyex turned on his seat to see that a woman in a polar bear fur coat had walked in. The woman had blonde hair, a crown that seemed to be made of ice, a wand whose tip was a crystal pike, pale skin, and a white dress under the coat. She would have been very pretty if she wasn't wearing an expression an expression as cold as the ice that made up her castle.

Joyex made to stand, but his feet were chained together and he instantly fell back on his seat again. Instead, he pointed his free finger at the witch from his seat. "So, we finally meet…whoever you are!" He accused, hoping to strike some fear in her. It didn't work.

Riku growled with slight annoyance. "That's the White Witch, idiot! You know, the one Mr. Beaver warned us about?"

Joyex's eyes widened as he realized that he had just done something REALLY stupid. "Oh..." Joyex said, then corrected himself, "So, we finally meet, White Witch!"

The White Witch, surprisingly, smiled at the Nobody's bravado and chuckled slightly at his dramatic saying. "Oh, don't be so dramatic, Nobody." She said, coolly, "Yes, I know who you are. And if Maleficent hadn't told me to keep all captured Key-wielders alive, I'd have two new statues for my collection without question."

Riku's face clenched at the name of the witch: the one woman he hated just as much as Xehanort. "Maleficent..." He muttered under his breath.

Joyex didn't seem to really care about what the White Witch was saying. "Interrogate me all you want! But I'm NOT spilling ANY beans!" He said, folding his arms and turning away.

The White Witch paused, then tapped his injured hand with her crystal staff. Originally, the hand had a lot of stinging pain because of the stitches. But when the witch touched it with her wand, the pain stopped in an instant.

Joyex stared at his hand and waggled his cast-clad digits...no pain came. "Wow...thanks."

The White Witch bent over Joyex, then asked, "Now, where are your fellows heading?"

Riku scowled at the witch. "If you think that healing us will make us tell you, then stone me." He growled, his face tightly clenched.

"I believe the term's 'bite me'." Joyex said, trying to correct him.

"Did you see what was in her courtyard?" Riku asked, "Do you think she carved them?"

Joyex blinked, then turned away from the White Witch. "You can torture us all you want, Witch! But you're not gonna make ME tell you that the others are headed off to meet someone named Aslan!" Joyex then quickly realized what he just did...with a little help from Riku's furious growl. "D'oh!"

The White Witch paused, then barely got words out her mouth. "Aslan? Where?"

Joyex grinned when he heard the tone she was using. She was afraid...Immediately, Joyex took that time to poke fun at the witch. "You're AFRAID of someone? And you call yourself a queen!" Joyex then burst out laughing, but it was surprisingly short-lived, because the witch gave him a good whack across the face with the back of her hand, sending the Nobody careening to the floor. "OW! Man, you hit GOOD for a girl!" He said, massaging the side of his face.

The witch's fear seemed to disappear as she glowered down at the two. "I said, 'WHERE is Aslan?' Answer me!"

Riku continued to defy the witch, then simply answered, "Don't ask us. We didn't hear anything before you brought me to this cell!"

The White Witch met Riku's gaze with one of her own, then turned to her right and barked one word. "Maugrim!"

In under a minute, the large wolf that captured Joyex walked into the jail cell, then kneeled, "Your majesty!"

The witch simply said, "You know what to do!"

Maugrim nodded, then emitted a wolf's all-too-famous howl before running off to another part of the castle. The White Witch turned to leave and Joyex turned to Riku with a small amount of eagerness. "NOW, we escape!"

Riku stared in disbelief at Joyex. "Escape?" He asked, "How?"

"Simple. When she comes back for us and unchains us, we make a run for it." Joyex answered as though it was the simplest thing in the world.

Riku thought it over, then asked, "How long will it take?"

Joyex looked off where the wolf had run off to, then answered, "Judging by how the wolf took off…fifteen minutes, but that's just a rough estimate."

It was twenty minutes before the White Witch came back, but judging by her expression, she wasn't pleased. "Your comrades aren't at the Beaver's dam, boys. Looks like we'll have to go off in my sledge."

The White Witch pointed her wand at them and the shackles snapped. When the chains were off, Riku and Joyex were led into the courtyard, bound at their hands. Joyex furiously rubbed his rope binds onto his chain whip's blade and snapped them in an instant. The minute he was close enough to the gates, Joyex swiftly took the blade of his chain whip and snapped Riku's binds. The White Witch rounded on them and made to turn them into a pair of statues out of simple frustration, but both jumped away and the only victim was a Wolf Heartless.

"RUN!" Joyex said, doing exactly what he said.

The two ran from the White Witch, but she had, surprisingly, not tried to pursue them. She didn't even try to act as they raced out of the courtyard and right up to the walls of the castle. Joyex quickly took out the Summon Charm and used it as he ran toward the main gate. "Kermit!"

Kermit hopped them over the walls in an instant and they ran through the snow and into the reaches of Narnia. Joyex then noticed something about his fingers. "CRUD!" He cursed, "She fixed the FINGERS, but didn't take out the stitches! My hands are still caught in a constant peace sign!"

Riku looked over his shoulder as they traveled through the world and said, "Quit complaining and keep going, okay?!"

With a quick moan in slight disappointment, Joyex quickly followed Riku through the wilderness. However, they were unaware of the White Witch watching what they did the whole time.

White Witch

The tyrannical witch who is the self-proclaimed queen of Narnia. She keeps the land in eternal winter and won't die through age. She wields a wand that can turn people into stone and she mended Joyex's fingers, but didn't take out the stitches. She first appeared in _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_ 2005.

Maugrim

The wolf captain of the White Witch's secret police. Maugrim is ruthless, bloodthirsty, and answers only to the White Witch herself, taking out her orders without question. He first appeared in _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_ 2005.

_Time for the next name in the story! This summon charm is one that Kairi uses LATER in Narnia and is called the Fox Charm. By the way, it's from a Disney Movie. Please review_


	13. The Lion

Chapter 13: The Lion

Sora's group, with the help of Mr. Beaver, were finally almost there. It wasn't easy, because at night, they had to find MANY hiding places to avoid the Wolf Heartless they finally reached a large, snowy field with a large, stone slab in it.

"Modern architecture. It'll never last." Sakuzy quietly said as he walked past.

Sora gave Sakuzy an odd look, then asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Sakuzy turned to Sora and quickly covered up by saying, "Nothing."

As they continued past the stone table, Mr. Beaver brought something up. "Ya know, you three ain't the first humans to appear in Narnia."

Kairi scratched her head and asked, "We're not?"

"Nope." Mr. Beaver answered, "The first four arrived a bit earlier than you did. Me wife, Mrs. Beaver, is guiding 'em here. But the White Witch's interested in THEM, not us."

Sakuzy shrugged. "THAT explains the smoother trip, but I think she'll be interested in us, anyway."

Mr. Beaver stopped in place, then turned to Sakuzy.

"And why's that?" Mr. Beaver asked.

Sora sighed, then held out his hand. The Keyblade flashed to life and he explained to Beaver. "You see, I have a feeling that she fears this weapon...the Keyblade. And nearly everyone I met has heard of it at one point."

Mr. Beaver took in the presence of the Keyblade, then sternly looked at Sora. "Oh, I've heard of the Keyblade." He said, solemnly, "And it gives us all the more reason to find Aslan as quickly as possible. C'mon..."

The group followed the wood-carving rodent further, but suddenly Sora noticed something. The air was getting warmer and around them, the snow was melting to reveal fresh, green grass. The trees were getting their wonderful, green leaves while flowers began to blossom around them. It was like watching a season pass in fast-forward.

"Should we be concerned about this?" Sora asked.

Mr. Beaver turned to Sora and was smiling at the young Keyblader. "Nah. This only proves that the hope you bunch are bringin' is starting to weaken the witch's power."

"Well, that's good news." Donald said, cheerfully, "Is Aslan close, now?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. His camp should be just over the hill." Mr. Beaver said as he pointed to a hill in the distance and Sora couldn't help but smile now. He ran ahead, completely catching everyone off-guard. When he noticed that no one else was coming with him, he turned and beckoned them to follow.

"C'mon! The sooner we get there, the better!" He called.

As Sora turned to run for the hill, Donald and Goofy were quick to follow. Kairi chuckled, then ran off after them, soon followed by Sakuzy and Mr. Beaver. As Sakuzy ran, he still couldn't believe the things Sora did. He did, however, like running like this. It made him feel free and carefree in a time when things were in danger.

Sora was the first to the top of the hill and spotted the camp in the blink of an eye. Mr. Beaver caught up to him and got a good view of the camp. "Well, everyone, we're here. Now, let's go and do what we can..." He said, then descended the hill.

--

The camp turned out to have several troops already, some forging weapons, others planning strategies or training with their weapons. However, on second glance, Sora's group noted that the camp was filled with, not humans, but several familiar and unfamiliar creatures. Some of them resembled humans in some ways, but were as different from them as chalk and cheese. Some had the upper bodies of humans, but either had lower bodies with hooves on them. Some had two similar to a goat (Faun or Satyr) while others had four similar to a horse (Centaur). There were bears, gorillas, cats and dogs of all shapes and sizes, and even a wild boar in some spots. But the one creature that really stuck out was a creature that had the hindquarters of a lion, but had the upper body of a giant eagle. It also had pointy ears, a pair of large wings on its shoulders, and a plume of tailfeathers on the end of its catlike tail. (Griffon)

"Why are they all staring at us?" Sora asked.

Goofy looked around to see that, indeed, all the creatures in the camp were giving the new group odd looks. "Can't say that I know." He answered, honestly.

At the far end of the camp was a small group of tents and at the entrance of the largest of all the tents was a large centaur with a black horse body and a stern face. Sora got close enough to look him right in the eye, then summoned his Keyblade and held it up. "The beaver has led us here to meet Aslan." He said to the centaur, expecting a reply.

The centaur's response was to give Sora a stern look, then he gently moved away from the tent's entrance as every creature got down on one knee. Then, the tent's entrance moved aside and Sora saw the most magnificent creature he had ever seen.

Aslan was a lion, but he wasn't any ordinary lion. He was larger than any lion Sora had ever seen, with a golden mane 'round his neck and a wise expression on his face. There was something about Aslan that separated him from Simba...namely, a kind of golden glow to him and majesty to make the king of the Pride Lands look like a common housecat. Sora was in the presence of, not just a king, but something more than that. He eventually found himself on one knee like a knight before its king and everyone else was soon to follow.

Then, Aslan spoke in a voice as wise as he looked. "Welcome, Sora, wielder of the Keyblade." He greeted as he turned his attention to the others, "Welcome Kairi, Princess of Heart. Welcome Donald and Goofy, friends of the king. Welcome, Sakuzy, future Key wielder. And welcome to YOU, Beaver, you have my thanks. But where are the others?"

Sora stood as his Keyblade dissipated and so did Kairi. "That's part of the reason why we're here." Sora answered.

"Riku and Joyex were captured by the White Witch." Kairi said, still unable to take her eyes off Aslan.

"Captured?" The lion asked, "How could this happen?"

Now it was Sakuzy's turn to rise to his feet. "Heartless. Riku was captured by a couple wolves and Joyex went after him and didn't come back."

Donald, for a moment, was a bit unsure of what to do. But at that moment, he knew what he had to ask Aslan. "Uh…we're also here for the Pure Heart, do you know where it is?"

Aslan thought this over and looked in the duck mage's direction. "Yes. But you can only gain it if you help us in the current situation."

"How?"

"We are going to engage the White Witch in battle." Aslan answered, "If you aid us, you may have the Pure Heart."

Sora was more than surprised to hear the word "battle". Some people, though, had quite a different response.

"Battle, huh?" Sakuzy asked, "Well, I've been in that MORE times than I'd prefer."

"Donald, Goofy, and I have been in there when we were fighting the Heartless in Hollow Bastion, but I'm not too sure about Kairi." He said, gesturing to her.

Kairi put an assuring hand on Sora's shoulder, then said, "Relax, Sora. I'll be alright." Then she added, "Besides, I've read 'Joan of Arc' in school, so I've got the basic idea."

Sora took a deep breath, then sighed. "Alright. You win." He admitted, hiding a chuckle.

A smile crept across Aslan's face as Sora turned, then nodded. "It is decided then. We are honored to have you all join in my army."

Sakuzy wandered over to a hill, overlooking the camp. Sora saw Aslan walking over and they seemed to be talking to each other, catching the major of Sora's curiosity. _What're they talking about? _Sora thought to himself.

A few minutes passed until Aslan walked away and Sakuzy came down from the hill. "Hey, guys." Sakuzy said as he walked over to them.

"Hey, Sakuzy." Sora replied with a wave.

Aslan also joined the group, but took in the Keyblade Master and suggested, "I'd like to speak to Sora, if I may."

Sora was slightly shocked that the true king of Narnia would want to talk to him, but he decided that it couldn't be anything too bad. Aslan walked away to the hill that overlooked the camp with Sora by his side. Sora stood at the edge of the hill and saw a castle on the farthest shore. It certainly looked more…pleasant than the White Witch's castle.

"That is Cair Paravelle." Aslan filled in, "The castle of the four thrones. In them, four humans will sit as kings and queens. For this, Sora, you must help them gain it."

"I will, Aslan." Sora said, understanding his duty.

"Sora, there is a deep magic more powerful, even than me, that rules over all of the universe." Aslan said, his true wisdom truly showing now, "It defines right from wrong and governs ALL our destinies. Yours, and mine."

Sora suddenly felt something flow out of him. He didn't know where it came from; it just came out. "Aslan, I'm not who you think I am."

Aslan's expression was calm, yet focused as he turned to the Key-bearer. "Sora, the Keyblade Master, formerly of Destiny Islands." Suddenly, for a humorous touch, Aslan added, "Donald also mentioned that you once crashed them into Deep Jungle."

"But I can't protect my friends!" Sora said, letting it all out in one go, "Take last year, Riku fell into darkness and Kairi lost her heart, and a few months ago when Kairi was captured by Organization XIII!"

Again, Aslan was calm and raised a paw to try and settle Sora down. It worked. "You've brought them this far, haven't you?" Aslan suggested.

Sora's outburst seemed to take a bit out of him, for he looked down and shook his head. "Not all of them..." He returned.

Aslan put a paw on Sora's shoulder, then calmly said, "Sora, I will do what I can to help your friends, but you need to think about other things. I too want my family safe…"

Aslan's words really seemed to reach Sora as he walked back to the camp to see Sakuzy with his Keyblade out, walking towards the forest. "Sakuzy?"

Sakuzy turned on being addressed, then answered. "Aslan says that there are unusual creatures around here, so I thought I'd go and check 'em out."

Sakuzy turned back to the forest and headed for it, but Sora called after him. "Look, Sakuzy, you're NOT going alone!" He reasoned with him.

Sakuzy paused, then spoke without even turning to face Sora. "I'm not. You're coming with me." He said, beckoning for Sora to follow.

"Why?"

Sakuzy turned to face Sora this time, then said, "There are things that you should learn. It's time for you to find out what you're up against. And better NOW than NEVER."

Sakuzy continued into the woods while Sora stayed put for a while, then quickly followed suit.

They walked through the forest for about five minutes, then Sora noticed that Sakuzy was studying the area around him with every hint of tension. "Where are these creatures?" Sora asked, "Are they Heartless? Nobodies?"

Sakuzy looked over his shoulder to answer. "No, they're MUCH worse. And by the way…" Sakuzy took two of Sora's summon charms with the precision of a pickpocket. "You're gonna learn that you can't always count on your summons to beat these guys. You need to be adaptable, which is why I'm leaving the Shark Charm."

Sakuzy stopped after going a little further into the wood, then looked to the sides. Sora looked around, then noticed that no one was there and asked, "Well, where are they?"

"They should be here in three…two…" Sakuzy said, quietly.

Suddenly, Sora heard something and looked up just in time to see several meteorites in the sky. With a high-pitched whistle similar to a firecracker, the meteorites fell through the air and crashed into the ground a few meters in front of them. Upon further inspection, Sora noticed that the meteors were made of pure crystal.

"They're here." Sakuzy said, sternly.

Sora was about to ask what they were when the crystals that landed suddenly moved. Parts started to shift, move, and rearrange themselves to create new extensions such as arms and legs (For those of you that are curious, this is like a Transformer from the Michael Bay movie). When the transformation was complete, the crystal meteorites had turned into creatures that Sora had never seen before. They were now no taller than Sakuzy, but had a pair of beady, red eyes, a barely-visible head, a left arm that was mutated into a machine gun, and a three-clawed right hand. They walked like men on spindly, stilt-like legs with two-clawed feet and in an army-esque march.

Sakuzy's Eagle Feather quickly flashed into his hand as he said, "You'd better get out your Keyblade. These things are FAR from friendly."

"Wait. What are these things?" Sora asked, having never seen anything like this.

Sakuzy answered without even turning to face Sora. "They're creatures called Crystalli. Crystalli Soldiers, to be precise."

Sora hesitated, then sharply brought out his Keyblade as one of the so-called Crystalli Soldiers walked over, but never opened fire. Then, Sora noticed that its right hand, rather than having three claws like the others, had a round, flat surface similar to a hand mirror. The soldier raised the mirror to see that the surface was crackling like a TV coming into focus. The face belonged to Chrysallis; his crooked smile unmistakable.

"Hello, Sakuzy." Chrysallis said with his devilish grin, showing off every crooked tooth in it.

"Chrysallis." Sakuzy said through clenched teeth, "Thought you lost our scent after the Disney Castle incident."

Chrysallis kept his crooked smile, even when Sakuzy was using a tone of accusation and slight frustration. "Now, Sakuzy, you didn't really think that I'd let you go around in the past and be NAUGHTY?" He asked, clearly wanting to make Sakuzy angry, "And besides, the longer I stay here, the more your future becomes mine, so I will be NAUGHTY."

By now, Chrysallis' statement was enough to make Sakuzy stick his Keyblade into the mirror out of simple irritation. He pulled the Eagle Feather out, then stabbed the Crystalli in the chest. As it fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, the rest of the Crystalli stared, then retreated into the trees. Sakuzy, however, checked the area, his eyes darting back and forth. "Don't be fooled." Sakuzy warned, "They'll come at us out of nowhere until they're defeated. Keep on your toes."

Sora decided to take Sakuzy's advice on this. The guy knew an awful lot about these Crystalli, so Sora decided that keeping his guard up was a good idea. Suddenly, a twig snapped and Sakuzy instantly darted into the forest with three Crystalli Soldiers on his tail, their guns pointed at him. Sora was about to go after him when four more Crystalli emerged from the forest's depths and pointed their machine gun arms at him.

_Oh crud..._ Sora thought to himself.

Sora quickly took his chance as one cocked its gun and took aim. He charged forward and brought Ultima Weapon across one's chest, leaving a deep gash running down its middle. The remaining Soldiers stared at their fallen comrade, then aimed their guns and opened fire at him. Sora quickly ran around the area; it was all he could do to dodge their shots. Upon closer inspection, he found that the guns weren't shooting bullets, or lasers, but crystal shards that were long and pointed, like darts. Sora jumped into the air, luring the Soldiers' guns to follow him. Their shots simply went into the air as Sora landed behind them, rolling on contact with the ground. As he rolled back on his feet, he brought his Keyblade through one's gun arm, leaving useless turrets in its place. He then brought his Keyblade into a low strike and severed one's legs just above the knee joint. He spun on his heel, then stabbed his Ultima Weapon into one's chest. The Crystalli Soldiers scarlet eyes flickered as the life it had left it, then the whole being crumpled to the floor. Behind it was the last one, which Sora instantly finished with just one movement of his hand. He let go of Ultima Weapon, but not in a Strikeraid. Instead, the Keyblade went in a straight path and embedded itself in the Soldier's barely-distinguishable head.

Sora held out his hand and the Ultima Weapon returned to his grip in a sparkle of white lights, but it hadn't even been there for a few minutes when five more Crystalli marched out of the forest. Sora stared, then rolled his eyes as sarcasm rang in his voice. "Oh, his just keeps getting better." Sora quickly rummaged through his pockets for something he could use, but he had to make it fast: the Crystalli Soldiers were now pointing their guns at him. He suddenly felt something, a Summon Charm, and pulled it out to find the charm with a shark fin on it. He instinctively knew what he had to do. He raised it into the air and said one name. "Bruce!"

A flash of white light shone through the darkened forest and when it cleared, a great white shark was now in the field of combat. Its mouth curved into a smile to show his mouthful of teeth and stared down the Crystalli Soldiers. What was weird, though, was that Bruce appeared to be swimming through air instead of water. "Hello..."

The Crystallis stood there, stunned at the beast before them and hadn't even thought of opening fire when Bruce charged forward and snapped one in two with just one movement of his jaws. The other two raised their guns, but the shark was too fast for them. In one second, Bruce had bitten one of them in two, avoided their fire, and another second later, he broke one in two with a swing of his tailfin. It was at that time that the Summon's energy ran out and Bruce looked pretty pooped.

"Thanks." Sora said, a bit stunned at the shark in front of him.

"No problem, mate." Bruce thanked, his voice with a strong Australian accent in it. The great white shark patted Sora on the shoulder with his fin, then swam off and vanished back to his own world.

Sora readied himself to battle the other two Crystalli Soldiers, but apparently his preparation was for nothing. Sakuzy burst from the shade and sliced through the other two Crystalli with his Eagle Feather, both in a different place. One got jabbed in the back while the other got destroyed by a Firaga Spell.

"Good job for someone who's never fought Crystalli. And I see you know your first summon charm's inhabitant." Sakuzy said, dispelling his Keyblade.

"Yeah, a great white shark. I thought those things were man eaters." Sora said as he recalled the carnage that Bruce created.

Sora had heard some of the older residents of Destiny Islands talk about Great White Sharks before. They said that the only thing they did was swim, eat, and make little sharks. They also said that it could jump out of the ocean to snap their favorite food out of the ocean—people; namely surfers. The rumors Sora heard about them had made it seem like something half real and half myth. He only saw a Great White ONCE before this. He saw it just beneath the water when he was testing a prototype of the raft that he, Kairi, and Riku tried to build. He thought he almost had a heart attack and that he would've been dead if the shark wasn't interested in him.

"Things aren't exactly the way they appear. Now let's get back to the camp." Sakuzy walked a short distance, then turned to Sora with a grin and a slight laugh. "I remember those crazy rumors about Great Whites on the islands. I've studied zoology for most of my life, so I naturally had to do the study of fish." Sakuzy said, the smile still on his face and voice, "I found that most of those rumors on sharks are just made from fear of something that's bigger, nastier, and more unpredictable than we are. Besides, some of those attacks are accidents, though I wouldn't like to see one up close."

Sora scratched his head in confusion. "You're afraid of them?"

"Yes. Why?" Sakuzy answered as though it was the simplest thing in the world.

"If you're afraid of them, why do you study them?"

"I study BECAUSE I'm afraid of them. When I'm afraid of something, I study it to see all the facts about it. I've only had TWO other instances with this, both had to deal with diseases—Malaria and rabies." Sakuzy answered.

Sakuzy started walking back to camp with his Keyblade slung over his shoulder, but hadn't even gone a few steps when Sora asked, "Will there be more of those things?"

Sakuzy turned to face Sora, then answered. "You can bet your Keyblade on it. Crystalli Soldiers are nasty little things, but there are OTHERS out there that are bigger, faster, and stronger too. Keep your guard up from here on in."

Sora nodded, then followed Sakuzy back to Aslan's camp.

Aslan

A noble and kind lion who is the TRUE ruler of Narnia and battles the White Witch. He gives Sora and his friends encouragement and wisdom as well as promise to give them their first Pure Heart after they help him in battle. He first appeared in _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_ 2005.

Bruce

A large great white shark who has problems with eating fish and is currently trying to help other sharks with it. He comes whenever Sora calls to snap up his opponents and give them a good thrash, but used to work for Sakuzy. He first appeared in _Finding Nemo_ 2003.

Crystalli Soldiers

The most common form of a race known as Crystalli. They have three-claws on their right hand and a crystal-firing cannon on the other. We don't know what happens when someone gets hit by the ammo, but it can't be good.

_That would be Bruce's Shark Attack._

_Should Bruce be a summon character? Yay, or nay?_

_Please review._


	14. Magic and Dreams

Chapter 14: Magic and Dreams

Sora and Sakuzy returned to the camp after hiking back through the woods. The rest of the group seemed to be worried about them, Sakuzy guessed that it was due to the fact that they were covered in sweat and, in his case, a bit of blood. Sora noticed that two members of their group that had previously gone missing were back.

"Riku!"

"Joyex?"

It was indeed Riku and Joyex. Sora knew Joyex's ponytail anywhere as well as Riku's crystal hand.

"Tada!" Joyex, upon saying that, stood up and held out his arms in a manner to show that he was there. Sora and Sakuzy virtually fell face-flat to the ground in disbelief.

After Sora picked himself up, he went over to Joyex. "When'd YOU get here? I thought you were captured by the White Witch."

"Ya know, it's a funny story." Donald said, putting a finger up, "They just turned up while you and Sakuzy were gone, though they did look somewhat frostbitten. Nothing a heal spell couldn't cure!"

After a quick laugh, Joyex instantly noticed something about Sakuzy and Sora. "What happened to YOU guys?" The Nobody asked, "Looks like you've been attacked by a Crystalli."

Sakuzy rubbed the back of his head and Sora had the feeling that this guy had a sizeable bruise under his hair. "You know, it's funny you should say that..."

To some people, the name of the creatures was new to them. "Crystalli?" Kairi asked.

"Look, I'll explain later. Right now, we have a battle to..."

Sakuzy would have continued when Mr. Beaver ran over to them, looking very relieved to find them. "Guys!" The rodent called out.

Sora turned to meet him and scratched his spiky head. "Mr. Beaver? What's up?"

The wood-carving rodent stopped to catch his breath, then spoke with an urgent note in his voice. "The White Witch has called a meeting with Aslan!" THAT response earned worried faces from everyone. They increased even more when he added, "She's on her way here!"

THIS wasn't good, especially from what they heard about the witch. Within minutes, the White Witch walked into the midst of the camp on a chair suspended by a pair of large Heartless. The creatures around her booed and jeered at her, but she ignored it as her Heartless lowered her chair to the ground. She got off, then walked toward Aslan until she was a few feet in front of him. Sora and the others kept a wary eye on the White Witch, making sure she didn't try anything.

"You have traitors in your midst, Aslan." The White Witch eyed Riku and Joyex, causing both of them to either gulp or take a step back. Aslan, however, wasn't moved.

"Their offense wasn't against YOU." He said, sternly.

The White Witch's expression was surprisingly coy, even in the face of the mighty lion. "Have you forgotten about the law upon which the universe was built?" She asked.

Aslan's voice was stern and tense, even going as far to emit a slight snarl before talking. "Do NOT cite the universe's law to ME, witch! I was there when it was written!"

Silence filled the air, save a few mutters from the inhabitants of Narnia. After a few seconds of it, the witch responded to Aslan's statement. "Then you'll know that every traitor belongs to me. His life is my property and to every treachery, I have a right to a kill."

Mr. Beaver waddled forward, then pointed an accusing finger at the White Witch. "Oh, so THAT'S how you came to imagine yourself as queen!" He stated, "Because you were the emperor's hangman!"

Aslan turned to Mr. Beaver and, upon addressing him, the beaver backed down. "Peace, Beaver."

Sora and Kairi REALLY didn't like what the White Witch was claiming she had rights to. In an instant, the two had summoned their Keyblades and Sakuzy his. "You want Riku and Joyex?" Sora challenged, "Come and get 'em, then!"

One of the many Heartless around the White Witch reacted and made a threatening move toward Sora. The White Witch, however, simply looked like he had said a common joke. "Do you REALLY think mere force can rob me of my right, little Keyblader?" She asked, then seemed to address the whole Narnian army. "Aslan knows, unless I have blood, as the law demands…" The witch turned and spoke to the army to make it clear to everyone. "All of Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water!" She turned to point her finger at Riku and Joyex, as though accusing them of something. "The boy and the Nobody will DIE on the Stone Table. As is tradition..."

Sora's heart felt as though someone had jammed an icy spike in it. If what the witch said was true, they would never see Riku and Joyex again. And from what he saw from the mentioned two, they didn't enjoy the prospect of it either.

"Enough." Aslan said, breaking the sudden commotion, "I shall talk with you alone."

Aslan walked into his tent without a word, closely followed by the White Witch. A few hours later, Sakuzy was sitting and looking pensive. Sora and Kairi were scared beyond measure. What if the witch insisted on killing Riku and Joyex? The very thought of it chilled them to the core.

To their surprise, however, Aslan and the Witch came out of the tent and everyone from the Keybladers to the army stood up in anticipation of what was going to happen. The air was thick with tension as Aslan's stern face was deep in thought until he looked up. "She has renounced her claim on the fellow Keyblader and Nobody's blood!" He announced.

The army burst into cheer. Riku and Joyex WEREN'T going to die after all, but suddenly, the White Witch addressed Aslan with a curious look in her eye. "How do I know that this promise will be kept?" She asked.

Silence filled the air...for approximately one second after that question. It was broken when Aslan opened his mouth and unleashed a roar to make Simba's pale in comparison. It was so loud that some of the trees on the edge of the woods swayed like grass in the breeze and the very noise of it was enough to send the White Witch and her Heartless packing. THIS caused the army to cheer even more. Suddenly, Kairi caught a glance of Aslan and immediately noticed something different about him. He looked worried, scared even. The great lion noticed Kairi looking at her, curiosity on her face, then went back into the depths of his tent.

"Well, THAT was a nice way to send the Witch and her stupid Heartless running." Joyex admitted.

"You got that right, Joyex." Sakuzy said, clapping the Nobody on the back, "I can see the look on her face right now..."

Night fell with surprising quickness. Sora was sharing a tent with Riku to sort of keep an eye on him. Donald and Goofy were bunking in a tent not far from Sora's and Kairi had one all to herself.

Sakuzy laid down on a bunk under Joyex and shut his eyes. _Time for another pitiful stab at sleep... _He thought to himself.

_(Remember, hum the song Dearly Beloved when we're having these flashbacks)_

Enter flashback…

_Sakuzy was sitting on a hill with three others, smiling. One was a boy who looked like Joyex. But this boy's hair was brown, not black, and wasn't tied back into a ponytail, but was still VERY long (it managed to touch his shoulders). There was a large, muscular guy a few years older than the guy with brown hair, who had a bald head and a hardened expression on his face. The last one was a girl around Sakuzy's age with silver hair and looked sort of like a female version of Riku._

_"Uh…Sakuzy?" The brown-haired boy asked, "Don't ya think that our master'll blow his top if we're late?"_

_"Relax, Joey." Sakuzy assured, "The lessons won't be in session for another hour."_

_The bald man turned, then corrected Sakuzy. "They'll start in another half-hour. What does THAT tell you, slacker?"_

_The girl turned on the man, then said, "Don't call him a slacker!"_

_Sakuzy raised his hands to stop the argument there and then and said, "It's OK, Maya. Depth, just turn off your aggressive switch and LOOSEN UP."_

_Joey got up and nodded. "Yeah." He said, but upon seeing Depth's face, he shrugged and shakily suggested, "First time in three years?"_

_The bald guy, or Depth as he was called, turned his head to the side and huffed. "Don't count on it! I'm off!"_

_Depth had barely gotten up when Sakuzy stood to stop him. In an instant, Sakuzy drew his Eagle Feather Keyblade, Joey pulled out one that had a chain in the middle of the blade. The girl, Maya, got a Keyblade that looked like the One Winged Angel, only it had two wings on each side, both of which were white._

_Depth cocked an eyebrow in mild interest at the sudden appearance of Keyblades. "Again?" He asked._

_"Free for all?" Sakuzy asked._

_Joey smirked, then replied, "Sure."_

_"You know it, Sakuzy!" Maya agreed._

_Depth took a deep breath, then sighed in what could only be described as utter defeat. "Looks like I've been over ruled again. Oh well. At least I get to beat you senseless."_

_Depth held out his hand and summoned a Keyblade whose blade looked like the symbol of Omega. The four glanced at each other, then charged at each other with mock battle cries coming from three._

_End Flashback..._

Sakuzy woke up to a sharp pain on the side of his face, but just as the pain had turned into a soreness, the pain returned on the other side of his face. As his focus returned, he found Joyex standing over him and slapping across the face. "Ow, ow, OW! WHAT?!"

Joyex stopped slapping Sakuzy in a heartbeat. "It's about time you're up!" Joyex said, very relieved, then he added, "Kairi's GONE and you were smiling like you were with HER again!"

Sakuzy slowly let himself wake up as he scratched the back of his head. "Calm down, Joyex and…KAIRI'S GONE?!" He said, suddenly realizing what Joyex had just said. On studying the area around him, he found out that Sora was in his tent as well as Riku. "Yeah. One of those tree women woke us up and said that…"

_If you're wondering who the people around Sakuzy were…you'll find out later. And yes, Joyex WAS this Joey's Other. Please review._


	15. Following the Lion

Chapter 15: Following the Lion

_To explain how all of this happened, we'll have to go back: during the middle of the night to be precise._

Kairi was REALLY worried up about this oncoming battle and couldn't get to sleep no matter what she tried. As she rolled to try and get comfy, she noticed a large shadow moving past her tent. She got up and out of bed and glimpsed Aslan slowly walking towards the forest. Curious, Kairi made her way out of the camp, but she had to sneak past the centaur watchers in order to follow him. For a while, Kairi remained unseen, but when she had followed Aslan to the middle of a forest, Aslan stopped. Kairi froze in her tracks, but it appeared to be for nothing.

Suddenly, Aslan asked, in a calm and quiet voice, "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

Kairi was a little startled, but came out of her hiding place and walked over next to Aslan. "Hi, Aslan. Sorry, but I couldn't…"

Aslan raised a paw and beckoned for Kairi to slow down, then spoke when she had quieted down a bit. "Curiosity isn't a sin, Kairi, but one should learn how to control it."

Kairi nodded, then carefully asked, "Would it…be alright if I came with you?"

"I would enjoy the company for now." Aslan said with a slight nod.

Kairi reached out and gently took Aslan's golden mane in her left hand. It was very warm to the touch and she felt...safe when she held onto it. The two walked for a few minutes until Aslan stopped. Kairi took it as a moment to let go and Aslan turned to her. "From here, I must go alone." He told her, "Whatever you do, DON'T be seen. It has been an honor to be with you, but I must bid you farewell..."

Again, Kairi noticed the expression on Aslan's face; it was worried and a little scared. She only saw it for a second before Aslan turned and walked away. Kairi quietly slunk away and saw that Aslan was walking towards the great stone slab that they had passed earlier on their journey. However, the area was lit by flaming torches held by hundreds and hundreds of Heartless.

Wanting to try and help Aslan, Kairi drew her Keyblade and would've attacked there and then if she didn't make herself remember Aslan's instructions. In an instant, Flowering Strength faded away. She saw Aslan walk up the stairs to the stone slab where a pale woman was waiting for him. Kairi guessed that woman was the White Witch that came to the camp a while ago. Now, however, she wasn't clad in her polar bear fur and crown. Now she was clad in a black, strapless dress with a giant wing of sorts over her right shoulder blade and had a stone dagger clasped in her hands.

The White Witch spoke to her army of Heartless in a loud, clear voice, so Kairi could hear every word she said. "Behold. The Great Lion."

The Heartless couldn't speak, but they made joyous movements as they jeered Aslan. A Defender Heartless slowly approached Aslan with its shield at the ready. It gently prodded Aslan with the edge of its shield and the lion emitted a short snarl that caused the Defender to back off slightly. It looked at its mistress, who gestured, then smashed its shield into Aslan and knocked him to the ground. Strangely, the great lion didn't retaliate or even try to get back up.

"Why isn't he fighting back?" Kairi asked in worried surprise.

Kairi was tempted, again, to save Aslan, but the lion's words kept her rooted to the spot. Also, the last thing she wanted was to get the attention of the Heartless.

"BIND HIM!" The witch barked.

The Heartless heeded her words without question and bound Aslan in ropes so tight that it seemed to cut into his skin. Tears were flowing from Kairi's eyes as she saw the great lion bound like a mere animal they had been trapped. The Heartless seemed to start dragging Aslan towards the Stone Table, but they stopped when the White Witch spoke.

"Wait!" She called out, then, with a crude smile, she added, "Let him first be shaved."

As Kairi watched, a new species of Heartless emerged from the gloom. They looked like Armored Knights, but were shorter and skinnier than their cousins. Rather than a sword or three-fingered hands, they had scissor-like blades and both hands were the same. These new Heartless or Twin-Blades stalked over and started shearing off Aslan's magnificent, golden mane, using their blades as scissors. Kairi had to turn away: it was all she could do to keep from crying.

When Aslan's mane was completely sheared off, the Witch ordered, "BRING HIM TO ME!"

Several Shadows proceeded to do what they were originally doing and dragged Aslan over on top of the Stone Table. When Aslan was on top of it, Kairi forced herself to look. Aslan looked notably smaller without his mane and he looked scared...yet calm and dutiful. The White Witch kneeled and whispered something to the shaved lion that Kairi couldn't hear. The witch finished her talk with Aslan, then got to her feet.

"Tonight, the Deep Magic will be appeased!" The White Witch announced. The Heartless burst into cheer and the witch only continued when the cheering died down. "But tomorrow, we will take Narnia FOREVER!"

As Kairi watched, she saw the cold tyrant raise the stone-cold knife high above her head. "In that knowledge, despair and…" She held the knife up a little longer and sharply brought it down after saying, "DIE!!"

Kairi tightly shut her eyes, but even blind she could hear Aslan breathe his last. When she opened her eyes again, the Heartless were cheering and the White Witch was standing above Aslan like a vulture over a carcass.

"The Great Cat is DEAD!" The Heartless cheered even louder as the White Witch slowly stood to her full height. "Heartless!" The White Witch ordered, "Prepare yourselves for battle! However short it may be."

The Heartless heeded her orders and moved out through the undergrowth. Kairi, immediately scurried under dense cover and the Heartless walked past her, barely an arm's length away. Only when they were completely out of sight did Kairi emerge from the shadows.

When the entire army was out of sight, Kairi had to let her tears loose. The one being that could have stopped the White Witch was gone forever. There was no hope for this land anymore. When she wiped away her tears, she walked over to Aslan's body, which had a terrible slash in its midsection. Barely able to do it, she summoned her Keyblade and snapped the ropes. "Why?" She asked.

Kairi knelt and hugged Aslan around the neck as the tears once more came. Slowly, but surely, she knew that she had to get word to Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, Sakuzy, and Joyex, but she couldn't. She didn't have the strength to stand and she didn't want to leave Aslan...not yet. Her mind suddenly clicked and she almost slapped herself with a very obvious solution.

"The trees..."

Kairi took a good look at one of the closest trees she could find and then whispered to one about what happened. As she watched, a blizzard of cherry blossoms blew off, but without any wind. It had work to do...

The flower petals glided over to Sora's tent and one petal brushed Sora across the face. He touched it, then woke up to find what was now in his tent. He was out of his bed as quick as a flash and the Ultima Weapon had flashed into his hands. The flower petals banded together to create the form of a woman, or dryad, and made a gentle gesture.

"Be still, young Keyblader. I bring grave news from the Princess of Heart…" The flowery maiden said, solemnly.

Twin-Blade Heartless

A new species of Heartless that are swifter and more agile than most Heartless their size. Rather than punch, they choose to snap at their enemies with their scissor-like claws and use their speed and agility to make it easier.

Dryad

A woman who is the avatar and spirit of living trees. Kairi used her to tell Sora and co. the news of Aslan's death. She first appeared in _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_ 2005.

_Please review. By the by, after the next chapter, Sora and co. will head out of Narnia and into non-Disney movie number 1._


	16. Battle Cry and Restoration

Chapter 16: Battle Cry and Restoration

The army waited outside Aslan's tent; they had been waiting for at least three minutes. Soon, Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked out of Aslan's tent with unreadable expressions on their faces.

"She's right." Donald said, his sorrow very visible.

"He's gone." Sora said, almost emotionless.

Worried murmurs spread throughout the army while Riku, Sakuzy, and Joyex simply stared in shock. After a few seconds of taking it in, Sakuzy's expression turned to one of pure determination. "Then YOU'LL lead us."

Sora turned to Sakuzy in surprise. "WHAT?! I can't lead you!"

Sakuzy shook his head at Sora, then put in, "Aslan believed you could! And so do I!"

Riku nodded. "I do, too, Sora. You led us to victory against Organization XIII, didn't you?"

Sora was silent. His friend had a point there. Joyex, on the other hand, didn't answer, but simply went in front of them. "That hag's army is nearing, Sora. What're your orders?"

Sakuzy noticed that Joyex's tone was surprisingly battle-ready, but not in a good sort of way. From what he was saying, he would sooner go into the army alone and die trying to win. "Easy there, Joyex." Sakuzy said, trying to talke sense into his Nobody friend.

"Well, I don't care!" Joyex snarled, clenching his chain so hard that it pressed against his skin, almost painfully, "She killed the only being who could give us the pure heart! I WON'T LET THAT PASS!!"

Sakuzy, quickly wanting control of the situation, took out the locket and gave it a good squeeze. The patch over Joyex's heart burned a bright red and he fell to the ground, writhing in pain. However, he did it more frequently and violently than previous times.

When Sakuzy stopped squeezing, Joyex looked up and spoke between gasps. "You've never...squeezed me that...hard before."

Sakuzy's reply was stern as he glowered down at Joyex. "I've never seen you that uncontrollable before, either."

Goofy pointed a finger at Sakuzy and Joyex. "Enough bickerin'! We need a plan if we wanna take that White Witch down. And I'm pretty sure that Sora is the fella to do it."

Sora looked more determined than ever and looked down at a map of Narnia. They had LOTS of planning to do...

The following morning, Sora found himself at the front line of the Narnian army. Behind him were the citizens of Narnia: fauns, satyrs, centaurs, and beasts alike. He was awaiting news and was quite satisfied that Sakuzy came back, gasping for breath.

"They're here, Sora." Sakuzy informed, "And there are MILLIONS of Heartless amongst them!"

Riku turned to Sakuzy with a stern look on his face, then spoke as he turned back to focus on the battlefield. "Numbers can't win a battle by itself."

Joyex could only shrug. "Good point...but they sure do help."

A war trumpet was heard across the field of battle and soon, Sora saw that a dark veil was beginning to approach from the other side of the battlefield. The army was not a pretty sight: it included the Twin-Blades that sheared off Aslan's mane, Shadows, Armored Knights, some that looked like moving statues, Neo Shadows, Soldiers, and even an Opposite Armor. Sakuzy's eyes widened as he spotted the one person he didn't want to spot: The White Witch. She was riding on an iron chariot that was drawn, not by horses, but polar bears. She wore a battle crown of sorts, wielded her staff in her right hand while she gripped the reigns of her chariot in the other, and wore a fur-lined outfit rather than armor.

Sakuzy only stared, then asked in disbelief, "WHY do the armies have to be so, stinking, large?!"

Joyex took the blade of his chain whip in one hand, then extended to the chain's full length in his other hand. "It's to show that we'll beat 'em, even though we're the underdogs." He answered for Sakuzy.

For a while, there was silence until Keyblades flashed into Sora, Riku, and Sakuzy's hands. A centaur blew a war trumpet right back at the enemy as the whole Narnian Army emitted a unified battle cry.

The Heartless charged, swarming across the landscape of Narnia like a walking swarm of locusts. Sora looked at Joyex and nodded, then pointed his Keyblade forward. Screeches filled the air as giant eagles and griffons soared through the skies with rocks in their talons. As they soared over the White Witch's army, they released their cargo, crushing several of the Heartless down below. However, the Heartless had other ideas, for a newer species took out bows and released a blizzard of arrows. Several eagles were caught out of the air by the oncoming projectiles while some were simply forced into a retreat.

Back on the mountain, Sora beckoned to Joyex, who instantly took out his Frog Charm. "Kermit!"

In a flash of light, Kermit the frog appeared next to Joyex. "Hi-ho!"

Joyex took a hold of Kermit's hand and the frog sprang in a spectacular leap towards the army, landing in the middle of the oncoming troops. Joyex took his chain whip and started striking down as many Heartless as he could while Kermit hopped back and forth, distracting any Heartless in the way. The frog even got one of the Dark Archer Heartless to try and shoot him only to miss Kermit by a mile and hit one of its fellow Heartless.

"And that's all for today." Kermit waved to Joyex, then vanished back into his own world, leaving Joyex in part of the battlefield. He took his chain whip and started swinging it around, taking down any Heartless that came for him. The rest of the army simply moved past him.

Back at the mountain, Sora looked to Goofy and Donald. "You guys with me?"

Goofy saluted like the King's captain that he was. "Yup."

Donald's expression was of pure determination as he took his wand at the ready. "To the end!"

Riku was silent. Instead, he simply nodded and looked ahead, along with Sakuzy. Sora summoned his Keyblade and raised it at the air. "For Narnia! AND FOR ASLAN!!"

Sora charged, ready for battle, followed by Riku, Donald, Goofy, Sakuzy, and the rest of the Narnian Army. Within seconds, both armies had a formation with the fastest soldiers up front and spears lowered to breach the enemy's defenses, who had similar plans. Within seconds of the charge, the battle had begun with utmost ferocity. Weapons clashed and beasts roared in primal fury as they tried to tear each other to shreds.

Back at the Stone Table, Kairi was silent as a peaceful night. She couldn't bear to look at Aslan anymore and kept wandering around the area just trying to be active. Eventually, she appeared to have given up, because she said to herself, "Better see if the battle's started."

Kairi turned to leave, but hadn't even gone two steps when there was a humongous CRASH. It was as though an earthquake that leveled a seven on the Richter Scale had hit the area. She turned around in surprise to see the table was broken in two like someone had dropped a three-ton weight on top of it, then quickly removed it. The White Witch instantly came to mind, for she saw that Aslan was gone. "What did they do?!" She asked to no one in particular, "Couldn't they leave the body alone?! Is this more magic?"

Kairi could have sworn her heart almost stopped when a familiar voice sounded from not too far away. "Yes. It's MORE magic!"

Kairi turned to see the rising sun and Aslan appeared in front of her with his mane fully regrown and his body completely restored to perfect health. She couldn't believe what she was seeing: she had seen Aslan die and saw his dead body.

"Aslan!" Kairi couldn't contain herself and, with the glee of a child, she ran over to him and hugged him around the neck. Aslan laughed, but in pure comfort and joy. "But you were DEAD. How did you…" She asked in awe.

Aslan answered before she could even finish her sentence. "If the witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she would have interpreted the Deep Magic differently." Aslan gestured to the side of the Stone Table, which had ancient runes on it. "When a willing victim, who has committed no treachery, is killed in a traitor's stead, the Stone Table would crack and even death itself would work backwards." Now that Kairi understood, Aslan quickly got to business. "But now, Sora and his friends have gone to war."

Kairi took out her Flowering Strength Keyblade the minute she heard the word "war". "We must help them! They're going to war and it's all my fault..."

Aslan simply put a paw on her hand and lowered the Keyblade. "We will, but not alone. Climb on my back. We have a long way to go and little time to get there and you may want to cover your ears."

Kairi quickly followed Aslan's instructions, for he let out a mighty roar that seemed to shake the ground itself before taking off at speeds faster than a race horse. After a few minutes, he came to a GIANT castle that seemed to be made of ice. Kairi guessed that THAT was the White Witch's palace.

"Hold on!" Aslan took one more stride, then leapt so high into the air that he was almost flying and went right over the gates like it was a simple hurdle in a race.

When Aslan landed, he slowly walked toward the courtyard where Kairi found that it was filled to the brim with stone statues, all of which were once living things. Aslan walked over to the statue of a faun and breathed onto it. For a while, nothing happened, but then Kairi heard a small, but unmistakeable heartbeat. And as she watched, the stone started to fade away and the faun gasped for breath as he was freed from his stone prison. Kairi was speechless at what had happened.

"Hurry." Aslan said, "We must search the castle. Your friends will need all the help they can find."

Back in the battle, things were only getting more difficult. The White Witch's army had forced the Narnian army to the more rocky areas of the battlefield. The witch herself was wreaking havoc, turning any soldier that came for her into stone. A pair of griffons made to dive bomb her, but she simply dispatched of them by slashing one of their wings with a sword and turned the other one into stone. The stone griffon fell through the air, then smashed into a rock, exploding into debris.

Sora made to help the struggling soldiers, but Sakuzy held him back with one arm, his Keyblade in the other. "Stay here!" He said, "The witch is MINE!" Sakuzy clambered onto a nearby ledge, then ran after the witch with his Keyblade drawn.

"Who does he think I am?" Sora asked, then ran after him, knowing he would need all the help he could get.

Sakuzy already had a strategy from the rest of the army's mistakes, so he stayed above her and out of range of her staff. The witch turned a leopard of theirs into stone just as Sakuzy was in the right position: right above her, on a cliff. The futuristic Keyblader jumped off the ledge with his Keyblade at the ready and swung it down...but the witch saw him coming and moved to the side. She smiled, then stabbed him with her wand, wanting to turn him into a statue, but he dodged the blow: just what he wanted. Sakuzy raised Eagle Feather into the air, then brought his Keyblade smashing into her wand, breaking it like glass with a small explosion of blue light. The witch looked at what was left of her wand and got REALLY ticked by this. She took her sword, maneuvered Sakuzy's Keyblade out of the way and stabbed him into the gut with the remnant of her wand.

"Sakuzy!" Sora called out, watching as Sakuzy clutched his wound, then fell down, his injury getting the better of him.

Sora quickly dispatched of a Heartless that stood in his way, then ran at the witch with his Keyblade drawn. Joyex, Riku, Donald, and Goofy would have helped, but they were sort of...tied up, fighting the Witch's Heartless. Sora stopped a few feet in front of the White Witch, who had gotten rid of her remaining wand and replaced it with another sword. He raised his Keyblade and angled it in the air as he addressed his opponent.

"You're about to pay for what you did to Sakuzy, 'Your Highness'." Sarcasm filled Sora's voice at the words "Your Highness", but the witch seemed unimpressed at this.

"So, Keybearer, we finally get to battle." The White Witch crossed her swords in an "X" formation, then added, "I've been looking forward to this...You'll make a fine addition to my collection."

Sora then couldn't wait anymore. He sprang, his Ultima Weapon raised for the kill, but the White Witch didn't evade, she parried with one sword and made to attack with the other. Sora backed off, the sword narrowly missing him, and blocked another oncoming sword with his Keyblade. As the White Witch pushed Sora away, the Keybearer jumped into the air and brought his Keyblade down, striking her in the back and catching her by surprise. The White Witch staggered forward, but turned to face Sora with a somewhat-impressed expression on her face.

"Not bad, boy. But I'm done playing with you now." She said, her voice as cold as the icy realm she once ruled over.

The White Witch crossed the distance between her and Sora as quick as a flash and slashed twice with her swords. Sora parried one and evaded the other in a manner similar to when he faced Roxas at the World That Never Was. He hacked at the witch again only to meet the sword in her right hand; Sora spun on his heel, then struck on the other side, attempting to catch her off-guard and failing. She simply parried him and pushed back the Keyblade, then aiming both swords to carve off his head like a pair of scissors. Sora leaned back, so far back that he almost fell back, then righted himself as the witch withdrew her swords and took a swing at him. Sora ducked under it and circled around her to take a swing of his own. The White Witch evaded it by taking a step back and turned to face him, both had a gleam of pure determination on their faces.

Suddenly, Aslan sprinted up the largest rock and unleashed another earth-shaking roar. The White Witch looked up in surprise, as did Sora. Both had news of the lion's death, and the White Witch had actually killed him.

"Impossible!" She said, her words barely audible above the sound of battle.

It then dawned on the witch that she had used her stone spell too much for her own good. The restored statues had enough numbers to rival her army, making the Narnian Army all the more bigger.

Kairi summoned her Keyblade and ran down with the rest of the army, chopping through Heartless like they were nothing. Suddenly, one of the giant, stone Heartless spotted her and raised a giant fist to crush her like a cockroach. Kairi screamed in determination, then sprinted right through the gap between the Golem Heartless' legs. The Golem looked at the place where Kairi had been, stupidly wondering where she had gone to. Suddenly, a deep, male voice roared at it and the Golem Heartless looked up to see a giant easily as big as it was slam a club into its visage. The Golem Heartless went down skidding, but eventually got up with a cracked face and tackled the giant, the impact of the two hitting the ground seeming like an earthquake.

Kairi continued through the battlefield and only stopped when she was confronted with the Opposite Armor. It looked down at her, then prepared to smite the Princess of Heart.

"Aslan!" Kairi called out.

Aslan burst from the battlefield, seemingly from nowhere, then roared at the Opposite Armor. The Heartless clutched the place where its ears would have been, jerking around violently. Aslan finished his roar, then pounced on the Heartless, actually taking it to the ground as though a creature of equal size had tackled it, then bound off. The Opposite Armor almost got up when Kairi jumped onto its middle and jammed Flowering Strength into the place where its heart would have been. It was gone in seconds.

"You must press on. I am needed elsewhere..." Aslan told Kairi, then galloped off through the battle as Kairi teamed up with the rest of the Narnian Army and began to breach through the witch's defenses.

The White Witch was piping mad now, as Sora saw. Her movements had become blinding fast and almost too swift for him to register. She advanced on Sora, pushing him back and forcing him to do no more than defend. If she was going to go down here, she was going to take the Keybearer with her. Sora, not wanting to just defend against the White Witch, tried his hand at an attack...which was the wrong thing to do. The minute he stabbed forward, the White Witch parried and pushed him so hard that he fell on his back. The Witch took a sword, then pinned Sora to the ground by sticking it through his right shoulder. Sora screamed in pain as she prepared to strike. The Keyblade flashed to Sora's left hand and he raised it to block, but that didn't slow the witch down in the slightest. She simply maneuvered it away and placed her leather boot on Sora's left wrist.

"This is goodbye, little Keyblader..."

The witch suddenly heard something approaching and knew almost immediately that she had spoken too soon. Aslan pounced on the witch like an actual lion would on an antelope and the sheer force of him slamming into her brought them forward sharply. The White Witch's sword had flown out of her hand on impact with Aslan and she could only watch in pure terror as Aslan clamped his jaws on her throat.

Sora painfully took the sword out of his shoulder, then stood up as Aslan got off the witch and said, "It is finished."

Sora struggled to regain his balance, clutching his injured shoulder. The White Witch really got him there, he had to give her that much.

"Sora!"

Sora turned around for Kairi to suddenly hug him and almost knock him back down. "Ow...Uh, Kairi?" He asked, "Can you let me go?"

Kairi took a step back and noticed the wound on Sora's right shoulder. Taking quick action, she took Flowering Strength, pointed it at Sora, then cast Curaga on him. The wound healed up in an instant and Sora slowly regained his sense of balance.

"Wow. Why didn't I think of that before? Thanks, Kairi." Sora said, inspecting his shoulder to find that even his jacket had mended itself.

Kairi didn't hear this as she did a quick head count. A member of their party was missing. "What happened to Sakuzy?" She asked, worriedly.

At another part of the battle, Sakuzy was breathing ragged breaths as a Twin-Blade Heartless walked over to him, using its bladed hands as crutches and going in for the kill. Fortunately, the rest of the group came over just as it raised one hand.

"Sorry, buddy!" Joyex quickly apologized to Sakuzy. _I never should've let him go alone..._

Joyex spun his blade around, then threw the blade of his chain whip at the Heartless, the Nobody symbol-gone-blade putting a hole right through The Twin Blade's midsection and turning it into black smoke and a pink heart. Joyex ran over to the fallen Keyblader and shook him, but Sakuzy was coughing violently as he tried to draw breath.

"C'mon, buddy! Stay with us!" Joyex said, shaking his friend violently to try and keep him awake.

Suddenly, something in Kairi's mind clicked...

_Enter flashback..._

_Kairi was soon left with a charm with a fox's tail on it and another with a tiny chef's hat on it. She shrugged, then pocketed them. _Better than nothing, I suppose. _She thought to herself._

_Joyex took notice of the charms she took and nodded, as though he took in a very interesting fact. "Not bad. You got Health Restoration galore." He said._

_End flashback_

The idea sprang almost instantly as Kairi held out the charm with a fox tail on it.

"Todd!"

A green light the color of sunlight in a forest flashed through the air and a small fox appeared. "I can help you there!" It said, eagerly.

Todd jumped into the air and started throwing out green orbs, which Sora and Kairi caught and forced into Sakuzy's wound. As the two watched, the wound healed over and Sakuzy got up with a sharp intake of air.

Todd made a quick go-around, flaring his tail, then waved. "See ya later!" Todd bounded off as he vanished back into his own world.

Sakuzy couldn't help but chuckle as the tiny fox vanished. "I knew that guy was a life saver." He said with a smile.

Aslan walked over to them, catching their immediate attention, then breathed on statues, bringing them to life almost immediately. "I owe thanks to all of you." The great lion said, gratitude easily showing on his face, "Because of you, Narnia is rid of the White Witch and the Heartless. For that, you have earned our trust AND the Pure Heart."

Aslan opened his mouth and let out a long breath. The air that came from Aslan's mouth swirled and compressed until a heart, small and golden, flew over and gently nestled itself into Sora's palm. So THIS was a Pure Heart...

"Thanks, Aslan." Sora said, the Pure Heart clutched in his hand.

Aslan smiled, then beckoned with his large head. "Now go. The next world awaits. And I have something for you, Kairi."

Kairi's heart hammered when Aslan addressed her, but she stepped forward and Aslan beckoned a small crystal to her with his paw. It had a picture of a golden lion engraved on its surface. Kairi picked it up and pocketed it.

"If you ever need my help, use this and I will come to your aid." Aslan said, the wisdom ringing in his voice.

Kairi smiled. "Thanks, Aslan. I will use it."

The Gummi Ship appeared in the world's atmosphere, then beamed them up. They had work to do and more Hearts to collect.

The World That Never Was...

Randall, Dracula, Maleficent, Pete, Hades, and Shere Khan were standing around Maleficent's magic circle. The others were simply at their home worlds causing mayhem at least.

Randall got a good look at what had happened, then chuckled to himself. "Heh, that hot witch could've had them if that lion didn't show up." He said, his hands folded behind his back.

Maleficent shook her head and closed her eyes. "Jadis was a fool." She said, disappointment in her voice, "She let pride take over at the most crucial moment. She should have been aware that the lion was too strong to be killed that easily."

The image on Maleficent's circle changed from Aslan to that of Sora and the others and Dracula could only stare at it in disdain. "But those brats now have their first Pure Heart." He said in disgust, "If they revive the king and queen, our problems will increase tenfold!"

Shere Khan strummed his claws on the stone floor while his other gently stroked his white chest. "Well, if we don't want them going to find Pure Hearts," He said as he took a little time to inspect his claw, "We'll just send them...off-course, shall we say?"

Hades looked ready to burst into flame, but then pondered what Shere Khan said and his face quickly curved into a grin. "Hmm...off course..." He said, massaging his chin, "Off course is good! And I know JUST the place."

Hades snapped his fingers and the map shifted to a small map of the galaxy. Pete was soon to join him and bent over to give the map a good look. "Uh, out of curiosity, where exactly do you plan on sendin' em to?" He asked.

Hades smiled enough so that everyone in the room could see his needle-like teeth. "Only the most BLOODTHIRSTY world out there!" He answered.

Dracula pointed at a world with a finger. "Mine, perhaps?"

Hades shook his index finger and clicked his tongue. THAT was obviously the wrong answer. "Close, but no cigar, my ol' bat buddy." Hades answered, "I found a place that's even MORE dangerous than your little haunted house."

Hades pointed at another world and it zoomed in, causing the God of the Underworld to smile even wider and chuckle.

Todd

A small fox that gives out Health Items whenever Kairi calls. He's fun-loving and always ready to make a new friend, even befriending a hound dog. He first appeared in _The Fox and the Hound_ 1966.

Dark Archer Heartless

Another new kind of Heartless that specializes in long-range combat via the bows that they wield. They enfuse their arrows with darkmatter to make their projectiles all the more dangerous and can often hit opponents from several yards away.

Golem Heartless

Heartless that are native to Narnia. They were in the White Witch's army and might be either the reason for her ability to turn people into stone or reincarnations of her victims. Despite their brute strength, they're slow and...stupid

_Todd's Health Hop and Aslan's Radiant Roar._

_Coming up is non-Disney Movie no. 1. Stay tuned..._


	17. Off Course

Chapter 17: Off Course

That night, Sakuzy laid down in his bunk for some rest and he murmured the same thing he always did. "Time for another pitiful stab at sleep..."

Sakuzy slowly shut his eyes and, with enough trying to get comfy, drifted off.

_(Start Dearly Beloved again)_

Enter flashback...

_Sakuzy, Joey, Maya, and Depth burst through the doors of some sort of dojo where a man with short-cut black hair and a salt-and-pepper beard was waiting for them. Behind the man was another that was taller, more muscular man with blonde hair and a beard-mustache combo. Sakuzy and his friends had changed out of their traditional clothes and were now wearing black, loose shirts and baggy, gray pants._

_Upon seeing the man, Sakuzy bowed in the traditional martial arts style. "Sorry we're late, master." He apologized._

_The man, or Sakuzy's master, quickly raised a hand to silence Sakuzy, then spoke. He spoke in a light, British accent that was a little gruff. "Sakuzy! You may be one of my best students..."_

_An older, blonde Keyblader with a T-Rex-like Keyblade scowled at this comment. It was a man younger, taller, and more muscular than the master and had a beard-mustache combo on his face the same color as his hair._

_"But you're lazy!" The Master finished._

_Sakuzy simply lowered his head to stare at the floor. "Again, I'm sorry. I have no excuse."_

_Apparently, the man known as Depth had other answers. "Actually, he wanted us to have a four-way spar again."_

_"Actually, it was pretty fun..." Joey said, but then the Master gave Joey a stern look and the brown-haired Keyblader instantly decided to shut up there and then._

_On having everyone's full and undivided attention, the Master spoke again. "How many times do I have to tell you four…"_

_"Three." Depth corrected._

_The master paused, then held up his hands in an apologetic manner. "Three. My mistake." He then returned to his stern tone. "DON'T GET COCKY! For that, your sparring will increase tenfold."_

_Sakuzy could only groan with his friends as the large Keyblader behind the Master smiled with every hint of satisfaction. "Well, back to the old grind." Sakuzy said, crestfallen._

_Sakuzy summoned his Keyblade along with the rest of them, though they hardly looked battle-ready. The Master held out his hand and the Ultima Weapon Keyblade appeared in his hand. After looking them over, the hint of a smile appeared on his face as he beckoned the tip of the Ultima at Sakuzy._

_"Sakuzy!" The older Keyblader called, "You first!"_

_Sakuzy stepped forward as he readied his Eagle Feather and took a battle-ready stance. However, upon seeing the gentle smile on his master's face, one also spread across his own. "THIS is going to be fun!" He said, then both charged._

End Flashback...

Sakuzy woke with a start and put his hand to his heart. After taking a quick check on his surroundings, he sighed a melancholy sigh. "Good times..." He said to himself.

Joyex's voice suddenly sounded from the main control room. "C'mon, Sakuzy! Wake up, Sleeping Beauty." He said to his friend, "We're nearing the next Pure Heart!"

Sakuzy sprang right out of his bunk on the word "Pure Heart" and walked into the control room with Joyex and saw that Donald, Sora, and Riku were already awake. He guessed that Kairi and Goofy were, obviously, still asleep.

"Next Pure Heart in sight?" Sakuzy asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Donald nodded. "Yup." The court mage answered.

Riku studied the map, then said, "It's in some world called-"

No one ever found out what the world was called, because suddenly, the ship bucked violently and it suddenly veered off in another direction and smoke slowly started to rise to the Gummi's ceiling.

Suddenly, the ship's automated pilot spoke in a female, monotonous voice. "COURSE CHANGED."

Sora stared in surprise at the computer and asked, "What?!"

Sakuzy went over to the dashboard, typed a few keys, then slammed both fists onto it. "C'mon, you stupid computer! Change course!"

Sakuzy didn't think things could get worse...until Joyex spoke up. "Hate to be the bearer of even MORE bad news, but our controls have conked out."

Sakuzy's eyes widened as he asekd, "Will this result in a fatal crash?"

"Most likely." answered Sora.

Sakuzy and Joyex paused, then both said, "Bring it on."

The ship jerked violently, then fell into the unknown world below them, causing Kairi and Goofy to fall out of their rooms. Goofy's usual hat was replaced with a nightcap and he was holding a teddy bear. "DA-HOO-HOO-HWEE!" Goofy screamed as he tumbled across the Gummi's metallic floor.

Sora lost his balance as the speed of the ship started to increase and landed on his seat. Fortunately, he still had enough reflexes to catch Kairi before she crashed. She landed with her back to Sora and right into his arms.

"Thanks." She said, still a bit shaken by the experience.

Goofy wasn't so lucky. He crashed, face first, into the wall and eventually pulled himself free. After pulling his flattened face back into shape, he clutched his head. "Ow. What in tarnation's goin' on here?" He asked, dazed and confused.

"Uh...we're in a free-fall and about to land in a possibly fatal crash in a few seconds." Sakuzy answered, bracing himself for anything.

Donald turned to Goofy and pointed at the stuffed animal tucked into the knight's right arm. "You sleep with a teddy bear?" He asked.

The ship was now nearing the world, but didn't stop in the atmosphere; it was going to crash. Everyone braced themselves and the Gummi crash-landed on a beach of sorts. It skidded once, then screeched to a halt on the rocky shore. Inside the Gummi Ship, all was a wreck. Sora crawled out of the debris and shook himself back to focus.

"Riku?" He called out, "Joyex? Donald? Goofy? Sakuzy? KAIRI?!"

Sora, fearing the worst, almost immediately started heaving rubble away from the crash site and found Riku under a slab of metal. "Riku!" He said, very relieved that his friend was still alive.

Riku groaned, then looked over at his friend. "Sora, I'm fine." He assured, "I feel like my arm could come out of its socket, but I'm fine."

Sora looked around, then asked, "Where's Kairi?"

Riku looked around the immediate area, then answered. " I dunno. Last I saw her..."

Sakuzy got up with Joyex next to him and Kairi with his arm slung over her shoulder. Apparently, he had gotten shook up in the crash. "She's fine." Sakuzy finished for Riku.

Sora sighed in relief. Joyex smiled in an obnoxious way and looked like he was going to say something when Sakuzy started clutching the locket. "No teasing out of you, Joyex." He warned.

Joyex ignored Sakuzy's warning and the futuristic Keyblader rolled his eyes, then took the locket and gave it a lighter squeeze than back in Narnia. A fiery-red heart appeared over Joyex's chest and he clutched it as though someone was poking a serringe in there. "OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW! ALRIGHT! I can take a hint!" Joyex said in pain.

Sakuzy stopped clutching the locket and Joyex got up before pointing an accusing finger at his Keyblade-wielding friend. "I hate that locket." Joyex cursed, "First chance I get, I'm popping that piece of heart outta there!"

"Huh. SURE you will." Sakuzy said, sarcastically.

Goofy looked around the world they had crash-landed in, then asked, "Well, now that everyone's here and accounted for...where are we?"

Sakuzy thought for a while, then ran over to the computer and started to rapidly type away at the keys. The screen came up as a navigation signal started to analyze where they were.

"Uh…Sakuzy?" Sora asked, "What're ya doing?"

"Trying to find where we are." He answered, still typing away like mad.

The computer started up and Sakuzy's jaw fell open as a look of absolute horror crossed his face.

"What?" Sora asked, "Where are we?"

Sakuzy simply stared at the navigation screen and simply spoke to himself. "Out of all the worlds we had to be in, we HAD to end up here."

"Well, where's 'here'?" Kairi asked, the information Sakuzy giving not really being enough.

Sakuzy moved from the computer so that the rest of the group could see what it read. As they all found where they were, looks of fear appeared on their faces.

_Two giant rocks appeared and they seemed to get smashed into letters that spelled out "Skull Island" by invisible sledgehammers. With a beastly roar, the stone words exploded into pebbles._

_Alright, here's non-Disney movie number one—a world based off King Kong. I personally don't care for the movie, but my brother requested it and I couldn't refuse without getting my arms torn out. That AND he wanted to see how they would fare on the bloodthirsty island._


	18. Skull Island

Chapter 18: Skull Island

Sora and co. got out of the Gummi ship and looked around. For the moment, all they could see were jagged rocks that looked old...very old. On most islands, there were sandy beaches; such was not the case here. It looked foreboding with rocks jutting out of the sea and the occasional ruin.

"I've never been to this world before." Sora said, a tingle flowing down his spine, "But from what Sakuzy's saying, I wish I never did."

Sakuzy simply stared at the place, then gulped. "I always thought this place was a myth. Now I wish I wasn't proven wrong..." He said, in total awe.

Goofy looked around and suddenly noticed a stone wall that ran for miles. It certainly didn't look like it was there for show... "I take it this is NOT the best place to be."

Joyex looked at Goofy and shook his head. "You have no idea."

Sora hopped onto one of the jagged rocks that dotted the island shore, then turned to the others. "Well, while we're here, we might as well find a way off this rock."

Donald took one quick check to make sure they were alone, then hopped after Sora as well as Goofy and Kairi. Sakuzy and Joyex, on the other hand, were a little less willing to go.

"Sora! Get back here!" Sakuzy eventually shouted, breaking the tension. Sakuzy jumped out of the ship after Sora and immediately went rock-hopping.

Joyex turned to Riku, then to Sakuzy and shrugged in curiosity. "I'm not gonna abandon Sakuzy, but who'll look after the ship?" He asked.

"I will." Riku answered, "I know a little bit about Gummis, so I'll see if I can get it running again."

Joyex clapped Riku on the shoulder. "Thanks, Riku. You're a real pal."

Joyex jumped onto the shore and ran off after everyone else while Riku stayed behind and began to tinker with the inside of the Gummi Ship.

After navigating a network of caves in the rocky beach, the group finally saw daylight. In front of them was a village of sorts, but it certainly didn't look like the best vacation spot, because it looked deserted and some of the wooden spears on the huts had various things impaled on them from fish to human skulls. And Sakuzy reflected that whoever thought all islands were pleasant vacation spots really needed to get out more.

"Gawrsh, sure is spooky here..." Goofy said, looking from side-to-side for any form of danger.

"Ah, phooey. I'm not scared of anything!" Donald said, trying to be brave, but then he looked to his left and saw a human skeleton with a spear running right through its ribcage. He gulped and quickly tiptoed past it, eager to avoid seeing anything else.

The group continued to search the area, each group of houses showing something else speared. Sora had just realized that his and Kairi's hands had intertwined when something shot out of nowhere and hit the place where he was about to place his foot: a spear.

"Uh oh!" Sora said, alerting everyone to what happened to him, "We're under attack!"

Sora looked around to see that this village was obviously not deserted. Several people with odd piercings had shown themselves and were wielding spears (and various other gross-looking weapons). However, their skin was almost pitch-black, their hair was long and messy, and their eyes were a burning red color.

"Something tells me that the natives aren't happy about us being here..." Sakuzy pointed out.

Joyex whipped out his chain as the natives got ever closer in what could only be described as aggression. One made to grab Sora, but the Keybearer simply backed away and swung his Keyblade at him. The native put his spear in the way in an attempt to block, but the Keyblade broke it like a toothpick. Without a weapon, the native fled with a desperate-sounding growl and Sora cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

"What just happened here? Why didn't that guy fight back?" He asked himself.

Both Sakuzy and Joyex had teamed up against a group of natives and were beginning to get an edge when they suddenly noticed that Donald and Goofy were in a bit of a spot. More of these natives were coming in numbers far greater than they could handle.

"Donald!" Sakuzy called out, "Get us outta here!"

Donald nodded and raised his staff. Instantly, thunder struck the ground near the natives and frightened them long enough for the rest of the group to retreat into the caves.

"Whew! That was uncalled for." Sora said, catching his breath.

Joyex took a quick look at everyone, then realized something. "Wait a second…Goofy, I need a head count!"

"Uh, sure thing, Joyex." Goofy quickly counted the group, then realization spread onto his face as he panicked. "HEY! There's only FOUR OF US!"

Sakuzy did a head count of his own and corrected Goofy. "FIVE of us, Goofy. Count yourself, too."

"Oh, ahyuck. Whoops." Goofy said, somewhat absent-mindedly.

Sora also did the head count and the shock hit him like a ton of bricks. "Wait…FIVE?! Where's Kairi?!"

"I thought she was with you." Sakuzy answered.

"I thought she was with Joyex."

Both turned to Joyex, who scratched his mess of black hair and answered, "Well, she was. But the last thing I remember is her getting carried away by those creepy native guys."

Sora felt his heart fall out of his chest and splash inside his stomach. "WHAT?!"

"Well, excuse me for fighting for my life!" Joyex explained, "I didn't exactly want my head on a stake."

The group looked up at a sudden noise: the constant, rhythmic beating of tribal drums.

"THAT doesn't sound good." Donald said, sounding as worried as he looked.

Sora, without even pausing to think, ran back through the network of caves towards the village with everyone else in hot pursuit. Sakuzy buried his face in one hand.

"He's gonna get himself killed at this rate." He groaned. Sakuzy sighed, then reluctantly ran after Sora.

Natives

People that have lived on the world of Skull Island for millennia. They don't exactly tolerate outsiders, but it appears to be no more than a ruse. In reality, they are a frightened race that live in the shadows of bigger, deadlier creatures. It also appears to be a reason that they built a huge wall on their part of the island's shore. They first appeared in _King Kong _2005.

_Please review._


	19. The Wicked Wild

Chapter 19: The Wicked Wild

The group had just gotten back to the village when they saw that the giant wall that embroidered it had torches aglow on its surface. Oddly enough, the drums had stopped beating and, if you watched scary movies, you'd know THAT wasn't a good sign.

"Behind the wall!" Sora ordered, then took off as fast as he could, leaving everyone else in the dust.

Sora had just reached the halfway point to the wall when there was an earthshaking ROAR. Everyone froze in place until the roar stopped.

"What in the name of Kingdom Hearts was that?" Joyex asked, barely audible to anyone.

There was a short growl from behind the wall and, shortly afterward, a scream that chilled Sora down to the core. He clambered up the stairs of the wall while Sakuzy went to peek through the door that led to the island's interior.

Sakuzy saw a massive shape in the flames' glare. It was a beast of sorts, at least twenty feet tall, and looking at him through the door with a scarred face. After a few seconds, the beast turned toward the jungle and thundered off to the unknown regions of the island's interior. Sakuzy gulped. He was hoping to avoid this situation.

By the time Sora reached the top of the wall, Kairi was nowhere to be seen. It had taken him longer to climb the stairs than for Sakuzy to get to the doorway. He went down to the bottom of the stairs to a waiting Donald, Goofy, and Joyex. "She's gone..." He told them.

Sakuzy also came and said something under his breath. "So…he was real, too."

Meanwhile, Sora sat down at the bottom stair and shook his head. Goofy put a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Don't worry, Sora. We'll find Kairi soon enough."

Sora nodded, then everyone knew what he was going to do. They went over to a bridge that led to the other side of a massive chasm separating the village from the jungle.

When they got to the other side, Sakuzy stopped, then got in front. "Alright, I vote we split up."

"What?" Sora asked, "Why?"

"If we split up, we'll cover more ground." Sakuzy explained, "We split up, we double the chances of rescuing your girl, Sora."

Sora nodded as the idea of splitting up seemed to be better, but upon hearing the last part of what Sakuzy had to say, he cocked an eyebrow at Sakuzy. "WHAT did you say?" He asked.

"Never you mind." Sakuzy immediately went back to the point and added, "Anyhoo, I'll be going with Joyex."

Joyex stammered to try and find an excuse not to go onto the island, but then couldn't come up with one. He sighed in defeat and shook his head. "Alright, but if I die, YOU stay away from my funeral."

The two friends from the future ran off into the jungle. After a while of looking after them, Sora turned to Donald and Goofy.

"Well, guys, where do we go?" He asked.

As Donald and Sora tried to find a reasonable place to start, Goofy looked down at the ground. "Hmm...how about we follow them footprints?" The knight suggested.

"FOOTPRINTS?!" Donald asked in shock.

Donald looked down at the ground, then noticed that he was standing in a giant footprint. He screamed and immediately jumped out of it. Sora, unlike Donald, got down on his knees to get a closer look. The footprint was easily longer than Donald was tall and had five digits. Four pointed forward while one stuck out to the left. It looked a little bit like a human hand...or an ape's foot.

"Do you think THIS took Kairi?" He asked, comparing the ape's big toe with his hand. It easily dwarfed it.

"Y'know, maybe we should've asked Sakuzy." Goofy suggested, "I think HE got a good look at it. He got to the wall first, remember?"

Donald came back to the footprint and gave it a good look of his own. "Well, whatever made this has to be about twenty-five feet tall."

Sora looked upward and saw more tracks similar to what they had found as well as uprooted trees and crushed branches. Sora took off at a sprint, following the tracks with Donald and Goofy close behind in their own unique run. Donald was leaning forward while Goofy took wide strides and leaned back slightly.

After a few minutes in the jungle, Sora found out that Skull Island had more than the thing that made the prints and unfriendly natives. It had flies the size of Goofy's hand, and you wouldn't exactly want one of them buzzing around YOUR head. Goofy had to swat two or three of them with his shield. Donald was soon so fed up with the giant flies that he performed a fire spell that missed the insect.

"Donald! Don't do that or you'll set the whole island on fire!" Sora pointed out, stopping Donald from using any more magic.

Donald mumbled something inaudible, but suddenly set one of the flies on fire and it fell to the ground, burned to a crisp like a miniature plane that had been shot down.

(Note: This part of the story will now be split into viewing three people/groups--Sora, Sakuzy, and Kairi. Right now, we'll be checking on how Kairi's doing.)

Kairi…

Kairi's head hurt like heck as she came to and found herself in an ancient ruin of sorts that ran through a canyon. She slowly looked at her surroundings and then saw what she had been dreading. Right in front of her, with its back turned to her, was a giant gorilla. It was at least twenty or twenty-five feet tall, covered in shaggy, black fur, and she could see from one of its arms that it was battle-scarred. The gorilla was sitting down on the ruin's staircase and munching on bamboo that was growing at the main entrance.

_Perfect time for a snack... _She thought to herself.

Kairi slowly started to crawl away, not wanting to attract attention from the ape. But when she looked back to make sure it wasn't watching, the ape was just about to turn around. On instinct, she laid back down. The ape looked at her for a while, then returned to its business of eating. Kairi heard it crunching the bamboo and continued to crawl away. She soon found a tunnel of sorts in the rock wall to her right and hurried into it. She then navigated through the tunnel and found a way out. Glad to be out of there, she started sprinting through the jungle, searching for those that the ape had taken her away from.

"SORA!" She called out, cupping her hands to her mouth, "SAKUZY! Where are you?!"

Kairi had been navigating for about ten minutes when she came upon a very odd sight. Just a few meters away from her was a giant bird. Its wings were too small for flight, but it did have a pair of powerful legs and a hornbill-esque beak. It turned to look at Kairi and stared for a while before returning to its business of foraging.

"What is this place?"

Kairi stared at the bird for a minute longer, then took off again in her search for Sora and Sakuzy.

Sakuzy and Joyex…

The night was not friendly to Joyex and his buddy. Well, here's how it went…

Sakuzy had already traveled far away from where the great wall was. So, he decided to take a break with Joyex. Just as he had drifted off for a nap, something flew right into his face. He opened his eyes to see a tiny little reptile with batlike wings, goggling at him with big, bulgy eyes. Sakuzy screamed, and so did the little reptile, or Vultursaur. After about ten seconds of waving his arms around like a windmill, the flying reptile fluttered away like a frightened bat.

Joyex turned at the sound of the commotion and asked, "What was that all about?"

Sakuzy regained his breath before speaking again. "Forget the bats back home. These things are just creepy…" He said, clutching his hammering heart.

"You mean that thing that made you scream like a girl?" Joyex asked, stifling laughter.

The Nobody had spoken too soon. He had just turned around to continue walking when another Vultursaur, exactly like the one that frightened Sakuzy, flew right into his face. The little flying lizard was so frightened that it dug its sharp little teeth into Joyex's nose.

Joyex's response was pretty much expected: he screamed, then shouted, "OH MY GOSH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFFA ME!!"

The little flying lizard let go of Joyex and flew off into the forest like a frightened bird that had been trapped. Sakuzy couldn't help but laugh at what Joyex did, who instantly turned with a grouchy look on his face.

"Oh, sure. Laugh. It's funny until it happens to you." He said, disdainfully.

Sakuzy suddenly stopped laughing as something started breathing down Joyex's neck. Joyex spoke upon seeing the expression on Sakuzy's face and feeling the trickle of warm breath down his cloak. "There's something REALLY bad behind me, isn't there?" He asked.

Joyex slowly turned around and saw a monstrous-looking lizard creature, or Foetodon, behind him. It bared its sharp teeth and let out a low "hiss" as it coiled itself to spring. It did spring like a crocodile and the two warriors shot away…right into the path of another.

"GREAT! How many giant lizards do we have to run into?" Joyex asked in disbelief.

"Beats me!" Sakuzy answered, still staring one Foetodon in the eye.

"Any bright ideas?" Joyex asked his friend.

"Run away!" Without warning, Sakuzy ran off to the side, avoiding the snapping jaws of one Foetodon.

"I coulda thought of that…" Joyex evaded another giant reptile, then zipped off after his friend, the lizards in hot pursuit.

Vultursaur

A resident of Skull Island's bewildering wildlife. Despite looks, it is NOT a pterosaur, but a flying dinosaur that developed batlike wings and a nocturnal lifestyle. It first appeared in _World of Kong _2006.

Hylaeornis

A local bird on Skull Island that is too big to fly. It looks a bit like a cross between a hornbill and an emu, but despite its slightly-frightening appearance, it is a vegetarian. If attacked, it will lash out with its powerful legs and talons. It first appeared in _World of Kong _2006

Foetodon

A six-meter long, lizard-like creature that is one hundred-percent carnivorous. Despite the look, these massive reptiles are more closely related to crocodiles. Foetodon are primarily scavengers, but can be nasty predators with their bone-crunching jaws and terrifying bursts of speed. Foetodon first appear in _King Kong _2005.


	20. Lizards, Dinosaurs, and Bugs, oh my!

Chapter 20: Lizards and Dinosaurs and Bugs, oh my!

Sora, Donald, and Goofy…

Sora and co. had just reached the edge of a large chasm with a giant log for them to cross. They were about halfway across when something in the bushes ahead moved. Sora summoned his Keyblade on instinct and soon was glad he did so, because out of the bushes came a new kind of Heartless. It looked like a black dinosaur with blood-red claws and glowing, yellow eyes. It was tall enough to look Goofy in the eye and had a mouthful of razor sharp teeth, which bared as it snarled at Sora.

"The Heartless are here, too?!" Sora asked in disbelief.

"Well, let's get down to business!" Donald said, beckoning for one of the Heartless.

Donald raised his staff and a fireball flew out of its tip. The blazing ball of flame missed the Raptor Heartless by inches and soared right into a cave close by. The Heartless let loose an earsplitting screech and two or three more appeared on the log.

"Alright, come and get some!" Sora challenged.

All the Raptor Heartless sprang and landed on the log with a "thunk" of claws on wood, then snarled at him. Sora was about to strike when there was an earthshaking roar coming from the cave on the other side. The giant gorilla, or Kong as he was called, exploded out of the cave and stopped at the base of the log. The Heartless roared in fear as they tried to scramble off the log. However, Kong gave the edge of the cliff a good pound with his massive fists and the log shook. Goofy almost fell off the edge, but dug his shield into the log's wooden interior. Donald quickly seized Goofy around the waist and the captain's trousers fell down, revealing boxer shorts with hearts on them.

A curious look crossed Goofy's face as he addressed Donald down below. "Hey, Donald, is there a draft on this island?"

Donald looked up, but then looked back down. Either way, he didn't like it, because looking down meant looking at the seemingly bottomless chasm. It was so deep that he couldn't see the bottom. "Uh-oh!" He quacked.

Kong then seized the log by the roots and heaved it so that it rolled. Sora held onto a branch that cropped out of the log's trunk and the Heartless tried to keep their balance, only making Kong angrier. Kong heaved the log again and again with Sora, Donald, and Goofy holding on for dear life. Suddenly, with one last heave, the log fell into the abyss, sending the Heartless falling to their deaths.

When Sora was in the free-fall, he felt scared, not because he was afraid to die, he proved THAT fear false long ago, but because he wanted to see Kairi again. The log fell onto the sides of the chasm and vines that netted the walls slowed the log's descent slightly, but not too much. The log fell and fell until it lodged itself just above the ground and caused the three heroes to fall to the ground. The impact of the fall knocked the air from Sora's lungs and he faded into unconsciousness.

Sakuzy and Joyex…

Sakuzy and Joyex had barely gotten away from the Foetodon, losing them by going into a bog. The lizard-like creatures weren't really adept to running long distances, so that was their trump card against them. The bog of Skull Island was a vast swamp full of mangrove trees, algae-covered water and smelled densely of humidity.

"Y'know what I DON'T understand?" Joyex asked.

"What?" Sakuzy said with a cocked head.

"Why'd that lizard thing run off after we got to this stinkpot? "

Sakuzy shrugged. He knew the answer, but if he gave the answer of the lizard stamina, Joyex would probably call him a nerd. "Beats me. Hey, look! A boat!"

Sakuzy pointed to part of the swamp's shore and Joyex saw that there was indeed a small, two-man boat at the swamp's shore. He shrugged. At least it would be better than wallowing through the swamp water.

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Joyex said, "Let's get rowing!"

Sakuzy, however, paused to look into the island's depths. "Apparently we're not alone on this island."

"Who cares?!" Joyex asked, desperately, "Let's get the heck outta here!"

The two got in and they rowed off into the swamp's interior. When the two were out of sight, a figure in a green robe walked into the scene and noticed that the boat was gone.

"Hey, where's my boat?!"

Meanwhile, with Sakuzy and Joyex, the two were drifting through the watery landscape with high hopes that they were safer from anything below the water's surface.

"_**Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a..." **_Joyex immediately stopped singing and said,__"I'm gonna stop now."

"You'd better." Sakuzy pointed out.

Joyex would have replied to that comment when, suddenly, a large fish with a long mouth filled with teeth sprung from the water and tried snapping at the two. Both screamed in fright as they leaned away from the thrashing fish, or Needlemouth, before the beast landed in the water again.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Joyex asked in fright.

"Beats me. This island says 'adios' to zoological accuracy. In here, the animals go by the strange, the weird, and the scary." Upon getting a strange look from Joyex, Sakuzy cut to the chase. "Case and point, ol' snapper's coming back."

The Needlemouth circled round the boat, then sprung again. More amazingly was that it was grabbed right out of the air by a BIGGER fish that looked like a giant cross between a piranha and a moray eel with powerful, flipper-like fins. The Needlemouth struggled in the jaws of its captor, Pirahnodon, before the bigger fish slammed back into the water and crunched its prey in two.

"There's always a bigger fish." Sakuzy said as he rowed the boat away as fast as he could.

"How about we CUT THE METAPHORS AND GET OUT OF THIS SLIME HOLE?!" Joyex said, not exactly a fan of metaphors.

"Good idea."

Joyex saw something in the water move again, then rowed off at top speed. He was going so fast to escape apparent danger that he failed to look where he was going. "At least we're safe now." He said, now out of range of...whatever was in the water.

The boat, however, hit a sizeable rock, flew out of the water and catapulted Joyex and Sakuzy forward before the boat shattered on contact with the face of a large dinosaur known as Ferrucutus. It looked a little bit like a triceratops with very notable differences. It had horns on its frill that stuck out like swords behind a shield and had a bony stump on its nose rather than a horn. On the sides of this stump were a pair of smaller horns. The Ferrucutus turned on them and snorted aggressively, the breath actually ruffling Sakuzy and Joyex's hair.

"No." Sakuzy said, correcting Joyex.

The Ferrucutus let out a loud bellow that sent both of them running for their lives. The Ferrucutus snorted like a rhinoceros, then charged after them like an angry rhino and snapping trees like twigs, as though the dinosaur itself was a living steamroller.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy…

Sora slowly came back to his senses to find that he was at the bottom of the chasm. Soon, something stirred...or at least SEVERAL things with MANY legs. Before too many could come out, Sora pointed his Keyblade at a fallen bush of sorts.

"FIRE!"

A fireball shot out of Sora's Keyblade and brought the bush ablaze, lighting up the chasm. It missed the creatures that stirred, but it lit a small fire, which lit up the pit and scared the things off. As soon as Sora saw that the creatures were gone, he ran over to Donald and Goofy, who were still unconscious.

"Donald? Goofy?" He said to them, "You guys OK?"

Goofy groaned as he got up and scratched his head. "Ow...bumpy trip." said the knight. Goofy pulled up his trousers, then got a good look at where he was and shivered slightly. "Gawrsh! And I thought that village was spooky..."

Donald got to his feet and looked up at the chasm walls to see the sun shining above them. On looking at the gloom they were in, he shuddered, then made for the walls. "I gotta get outta here!"

Donald, still in a panic, hopped onto the walls, got a good hold on their jagged surface, and started climbing up. The duck mage was about halfway there when he happened to come across a strange crevice. As he climbed over it, two crab-like claws came out and tried to grab him, but he looked down and they retreated into the crevice as quick as a flash. The duck-mage looked down for a quick check, then chuckled nervously.

"Probably just my imagination."

As Donald looked back up, the claws came out and tried to grab him, but when he looked down, they retreated again. The same process happened again and again (You get what's happening). Suddenly, a claw reached out and tapped the duck on his right shoulder. Donald turned to try and get a good look at what touched him, when suddenly the other claw grabbed him. Donald screamed his usual scream as the giant, crab-like claw pulled him into the crevice.

"DONALD!" Sora and Goofy called out in panic

As Sora listened, there seemed to be a tussle in the crevice. A bit of Donald's feathers flew out as well as his signature "WAAAAK" and the sound of snapping claws.

"THUNDER!"

A flash of light erupted from the crevice as well as smoke and Donald came out, looking scuffled.

"THAT was close." Sora said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Sora knew if he had done that, Donald would probably have kicked him for that. Suddenly, the light died down and Sora immediately noticed that the fire keeping away had begun to fade. "Uh-oh."

The light flickered out just as Donald tried climbing out again. However, he was half-expecting a similar claw tocome out of another crevice, grab him and pull him back in. The two tussled around inside the crevice, then Donald emitted one word.

"THUNDER!"

The explosion of thunder fried the strange crab-thing, or Deplector, was and the thing fell out of its hole in the wall to reveal a massive crustacean. It had long, spindly legs, massive pincers on a pair of gangly arms, and antennae that looked more than twelve feet long. Donald jumped, laughing, out of the hole…only to get grabbed by another Deplector.

"Ah, nuts." Donald said, crestfallen.

The Deplector dragged him in and the same thing that happened last time, happened again. Donald finally gave up on trying to climb out and jumped out onto the ground only to get covered in giant cricket creatures known as Weta-rexes. The foot-long wetas were crawling all over him and clacking their large jaws, trying to eat him alive. Goofy was about to help when acid-green insects easily as big as he was tall got in the way. It was soon a battle between shield and sharp, mantis-esque limbs. Sora was going to help against the Decarnocimex when he found himself in a geothermal spring of sorts and met the most unpleasant creature he had ever seen. At first, it looked like no more than a slimy brown sack, but then with a convulsion of sorts, a pink worm-thing sprouted out of its top. The creature had no visible head or even a face, unless you counted a sphincter maw of teeth a "face". Sora whipped out his Keyblade and batted a worm, Carnictis, aside as it came for him.

"UGH! THESE things are disgusting." He said, true to his words.

Said Carnictis made to "bite" Sora, but with one movement of his Keyblade, Sora sliced its head off and retreated from the bubbling spring.

"FORCE!"

A bunch of insects flattened as the effects of Donald's spell hit them, though the duck was still covered in the giant crickets. Goofy knocked one off with his shield before getting attacked by some of the Decarnocimex. They were handling themselves pretty well until the last Weta-rex exploded into pieces from a thunder spell from Sora. However, Sora saw something crawling down from the walls of the chasm: giant bugs that had long, spindly legs and a pair of pincers, known as Arachno-Claws, and there were also more of the Deplectors that gave Donald some trouble. They couldn't fight off this many creatures, especially ones that were easily the size of a grizzly bear. THIS was basically a death trap.

Sakuzy and Joyex...

Sakuzy and Joyex sprinted through the jungle. The two had somehow managed to lose the Ferrucutus like the Foetodon, but had to run at top speed in order to do so.

Soon, Sakuzy had to stop and hunched over slightly. "I don't remember the last time I ran THAT fast. I need a breather.

Joyex sat down, then tried to catch his breath. "I'll keep watch, buddy." He said between gasps.

Sakuzy leaned against a large tree and fell asleep, almost unintentionally.

_(Insert Dearly Beloved here.)_

Enter Flashback...

_Sakuzy was on his knees against a man with a T-Rex-esque Keyblade virtually at his throat. Sakuzy looked up with a look of anger on his face. "Why? Why do you hate me so much, Victor?!"_

_"Victor" turned out to be the blonde man that had scowled at him earlier. Victor raised his Keyblade, Fossil Crusher, and placed it so close to Sakuzy that it almost touched his nose. "Because a brat like you doesn't deserve this position. You need experience, which is something only I have."_

_"Forget experience!" Sakuzy growled, "I just go with my instinct. There's nothing wrong with THAT, is there?!"_

_That last statement REALLY seemed to tick Victor off as he raised his Keyblade to strike, causing Sakuzy to scrunch his eyes and brace himself. The blow never came, and Sakuzy soon found out that it was because Depth was holding his Omega Weapon between him and Sakuzy. The bald Keyblader eventually staved the blow off._

_"That was uncalled for, Victor." Depth snarled, pointin an accusing finger at him, "Now, I suggest you back off unless you want to deal with ME."_

_Victor obviously didn't see Depth as the person to mess with, because he turned his back on them and stalked away. Sakuzy got up, using his Keyblade as a crutch and a smile on his face. "Thanks, Depth. I owe ya one." He said._

_Depth turned to Sakuzy, then turned away, disregarding him. "Don't get used to it, Sakuzy. I can't protect ya all the time."_

_Sakuzy shrugged. "There's still Joey and Maya."_

_Depth looked around, then to Sakuzy, a stern look on his face. "Didn't see 'em here TODAY. You gotta learn to take care of stuff by yourself, pal."_

_"Hey, Maya won't be home, sick, all the time and Joey doesn't have daily dentist appointments." Sakuzy pointed out._

_Depth could only scoff to hold back his slight amusement at Sakuzy's spunk. "Whatever."_

_Depth dispelled his Omega Weapon, then walked off, leaving Sakuzy to stagger to his feet._

_"See ya later, buddy." He called._

_Depth stopped, then gave Sakuzy a piercing glare. "NEVER call me 'buddy'. Understand?"_

End Flashback...

Sakuzy suddenly woke up as he felt something like a red hot poker hit him in the chest.

"What's up, buddy?" Joyex asked.

"My Sora senses are tingling!" Sakuzy said, immediately shooting to his feet..

Joyex stared at Sakuzy, then rolled his eyes and asked, "You just made that up, didn't ya?"

"Whatever. We've gotta find him! You know what'll happen if he dies NOW!" He said, urgently.

Joyex's eyes widened as realization suddenly hit him. "Oh, crud! You're right!"

The two took off as quick as a flash and instantly found themselves at a chasm filled with giant bugs from foot-long wetas to spiders the size of bears. Right at the bottom of the chasm was Sora, Donald, and Goofy, fighting for their lives.

"Got any bug spray on ya, Sakuzy?" Joyex asked.

"Ah, scrap bug spray." Sakuzy answered, "We'll need a summon charm to get them outta there..."

Sakuzy took out the three summon charms he took for himself, then compared them. "Thunder? No, I'm saving it. Giant? What good will THAT do? Dog? No, he won't help in this situation and neither would Kermit."

Joyex's expression was surprisingly smug as he reached into the pocket of his cloak. "Well, looks like we've got one charm left."

The chain-wielding Nobody held out his Dragon Charm, then tossed it into the air and caught it.

King Kong

A giant gorilla who rules Skull Island. He took Kairi when the natives offered her to him, as he has done for many generations with the island's native girls. He's over a hundred years old, but don't let his age fool you, he's actually a battle veteran. The one thing he wants is company, after spending most of his life as a lonely hermit. He first appeared in _King Kong_ 2005.

Needlemouth

A predatorial fish over thirteen feet long that inhabits Skull Island's swamplands. It jumped out of the water, trying to get Sakuzy and Joyex, but was eaten by the creature that appeared down there. It first appeared in _World of Kong _2006.

Pirahnodon

The largest predator in the Skull Island swamplands, rivalling even whales in size at fifty feet long. It devoured a Needlemouth and nearly ate Sakuzy and Joyex, too. It first appeared in the extended version of _King Kong_ 2005.

Raptor Heartless

A new breed of Heartless native to Skull Island. However, on the island they're relatively rare, but fierce nonetheless. They're swift, intelligent, and astonishing jumpers. THEY are the actual reason why Kong sent Sora and co. into that death trap of a chasm.

Weta-rex

Giant relatives of insects on the islands of New Zealand, the Weta-rexes live in the chasms of Skull Island, clambering up the walls as though defying gravity. They hunt in packs to take down any creature unfortunate enough to drop into the chasm's depths, using their powerful jaws to tear their prey apart. They first appeared in _King Kong _2005

Decarnocimex

Easily six feet long, these giant cricket relatives live up to their scientific name: Flesh-removing bug. They attack using their mantis-like limbs and pincer-like jaws to devastate their prey. They first appeared in _King Kong _2005

Carnictis

Possibly, the most disgusting creatures on Skull Island are these tapeworm relatives. Primarily scavengers, they will also prey on anything that can't get away in time. However, they are bound to the geothermal springs that they call their home. They first appeared in _King Kong _2005.

Deplector

Two-meter-high land crabs that live in the chasms of Skull Island, Deplectors mainly live on the chasm walls and use their powerful claws to snap up prey from the tiny vultursaurs to dinosaurs. However, Deplectors are blind, mainly using their twelve-foot antennae to feel their way around the world. They first appeared in _King Kong _2005.

Arachno-claw

Possibly the most terrifying of Skull Island's chasm inhabitants, the Arachno-claw can move along the walls of the chasms like a gecko. They are relatively rare, but they have pincers for front limbs and six legs that could impale a person. They first appeared in _King Kong _2005.

_Last chance to guess the Dragon Charm! Here's a hint—he's not from a Disney MOVIE, but a Disney TV Series. Please review and guess._


	21. Stampede!

Chapter 21: Stampede!

As Joyex tossed his Dragon Charm in the air, Sakuzy's eyes widened beyond recommended level as he realized what they could do. "Of course! He can help us!"

Joyex smiled, smugly, then said, "I know."

Joyex caught the Dragon Charm, then held it above his head.

"Jake Long!"

In a burst of red light, a kid with spiky black hair, a red shirt, and a pair of jeans appeared. The boy then burst into flame and turned into a giant, crimson dragon, which retained his hairstyle. Joyex climbed onto Jake Long's back and the great dragon took off like an eagle. They had a Keyblader to save, after all.

Sora was fighting off the massive bugs, but realized that there were just too many creatures of that size to take down in one sitting. Suddenly, Jake Long, the American Dragon, rocketed over him and belched flames onto the bugs, barbecuing them. The rest of the bugs went into retreat from the dragon's appearance and Jake Long came in for a smooth landing on the chasm floor.

"Get on, guys!" Joyex told them quickly, "I don't want to end up bug food."

Joyex got Sora, Donald, and Goofy on the dragon, then took off out of the nightmare of a chasm. Rather than return to where they started, Jake Long flew them to the other side of the chasm. Fortunately, Sakuzy grabbed onto the American Dragon's tail and was flown across in an instant. When Joyex and co. got off, Jake Long reverted back to his human form.

"See ya, dudes!" he called, then the boy sprinted off and vanished back into his own world.

"So, Sakuzy and I were nearly eaten by a pair of overgrown Gila monsters, two overgrown fish, and were nearly trampled by an enraged triceratops." Joyex explained to Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

It was a while after the whole chasm incident and the two were comparing what happened to them while they were at this world. Joyex had just explained what happened during the hours they were gone, so Sora took his turn.

"Well, Donald, Goofy, and I were nearly eaten by Heartless, almost fell to our deaths, and were nearly eaten alive by bugs." Sora said, trying to compare with Joyex.

Goofy suddenly noticed something, then pointed at something on Joyex's cloak. "Speakin' of which, Joyex, you got a new friend." He pointed out.

Joyex looked down at his chest to see that one of the Weta-rexes was skittering around on it. The Nobody screamed as he flailed around, trying to get at it. By the time said Weta-rex was on his chest, Joyex smashed the insect with his fist and the dead bug fell to the ground with a "plop".

"Stupid bug!" He growled as he kicked its remains away.

Sakuzy paid no mind to Joyex as he put a hand on his chin. "So, the Heartless are HERE, too?" He asked, then thought about it a little while longer. "Well, I'm not surprised. All the fearful hearts from the natives here, what do you expect? Only gives me thoughts on what else could be out there..."

After a few more minutes of traveling, the search and rescue squad had just reached the inside of a valley and apparently wanted to go in separate directions again.

"Alright, Donald, Goofy, and I will go THAT way..." Sora pointed to the right part of the valley, then pointed to the left as he addressed Sakuzy and Joyex. "And you guys go the other way."

Sakuzy nodded. "Roger."

Sakuzy and Joyex went to the left while Sora, Donald, and Goofy went the other way. Sakuzy and Joyex hadn't gotten far, however, before a guy clad in a green cloak ran past them.

"Crystalli!" Sakuzy said in alarm.

Sakuzy summoned his Eagle Feather Keyblade and Joyex got out his chain whip, but it seemed to be for nothing, because the cloaked figure ran past without even sparing a passing glance.

"RUN! RUN AWAY!" The Crystalli cried out in a frightened voice.

Both Sakuzy and Joyex stared as the cloaked guy sprinted off at breakneck speed, seemingly with nothing to lose. "What's with this guy?" Sakuzy asked.

There was the sudden rumble of what sounded like distant thunder and the ground began to shake. Both turned around to see the source of the phenomenon and both their eyes widened at the sight.

"HOLY—"

Sora was walking through the valley with Donald and Goofy when he heard the sound of footsteps. He turned, expecting Joyex and Sakuzy, but only met the same cloaked figure running towards them. Sora summoned his Keyblade, Goofy got out his shield, and Donald his staff as the figure got closer.

"Who are you?!" Sora ordered.

The green cloaked figure also ran past them, not even bothering to stop and talk it over. He was...frightened.

"Talk later!" He said, hurriedly, "RUN NOW!"

The three of them just stood there and stared as the cloaked person ran away.

"Where's HE goin' in such a hurry?" Goofy asked, fingering his chin.

Before Sora or Donald could answer him, there was another rumble and loose rocks suddenly fell free from the canyon walls. Birds were flying away in panic as though an earthquake was on its way to the island. At that moment, Joyex came running towards them looking like his pants were on fire.

"Joyex?" Donald asked, making to move for him.

Joyex simply ran past all three of them, but found enough time to quickly say, "Listen to the green guy and RUN!"

The king's court mage and captain of the guards looked at Joyex run past until Goofy suddenly decided to take his word for it. He started slowly, but became a bit more urgent. "I dunno about you, but I'm outta here! C'mon, Donald!"

Goofy seized Donald by the back of the neck and dragged the duck with him. Donald hopped on one foot until he righted himself and quickly followed at top speed.

Sora, however, noticed that one member of the party was missing. "Wait...Where's Sakuzy?"

Sora's question was answered when he saw Sakuzy round a corner. The visitor from the future looked like an army of Crystalli was behind him. "Run, Sora, RUN!"

Sora's eyes widened when he saw that, behind Sakuzy, was NOT an army of Crystalli, but a stampede of brontosaurus. Each one had extremely long tails and necks with a small head on the neck's end, column-like legs, and were big enough to rival whales in size. Sora stared in fright for a split second, then quickly turned tail and ran from the stampede, but the gigantic dinosaurs were much faster and had caught up in minutes.

It was absolute chaos. Anything that stood in the Brontosaurus' way was instantly crushed by their massive feet and weight. The entire group had to keep changing direction to avoid getting flattened. This wasn't easy as there were many giants in this entire stampede. Goofy screamed his high-pitched scream while Donald panicked in his usual "waak". All the way, Joyex was screaming at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly, Sakuzy's Organization cloak snagged on a rock and he huffed. "Better get rid of this stupid cloak!"

Sakuzy flung the cloak off to reveal clothes similar to Sora's. The difference was that his pants were much longer, he had no sleeves on his shirt and he had silver boots, not to mention a red scarf around his neck. "Showtime..." He said to himself.

Joyex got the same idea and flung his cloak off as well. His clothes were black with a few pieces of silver armor on his left arm while he had nothing but a black glove on his right hand. His pants were deep red and he wore armored shoes. His chain weapon was wrapped around his torso so that it looped around his right hip and his left shoulder.

Back with the stampede, Sora saw a familiar black shape emerging from the middle of the stampede. Another Raptor Heartless! It opened its mouthful of teeth and was just about to bite Goofy in two when something else bit it, causing it to vanish in a puff of smoke. It was another raptor, but it looked like a REAL creature. This creature, or Venatosaur, was a bit crestfallen that the Heartless wasn't a good meal, so it went for another target. The lithe dinosaur ran up a crag on the canyon wall and actually jumped onto a Brontosaurus's neck, clamping its teeth down on it. The Brontosaurus thrashed its neck violently in an attempt to get its attacker off. In its panic, it crushed a Raptor Heartless under its foot, but shook the predatory dinosaur off and landing it in the stampede, narrowly avoiding getting stepped on.

Donald saw an open spot in the canyon wall and quickly ducked into it, trying to catch his breath and avoid the stampede at the same time. "Whew! That was a close one…" He breathed. Suddenly, dirt shifted above him and something wet landed on the duck's head. "Uh…oh…"

Donald slowly looked up to see another Venatosaur glaring down at him from a piece of ruin with an open mouth. Donald immediately went into a panic and chose the stampede over the dinosaur. The Venatosaur simply pulled itself free of the ruin, then chased after him.

Donald sprinted through the stampede so fast, he even outpaced Joyex at one time. The Venatosaur obviously didn't like fast food, so it changed targets. Goofy quickly got underneath a brontosaurus to avoid getting chomped by the raptor. After realizing that Goofy wasn't going to be an easy meal, it quickly changed to Sora, who had no giant to hide under. Sora couldn't use the Keyblade, because it would slow him down. And in a stampede of twenty-five-ton behemoths, that was not an option. The Venatosaur opened its mouth, ready to bite Sora's head off, but it didn't come. Goofy took his shield and rammed the Venatosaur in the head with it. The Venatosaur stumbled, then fell on its side with a squeal as a bicycle tire-sized foot crushed its skull.

If things were dangerous then, it got a LOT worse. The landscape had changed from a straight path to a steep cliff. A Raptor Heartless was unfortunate enough to be bumped over the edge by a brontosaurus. As Sora watched, the brontosaurus had trouble shifting its weight to the safe side of the cliff and didn't even regain its footing when another one bumped it. With a frightened scream, the titan fell over the cliff. Suddenly, the brittle edge of the canyon started to crumble, taking unfortunate dinosaurs with it. Sakuzy had to keep running and jumping to avoid going with it.

Every member of the good guys was fortunate enough to make it to the other side of the cliff, but the stampede wasn't over yet. Unfortunately, a Venatosaur had taken a great liking to Donald and was intent on eating him. Donald turned to face it and shot a thunder spell at it only to miss by a mile.

"DONALD!" Sora shouted above the crashing footfalls of the Brontosaurus.

Donald got rid of the Venatosaur with a fire spell, but soon saw what Sora meant. The thunder spell hit the lead brontosaurus in the front legs. Since an animal of that size needed at least three legs to stand, it fell down with a CRASH. The other brontosaurs, who had a lot of trouble stopping now, tripped over it and started to tumble all over each other with enough force to shake the ground. Sora and co. had to duck and dodge virtually anything that was thrown their way. When the falling ended, there was a TREMENDOUS dog pile of dinosaurs.

Sora and co. had survived every trial the stampede threw at them, but a few of them were still shaken.

"Donald?" asked Sora, "Are you okay?"

Donald looked like he had just seen a ghost, but he shook it out of his head. "Ah, that was nothin'. I wasn't scared."

Joyex grinned, then suddenly turned around and pointed behind Donald in a fearful way. "AAAH! A VELOCIRAPTOR!"

Donald leapt clean into the air and landed on Goofy's shoulders, shaking like mad. Sora was about to make a comment when a scream echoed through the air: a very FAMILIAR scream.

"KAIRI!!"

Sora ran through the forest and had cleared the undergrowth, then didn't believe what he saw.

Brontosaurus

The largest animals on Skull Island, these behemoths can be more than a hundred feet long. They're vegetarians, but are startled easily and when they stampede, WATCH OUT! They first appear in _King Kong _2005

Venatosaurus

Small, pack-hunting raptors that are surprisingly intelligent for dinosaurs and as stealthy as panthers. It was thanks to them that the Brontosaurus stampeded in the first place, as Venatosaurs are the only known predators that will attack full-grown Brontosaurus. They first appear in _King Kong _2005.

_NEXT is what happened to Kairi during this whole thing, which is the second to last chapter before they leave this nightmare of an island. R&R, please!_


	22. Tooth and Claw

Chapter 22: Tooth and Claw

_Alright, here's what happened while Sora and friends were stuck in that stampede._

Kairi had definitely heard the shaking and wanted to check if Sora had anything to do with it. She was about halfway to where the noise was coming from when she came upon a gruesome sight. It was a Foetodon, just like the ones Joyex and Sakuzy ran into, and was greedily wolfing down pieces of meat from a carcass that had all kinds of insects buzzing around it.

Kairi slowly backed away, not wanting to get caught and become lizard food. She was a good distance away, but when she turned around, another was there to meet her and froze, as though it had been spotted. It then let loose a hiss that seemed to say, "Did I scare you?" After a few seconds, the Foetodon sprang, missing Kairi by inches. As Kairi ran, the Foetodon followed, growling hungrily. Kairi ran until she came to a hollow log and scrambled inside. The Foetodon followed her, forcing its way through the rotting log and snapping at Kairi's feet. The log came to a sudden end and the Foetodon was inches away from her, ready for a meal.

Suddenly, the giant reptile slid back about a meter. Its beady eyes widened and it screamed in both fear and panic as something dragged it out of the log by the tail. Kairi watched in horror as it seemed to float in midair once it reached the outside of the log. With a sickening CRUNCH and a pained shriek, the Foetodon went limp and the other one scurried back into the safety of the bushes. The lizard seemingly floated into the air like a limp marionette, but then something stirred at Kairi's feet.

Kairi felt a tickling sensation on her calf and looked down to see a giant snake, flicking its tongue at her leg. Kairi never liked snakes, having a traumatizing experience as a little girl, but knew the predator was still out there, so she did her best not to retaliate. THAT ended when she felt something rest on her shoulder: a massive centipede at least the length of a baseball bat. THAT tore it. Kairi screamed as she flung the centipede off her and ran as fast as she could out of the log. She didn't mind centipedes, but if it was THAT big, well, you wouldn't like them either. She was cleaning herself off as best she could when she felt that something bad was behind her. Slowly, she turned, and she saw what killed the Foetodon.

The killer was a massive Tyrannosaur, or V-rex, and it stood above her with the Foetodon in its mouth. Kairi hesitated, then sprinted off as fast as she could with the monstrous dinosaur thundering behind her. The V-rex bit down on the reptile in its mouth with enough force to nearly bite it in half. It made to knock Kairi over, but only made her go onto the side of a nearby ravine, which the dinosaur made its way into. Kairi was eye-level with the monster and the V-rex bit down again. This time, the Foetodon's front half was hanging on by a few ligaments and skin. However, when Kairi reached the bottom, the reptile's head and upper body flew out of nowhere to land in front of her. She jumped over it and continued, but then slipped and slid down a steep hill.

The V-rex lost sight of Kairi as it continued to try and bolt down its lunch. Kairi watched from the dense undergrowth and then fled as it turned in her direction. It missed seeing her as she ran out to a fallen tree and tripped to fall in a grove in the trunk. The V-rex exploded from the jungle and looked around. It had missed her. After a quick check to try and find its meal-to-be, it trundled off to parts unknown and continued to munch on the Foetodon.

When the V-rex was out of sight, Kairi slowly rose from the fallen tree, virtually breathless from the experience. She rolled onto her stomach and got to her hands and knees.

"That was too close." She said to herself.

Kairi was about to get out of the immediate area when she heard a low, but audible hiss like a crocodile's. That noise alone chilled her to the core as she slowly turned and saw ANOTHER V-rex. This one, however, was larger than the last one and had battle scars to match Kong himself and several displaced teeth: one tooth slid over another in some places. It opened its mouthful of crooked teeth and almost crushed Kairi like a gumball. She was thankful for the groove in the tree: it was the only thing between her and jaws of death. The big V-rex took a few more snaps, then took a different approach. It reared back its head and rammed the massive tree with it. Kairi rolled and, on instinct, grabbed part of the tree that was sticking out. She was hanging from mere wood with a massive, uber-predator dinosaur ready to eat her. She did the only thing she could do: scream.

The V-rex closed in, ready for the kill, but then the trees on a nearby cliff shook like an earthquake had hit the area, catching both Kairi and the V-rex's attention. Suddenly, Kong exploded out of the trees with a roar, grabbed hold of a tree and swung at the V-rex. The dinosaur opened its mouth to snap Kong's foot off, but that foot came into contact with the reptile's head. The dinosaur rammed up against the tree and fell to the ground, shaking the ground on contact. At that moment, Kairi lost her grip with a scream, but Kong dove at her and seized her in his massive hand. He then rolled to make sure that the V-rex didn't bite his hand off, and when he rolled, he seized the tyrannosaur around the neck and threw it to the ground. Kong rolled to his feet just as the V-rex charged again in an attempt to get its dinner. Kong, however, seized it by the jaw and forced its head upward before gripping its neck. The V-rex thrashed wildly, flailing its tiny arms and snapping at Kong with its jaws.

It was there and then that Sora and the rest arrived on the scene. Sora was quite surprised to see that Kairi was in the hands of a twenty-five-foot gorilla, but he did notice the ape was protecting her from certain death.

"Don't worry, Sora." Goofy assured him, "Kairi's in good hands."

Sakuzy gave Sora a smug look and wavered his eyebrows as he suggested, "Looks like Kairi's got more eyes on her than you thought, huh?"

Sora turned to meet Sakuzy and gave him an accusing stare. "What's THAT supposed to mean?" He asked.

"Exactly what you think it means." Joyex filled in.

Back in the battle, Kairi turned in Kong's grip and saw the same V-rex that ate the lizard come out of the woods. It paused, then noticed the morsel in Kong's hand. Kong was a little busy with the big V-rex, so he didn't notice. The smaller one charged toward Kong and opened its massive maw of teeth. Kairi screamed, alerting Kong to its presence. Kong took quick notice and swiftly moved Kairi away from the oncoming dinosaur, but the V-rex bit down hard on his forearm instead. Kong growled in pain, then swung his arm and threw both dinosaurs off him, but both predators were back on their feet in seconds.

It was now that Sora and co. realized that they were going to get caught in the crossfire. The Keyblade wouldn't work on creatures of this size and any spell they used would either set the island ablaze, or be completely useless, not to mention the danger of hitting Kong or Kairi. All they could do was let Kong handle them.

The V-rexes roared their challenges at Kong, who simply glared back at them. Soon, the V-rexes started closing in on Kong, hoping to intimidate them with their numbers, but Kong just wasn't buying it. Then, almost from nowhere, a THIRD V-rex exploded from a nearby brush and narrowly missed Kairi if Kong hadn't jerked forward to avoid it. The other V-rexes charged in as well, but were soon repelled by Kong's free fist. One almost bit his head off, but he took it by the nose in his hand and pushed it away. The big bull rex came from behind, but Kong used one arm to put it in a headlock and pounded it on the head with his other fist. The middle-sized matriarch came to try and snap at Kong, but then he did a pretty good trick. A gorilla's feet are like a second pair of hands, so the giant ape used his foot to grab the matriarch's face and push it backward. Just then, the smaller juvenile came from nowhere to try and devour Kairi, but Kong put it in a headlock and spun it into the matriarch. The bull tried to get Kairi again, but Kong put her in his other hand and actually landed on another V-rex as the matriarch chomped down on his arm. Kong sat up, seized the matriarch on the nose, and pried its jaws off before pushing it to the ground. The bull got back up and started snapping at Kairi again. Kong moved to keep Kairi out of the dinosaur's mouth and had to do it again and again to keep the V-rex at bay. He then put his free arm under the bull's body and heaved it at the juvenile before spinning around to catch the matriarch with his fist. The juvenile recovered from getting caught by the bull and charged again. However, Kong had lifted a nearby boulder and brought it crashing down on its head, crushing its skull.

"Oh, I don't know what world you're from, but THAT'S gotta hurt!" Joyex commentated, which was sort of out-of-place, shall we say?

Sakuzy tackled Sora to the ground and rolled to make sure that a massive V-rex foot didn't crush him. This fight was just as dangerous to them as it was for Kairi and Kong. With the fighting titans around them, they had to keep moving to avoid getting crushed or devoured.

"Eyes open, Sora." Sakuzy said as they got to their feet again, "Can't protect you all the time."

"Thanks." Sora said, quickly, "NOW MOVE!"

Sora and Sakuzy split up to avoid getting crushed by another foot; Kong's this time. He had just stumbled forward because the bull rex had just chomped down on his arm. Kong spun to punch the matriarch away, ripping his arm out of the dinosaur's mouth in the process. He then reached back, seized the V-rex around the neck, and heaved it forward, bringing them both forward onto a steep hill. Kairi flew out of Kong's hand and almost fell on hard rock, but Kong put his feet to good use and grabbed Kairi with it. The two dinosaurs soon tried getting at Kong. The matriarch was on top of Kong, trying to bite him, while the bull was trying to hold him still. However, Kong pushed the matriarch off onto a steeper part of the hill. The V-rex used its massive feet to try and get a hold on the slippery terrain, but that wasn't easy with forearms so tiny. During that time, Kong reached down to his foot and got Kairi back in his hand again.

Kong punched the bull rex across the face, but it simply regained its balance and charged forward to bite Kong. Kong dodged, and put the dinosaur in a headlock. He then seized the rex around the body and dug his large canines into the dinosaur's scaly neck. The V-rex roared in pain and they both tumbled down the hill, hitting a fallen tree in the process.

Suddenly, Kairi realized that this steep hill had led to a trench and that they were dangerously close to the edge. Sakuzy and Joyex realized it too, but they were quickly forced off when Kong fell forward again, pushing the two of them over the edge. Joyex acted on instinct and took his chain whip out as a kind of pickaxe. Sakuzy grabbed onto his foot to make sure that he didn't fall down the trench and they just kind of hung there. That is until they saw the matriarch bite down on Kong's arm. Kong roared in pain as his hand let go of Kairi again. This time, he got her in his foot, but was in a sitting position. He yanked his arm out of the dinosaur's maw, then heaved the matriarch forward. The matriarch landed just above Joyex and Sakuzy so that it was either fall or get crushed.

"Here goes nothing…" Joyex jerked his chain whip free from the rock and both he and Sakuzy fell to the chasm below. The matriarch was quick to follow.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy also fell, but they were more fortunate. Sora seized the fur near Kong's thigh, Goofy clung to his arm, and Donald was on Kong's other leg. When Kong heaved the matriarch over the edge, he put all his weight in it and flung himself over the edge. He dangled over the edge with a massive bull V-rex towering over him. Kong reached up and seized the V-rex by the foot, dragging it to the inside. The V-rex landed on the slippery rock and thrashed wildly, trying to regain its footing, but it was no use. Kong was about to get back up when the V-rex clamped its jaws down on his leg, barely missing Kairi and Sora by inches. Kong howled in pain as the combined weight of the V-rex, added with his own, started proving too much for the cliff edge to handle. They struggled to try and stay up, but the cliff's edge shattered and they both fell into the chasm's depths.

Kairi screamed all the way down while Kong roared, trying to get a hold of the walls or anything that would support his weight. Turned out that the cliff led to a massive canyon that was netted with vines. Some snapped when the V-rex came into contact with them. Sora and Kairi suddenly lost their grip on Kong, or Kong lost his grip on them. They were fortunate enough to get caught by a few vines as thick as pythons, or at least Sora. He quickly grabbed Kairi's hand and held on as tight as he could.

Kong fell with his opponent, the bull V-rex, and the two were soon suspended by several vines that supported the V-rex's bulk. The sheer impact of them stopping on the vines shook part of the walls and an entire flock of bat-like creatures evacuated the immediate area. The two titans wrestled around with the V-rex kicking and biting while Kong was hammering away at the V-rex with his fists. Both were intent on killing each other, but for different reasons...

Suddenly, Kairi screamed and Sora saw why. The matriarch V-rex was right across from them, suspended by vines. She put her legs to the wall and kicked off to propel herself right at them. The matriarch opened her mouth to try and snap them up when she got close.

"Keep swinging!" Sora said as the dinosaur got closer and closer by the second.

Kairi kept moving, heeding Sora's advice, and the matriarch's jaws slammed shut so close that she felt the wind of them as they did so. She swung back to the wall and kicked off again, but as Sora and Kairi kept swinging, they kept moving out of the way, but only just.

Kong had just seen them up above, about to get eaten and knew action had to be taken. The giant gorilla gave the bull rex a few more good punches, then swung over to the wall and began to clamber up it like a squirrel. He had to hurry, because the matriarch was getting closer and closer with every swing. Then, it happened. The matriarch was close enough to catch them when Kong sprang off the wall and seized her by the tail. Both fell and snapped the vines holding Sora up. The current situation was that both Kong and matriarch were close to the canyon wall with the female V-rex suspended upside-down with Kong gripping her sides and Kairi holding onto vines that had collected around the dinosaur's face. A group of vines had wrapped themselves around the matriarch's lower jaw and Kong used this to his advantage. He seized the vines to make sure that she couldn't close her jaws, then caught Sora in his foot. Kairi ended up catching herself on some of the matriarch's teeth, especially after the dinosaur crashed back-first into the wall. However, when the group fell, they had gotten dangerously close to the big male and he was snapping at Kairi like a child after candy. Kong saw this as he swung down from his current position and kicked the male in the head, nearly bending the bull in half. But by doing so, he released the vines holding open the matriarch's mouth and they slammed shut. Kairi let go, but she was out of the reach of Kong's foot or Sora's hand. She then landed on something hard and large: it was the bull rex's nose.

Sora wasn't liking this one bit. Every situation Kairi was in went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. Kong swung downward to try and get Kairi, taking Sora with him. But then the matriarch kicked off from the opposite wall and propelled herself toward Kong before clamping her jaws down on the big ape's arm. Kong roared in pain and his foot released Sora in surprise. Sora fell, but something caught him in mid-fall.

"THAT would've been a nasty fall." Someone said.

It was Joyex. He had his chain in one arm and had seized Sora by the belt. Sakuzy was holding onto his foot.

"You sure you can handle all this?" Sora asked.

Joyex's strain was easily heard in his voice. "No..."

Kong rolled to his right to smash the matriarch against the wall, but the bull rex below was thrashing madly. The vines supporting it finally couldn't take the pressure of a thrashing animal and finally snapped. The V-rex fell several feet into a river below and its head catapulted Kairi further away. Kong was soon going to smash the matriarch into the other side of the canyon, but Joyex saw it coming.

"Might want to start swinging now, guys." Joyex advised.

Sora and Sakuzy nodded, then started swinging their bodies. Just as Kong was going to crash into them, the chain broke free of the rocky wall and all three flew forward, in the same direction as Kairi. When Kong smashed the matriarch into the wall, Donald and Goofy were shaken free and they fell into the river behind the V-rex.

The group got out of the water, but just when they thought they were safe, the big bull rex rose from the water like a gargantuan crocodile and got to its feet. They were now at the edge of the valley, which turned into a lowland of sorts with plenty of room. The dinosaur stalked toward them, each step seeming to quake the earth, then let loose an earthshaking roar.

The group was trapped. They couldn't outrun the dinosaur, their Keyblades wouldn't work on it, seeing as it wasn't a Heartless, and any magic they used would have either been useless or set fire to the island. Suddenly, the ground behind them shook and they all turned around to see Kong himself.

Kong glowered at the V-rex, his eyes scrunched and his breathing slow. The V-rex let out another roar in an attempt to scare Kong off. For a few more seconds, they glared at each other until the four slowly moved toward Kong. The ape looked down at them and the V-rex roared again. This time, Kong let out his own roar and the V-rex charged. Kong beat his chest and charged in as well, leaving Sora, Kairi, Sakuzy, and Joey in the dust. The final battle had begun.

Kong seized the dinosaur by the jaws and pried them open, forcing it upward. He then clamped his teeth down on the dinosaur's writhing tongue and, with a jerk of his head and a movement of his arms, ripped it out. The ape took the V-rex to the ground and the two thrashed around for a second or two. Kong was on the V-rex's back, but the dinosaur stood up and Kong rode it like a bucking bronco. All this time, Kong was keeping his hands on the rex's jaws while the V-rex was thrashing around trying to get him off. However, Sora noticed that there was something different about the dinosaur. It didn't look like it was trying to fight back, but more like it was trying to get away. It was afraid.

Kong dropped his weight on one side, taking the V-rex to the ground and rolling on contact so that he stood up while keeping the dino down. He then seized it by the nose and pulled upward on it while his other hand was still on the lower jaw. It was then that Kairi knew what Kong was going to do.

The V-rex slammed its jaws down, narrowly missing Kong's fingers. Kong was pretty ticked at this and gave the dinosaur a punch on the head out of simple irritation. After a little more wrestling, the V-rex gave out a frightened scream as Kong forced its head up, then pulled open its lower jaw. Kairi turned away just in time as the lower jaw broke with a sickening CRUNCH. The V-rex screamed like it never had before until it was silenced when Kong put his hands down on the nose and forced it down into the dinosaur's braincase.

After a second, Kong let go of the head and it dropped, lifelessly, to the ground. Kong picked it up by the nose and started trying to close its jaws again, but they would just keep falling open as the jaw muscles that closed them were ripped in two. Kong dropped the head again and roared, as though saying, "get up and fight". He shook the V-rex like it was asleep, but Kong seemed to know it was dead. He then stood up, put a foot on the dinosaur's corpse, and beat his chest, roaring in triumph. After that, he went over to Kairi and looked everyone else over.

"It's okay, big guy." Sora said, raising his hands in a friendly manner, "We're friends, too."

Sakuzy and Joyex smiled nervously, as Sora was talking to a twenty-five-foot primate like a new friend. Kong didn't seem to mind, but then Goofy and Donald showed up, soaking wet. Donald raised a hand to summon lightning, but Sora got in the way.

"NO! DONALD! It's okay!"

Donald looked at Kong, then saw the dead dinosaur, which now had a wide variety of insects buzzing around it.

"Uh, hehehe…oops." He said, brushing his head with his feathered fingers.

Kong dismissed them and picked Kairi up, putting her on his shoulder. He then walked off. When he saw Sora and co. weren't coming, he looked back at them and beckoned toward him. Sora got the message and everyone else did, too. Sakuzy reached out to touch Kong's leg to heave himself up, but on contact, Kong turned and let out a snarl. He obviously only wanted Kairi to ride him and no one else.

"Great." Joyex huffed, "Kairi gets a ride while we're still walking on this nightmare of an island."

V-Rex

Short for Vastatosaurus rex, these are the second toughest animals on Skull Island, right next to King Kong himself. They're hideously deformed T-Rexes and some of them REALLY need to see an orthodontist. King Kong SERIOUSLY beat them up when they were trying to eat Kairi. They're TWICE the size of an average T-Rex at about twenty feet high and are highly maneuverable for their size thanks to a different ribcage structure. They first appeared in _King Kong_ 2005.

_Credit for writing this chapter goes to my brother, Dimensiondude. He's obsessed with King Kong and naturally snapped at writing the V-Rex battle scene._

_Read and Review..._


	23. Beautiful

Chapter 23: Beautiful

After a long afternoon of hard work and searching, Sora and co. had followed Kong to a very tall peak. Kong had taken Kairi off his shoulder and now sat on the edge of a cliff that overlooked the whole island. It was sunset and Kong was looking at the sunset in a very nostalgic way. Sakuzy was taking a detour in the caves and found that it was filled with bones: giant gorilla bones.

"Man, is this guy the last of his species?" He asked.

Sudden realization sprang as Sora looked back and forth between Kong and Kairi. "Maybe THAT'S why he wanted Kairi; he's lonely." He said, the facts making sense.

Joyex shrugged, playfully, then added, "Yeah, THAT or he's kinda lovesick."

Sakuzy eventually went back to Kong, who was massaging a place on his jaw and emitting a low moan. "What's wrong with Kong?" He asked, pointing at the big monkey.

Sora studied Kong. He remembered that Riku had a similar experience in the sixth grade. "Looks like he's got a toothache." He pointed out.

Sora made to touch the ape, but his hand was only an arm's length away from Kong's fur when the ape shied away from him like a child and growled to keep Sora away. Sora jumped in surprise and retracted his arm, but then Kairi went over and seemed to give Kong a scolding look.

"C'mon, Kong," She said, treating Kong like a little child that wouldn't take his medicine, "If you can let us look at it, we can fix it and it won't hurt anymore."

Kong grunted once, then looked at Kairi. He gave what could only be described as a sigh, then lowered himself to Kairi's level and opened his mouth like you would at a dentist appointment. Kairi took a look inside the ape's jaws. There was the scent of bananas, coconut, bamboo, and even a bit of blood on his breath. She then saw a glint and took something out from between his teeth. When Kairi got it into the light, the group found that it was a summon crystal with a gorilla skull on it.

"How'd THAT get in there?" Sakuzy asked, "Hold on, there's something else between his teeth…"

Sakuzy reached in, grabbed the thing he saw and pulled it out of Kong's teeth. When he got it into the light, he found that it was part of the V-Rex's tongue. He screamed before throwing it over his back and the cliff's edge. Sora went over and touched Kong on the arm, causing the ape to look down at him.

"No worries, big guy. We're your friends." Sora said, trying to be friendly with the ape.

Kong simply grunted. Sakuzy then walked over to the cliff and sat down next to Kong. He could see miles of jungle and mountain ranges as well as the sea's glittering body.

"Y'know, without the bloodthirsty monsters and Heartless, this place is actually quite beautiful from up here." He said, taking in the beauty of the island's landscape, "Almost like those times we spent on that hill. Remember, Joyex?"

Joyex scratched his chin as he tried to remember, then it hit him. "Oh yeah. The time Depth called ya a slacker for the first time?"

Sora scratched his head, having never heard the name before. "Who're ya talking about?" He asked.

Sakuzy glanced over at Sora, then shrugged, as though shaking it off. "Ah, doesn't matter. Anyway, let's see if Riku's done with those repairs."

Sakuzy and Sora hadn't even stood up when Kairi cleared her throat, catching their attention. "Why don't we stay with Kong for a while?" She asked, "This is obviously the first company he's had in a while."

Kairi strode over to Kong, who opened his hand at ground level. Kairi sat in it, and when she looked up, she could make out a small gorilla smile on Kong's scarred face. Sora thought for a while, then sat next to Kairi. Kong's hand was big enough for both of them, and they just sat there, looking at the sunset in the distance.

That evening, just before dark, Sora and co. left Kong and went into the jungle. Fortunately, they were kind enough to say "goodbye" to the big gorilla. They trekked back to the Gummi Ship, which was in perfect condition now and Riku was fine-tuning it.

"Hey, guys," He said, waving to them with a wrench still in his left hand, "What took you so long?"

Sakuzy heaved a great sigh, then answered Riku's question. "Don't ask. So, is the Gummi ready to go?"

Riku used his crystal Keyblade as a back-scratcher, then explained. "Sorry. The damage was too severe." On seeing their expressions, he added, "But, I DID find another Gummi Ship that was in near-mint condition."

Sakuzy whistled, impressed, then took in the new Gummi's appearance. "Then, what're WE standing around here for? Let's go!"

The whole crew got onboard the Gummi Ship, which took off in a matter of minutes. But as soon as it took off, the green cloaked figure from the swamp and the stampede arrived on the scene and found that there was nothing where he had obviously left something.

"No boat and no Gummi Ship? This island's a death hole." He said as he hung his head...and whole upper body, "Better wait until Chrysallis realizes I'm here, which should take about…" He did a quick count on his fingers, but didn't like the conclusion. "Five or six hours. Perfect. I told them they were sending the wrong guy for this."

Gummi Ship:

Sakuzy was in the driver's seat of the Gummi Ship and currently cruising it through the multi-verse. Joyex then came up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Sakuzy, can I get these stitches out of my fingers now?" He asked.

Sakuzy turned to see Joyex holding up his recently-healed fingers, which were still in a constant peace sign. "Oh, right. We never got to that. Well, might as well get it over with…"

Sakuzy put the ship on autopilot, then took Joyex to the kitchen. It was the easiest place to clean something off. Sakuzy took off the cast, then started plucking out the stitches.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. OW!" Joyex said, as though getting pinched repeatedly, "Can't you do this quickly?" He asked impatiently.

Sakuzy stared and blinked at his friend a few times, then shrugged. "OK, if you insist."

Sakuzy suddenly grabbed the stitches and yanked them all out with just one flick of his wrist. Joyex let loose an earsplitting shriek at the sudden pain while Sakuzy simply stared, wide-eyed, at him. "Are you done yet?" The auburn-haired Keyblader asked.

Joyex screamed a little bit longer, then turned to answer Sakuzy's question. "No. Not yet." Joyex let out one last, drawn-out scream, then calmed down a bit. "OK, I'm good."

Meanwhile, the entire crew had heard Joyex's screaming, including Sora. As he stared, wondering what the heck made that noise, Kairi snuck over to him, then put something in Sora's hand. It was the Gorilla Charm.

"Here." She said.

Sora stared at the charm, then at Kairi. "What? Why?"

"I don't think I need it, so I let you have it." She explained, "Just run it under some hot water before using it."

Kairi walked away and Sora laughed for a bit as he stared after her. Sakuzy then walked up to him and, judging by his next statement, he heard her. "Sora, I think she meant it."

Sora stopped laughing, then looked at the charm and immediately ran off to the bathroom to properly wash it. Sakuzy went back to the cockpit in and checked the scanner.

"Well, whadda ya know?" He asked in mild surprise.

Sora had just come out of the bathroom with a now-sparkly-clean summon charm and looked at Sakuzy in curiosity. "What?"

"There are TWO Pure Hearts a nearby part of the multiverse, but they won't be in range for a while. So, I'm gonna take a rest."

Sakuzy, without even minding that Sora was looking at him, went to his bed, flopped down, and started catching some Z's.

_(Cue Dearly Beloved here)_

_Enter Flashback..._

_Sakuzy and Joey were at a carnival, though they both seemed to be a few years younger. They went on roller coasters and did several carnival games from the ring toss to the water-gun race. They then came to a dance floor full of people looking for a good time with the opposite sex. Joey then noticed Sakuzy was looking at Maya, who was with a guy with lavender hair and yellow eyes._

_Joey nudged Sakuzy, gently, with his elbow. "C'mon, Sakuzy. Ask Maya for a dance." He tempted._

_Sakuzy glanced at Joey, then at Maya, but in the end, he shook his head. "Nah, she's seeing Adrian, remember?"_

_Joey looked over at the guy with lavender hair, then shrugged as he asked, "The nerd?"_

_"No, the magician." Sakuzy corrected. He sighed a melancholy sigh as he forcefully admitted, "She's got the right guy. He's smart, strong, and…"_

_Joey could only snort at the excuse, though he could see a LOT of disappointment in his friend's face. "Well, maybe YOU should go out with him, then."_

_Sakuzy rounded on his friend and put a finger so close to Joey's face that it touched his nose. "I'm not gay and you know it, Joe!"_

_Joey could only laugh at Sakuzy's reaction, then pushed the finger away. "Yeah, but it's more fun to keep doing that." he replied with a smile._

_Before Sakuzy could utter a response, he heard footsteps on the dance floor and turned to see Maya storming away from the guy that Sakuzy called Adrian. She had left him in what could only be described as a towering temper._

_Joey, however, noted that she stayed on the edge of the dance floor and elbowed Sakuzy again. "Here's your chance, buddy. Snap at it!"_

_Sakuzy paused, looking at her, then a grinning Joey. Finally, he sighed in a mixture of relief and exasperation. Then, listening to his friend, got to his feet and slowly walked off towards Maya._

_End Flashback..._

Sakuzy was right in the middle of what he thought was his greatest flashback when Joyex shook him awake. "Ugh. Fourth time this week." He muttered to himself, then addressed him in a full shout. "Get up, you sorry excuse for a Keyblader!"

Sakuzy rocked back and forth, violently, as Joyex tried to get him woken up completely and grouchily growled as he sat up. "Alright, I get it! I'm up! I'm up!"

Joyex quickly left the scene as he made to get away from a rather disgruntled Sakuzy. As he entered the control room, he found Donald in the pilot's seat and everyone else with him.

"So, what's our next move?" asked Sakuzy.

"Well, we took a vote and we decided on going to the Radiant Garden." Sora answered.

Sakuzy was absolutely shocked at this decision. He had just pointed out the new location of the Pure Hearts, yet here they were going off somewhere else. "WHAT?! BUT THE PURE HEARTS ARE SO CLOSE!" He objected.

"We know that, Sakuzy." Kairi assured him, but added, "It's just that we've been in a battle and got stranded on some bloodthirsty island. So, we think that we need a well-deserved break."

Sakuzy turned on his heel, then skulked off with Joyex hot on his heels. "They're taking a break and, somewhere in the universe, Chrysallis is getting stronger by the day!"

Sakuzy sharply brought his fist into the wall of the room he was currently staying in with a loud "CLANG". Joyex, on the other hand, raised his hands like he was apologizing for something.

"Whoa, now just take it easy, buddy." He said, trying to calm his friend, "We're just resting up for the next battle. Cut us some slack."

The World That Never Was...

Back at Organization XIII's old base, Hades was slightly disgruntled that his plan to kill them hadn't worked. "Heh, those guys survived Skull Island. How…unlikely." He grunted.

"Looks like they're stronger than you thought, since they survived that place." Dracula admitted.

Randall snickered, then pointed his thumb at Hades as he turned to Dracula. "Maybe Hades should get a better travel agent. Hehehe…" he snickered.

Hades burst into flame, literally, and advanced on Randall, the god of death's skin going from pale blue to blazing red. "LISTEN, LIZARD!" He fumed, "I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU THINK OF SOMETHING BETTER!"

The fiery orange glow that Hades emitted made Randall squint in order to see properly. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy there, hot-head." He argued, "So it was a lousy try, no need to explode on me…"

Unknown Realm...

In a mysterious realm in the far reaches of the universe, cloaked figures were at a strange table of sorts, standing in a circle, each with a different colored cloak. At that time, the guy with the green cloak who was spotted on Skull Island ran into the room, gasping for breath.

"Sorry 'bout the delay, guys!" The green-clad guy had an abnormally high-pitched, young-sounding voice. "First I lost my boat, then I was caught in a dinosaur stampede, and then I was trapped on that island because someone snatched my Gummi Ship!"

The next person to speak had a bluish-green cloak and was apparently male. His voice was deeper, gruff, and tough-sounding, unlike the first one. "We don't need your excuses, Emerald!"

The Green Cloaked guy flinched in fright. The next person to speak had a red robe and was a female with a low, seductive voice. "Yeah, what WE want to know is if Sakuzy survived."

The next person had a pale pink robe and was also female. When she spoke, it was in a low whisper, but one could tell she was a bit...different from the others. She sounded a little timid and gentle, differing from the other robed figures. "Please say he did." She said, hopefully.

The next person to speak was clad in a yellow robe and was a tall, muscular male. His voice was deep, yet surprisingly sophisticated, but not with a British accent. "Pearl, your fascination with that survivor gets more and more dull by the day. YOU are a Crystalli, HE is a human."

The pink-robed girl backed away a bit, then bowed in a humble manner. "Sorry. Forgot myself for a moment."

The green-robed person turned to answer the red-robed woman's question in an instant. "Unfortunately, he survived. WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT IT?!"

The next one had a purple robe and was another man. He was younger than the yellow or greenish-blue robe, but he showed a surprising amount of seriousness. "Such is the power of a Keyblade. His strength is NOT his own, unlike ours."

The next one had orange robes and was another female. She seemed a little bit impatient and sounded like a black person; an African American, if you will. "Can't we just turn him into a Crystalli and get it over with?"

The blue-green robed figure emitted a snort in disbelief. "Sorry, but I know Sakuzy better than any of you. He won't be enlightened THAT easily."

The next person to speak was clad in an ocean-blue robe and seemed to be the oldest of all those in the current room. He also spoke in a light, British accent with a slightly gruff voice. "And I should know, I taught him. It will take more than sheer force to make him join us. We'll have to tear him apart from the inside out."

The next person to speak was Chrysallis, his crooked smile standing out anywhere as well as the crystals in his body. "We can discuss the matter later." He commanded, then turned to the green-cloaked boy. "Emerald, go to the Radiant Garden and, if you get the chance, please be very NAUGHTY."

_Next up is the first Crystalli Host, which belongs to WarSlaynHero, along with two other characters made specially for this fic! Please review._


	24. Emerald and Blader

Chapter 24: Emerald and Blader

Radiant Garden...

The Gummi Ship deposited Sora and co. into Radiant Garden along a part that they had barely gone to. It was a part of town that was on the opposite side of where the Restoration Committee was.

"Good to be back!" Sora said, taking in the place.

Sora had no sooner said that when Sakuzy spotted something that was all-too-familiar to him. "Crystalli!" He called out.

Sora turned to see that Sakuzy was pointing at a duo who appeared to be dueling. The first one had a large, boomerang-shaped sword and was clad in a green cloak. It was the same guy from Skull Island. The second, on the other hand, was a different person. He had tanned skin, a red muscle shirt, an odd mask/visor mix perched on his head like a hat, black jeans, and grey boots. What could be seen of his hair was hardly a tenth of an inch long and this guy was blocking the boomerang with a circular shield similar to Goofy's.

The shield-wielder then spoke in a masculine, yet somewhat squeaky, voice that was as cocky as he looked. "Hey, looks like ol' greenhorn has a bone to pick with me!"

Sora and co. ran over and the guy with the green cloak turned to meet them.

"Hmm? Oh, you!" The guy with the green cloak removed his hood to reveal a boy, not much older than Sakuzy, with spiky, brown hair and green eyes. "Sakuzy and, wait a sec…Joey?" he added, pointing his finger to them both

Joyex deflated somewhat, then shook himself back up and pointed a finger at the Crystalli. "That's JOYEX!" he corrected.

The green-clad boy nodded and said, with realization, "Oh, THAT'S right! Joey fell into darkness, creating YOU and turning himself into a Heartless."

Sora suddenly remembered who this guy was. "I know you...Weren't you messing around on Skull Island? If I recall, you caused a stampede."

The green cloaked boy turned on Sora and folded his arms, looking pretty offended. "Oh, real mature. That wasn't me. It was those dinosaurs and Heartless."

The green cloak then got a good look at Sakuzy and pointed at himself with his thumb in, what he hoped, was a suave look. "So, Sakuzy, did you change your mind about joining us?" He asked.

The "suave look" didn't work at all, because Sakuzy simply shouted at him. "Beat it, Jim!"

Emerald rolled his eyes, then let his arms fall to his sides. "Oh, puh-leeze! I go by Emerald, now." Emerald threw off his cloak to reveal green robes underneath and a hunk of emerald embedded in his left shoulder. "I am Emerald, but I will also accept..." He pulled out a small piece of paper and began to read off nicknames that were on the list. "Green Meanie, Green Machine, Green Thunda, or Jim."

Goofy stared a while, then scratched his head as he usually did. "Uh…whatever you say, Jim." he replied, simply.

Emerald tossed the list over his shoulder, then glowered at Goofy. "Oh, call me Emerald, THAT'S my new name."

Before anyone could say something to Emerald, the shield-wielder suddenly spoke up in a tone that could only be described as pure irritation. "Hey! Are we fightin' or not?!"

Emerald scoffed, then said, "Oh, sorry. Where are my manners?!"

Emerald whirled around and threw his boomerang blade at the shield guy, who barely blocked it. The force of the blade on metal created impact sparks that littered the ground.

Sora scratched his head and addressed the shield-wielder. "Who are you?"

The shield-wielder blocked another spinning blade, then answered Sora's question. "I'll explain after we kick this guy's can!"

"Kick MY can? Don't make me laugh!" Emerald said in disbelief.

Emerald charged, and so did the shield wielder, but one of the two had other plans. The shield guy ducked right under the swing of the boomerang blade and brought his shield up from under Emerald's legs, sending him face-first into the ground. As Emerald lay flat on his back in a crumpled heap, the shield guy put his shield-less arm on his hip and chuckled slightly.

"Brawn you got." He admitted, then tapped the side of his head to emphasize his next point. "Brains...is another story."

Emerald staggered back to his feet and turned to Sakuzy. "Sakuzy, just join us already."

"OK, I'll join you…" For one split second, everyone believed him...until he added, "As soon as you rip that jewel out of your shoulder and eat it!"

Upon hearing THAT insult, Emerald flinched in a manner eerily similar to Demyx. After regaining his composure, he got out his boomerang blade. "Alright, have it your way..."

The Crystalli suddenly took his blade and jumped clean in the air. He took a swing at Sora, who parried with his Keyblade. For a while, Emerald stood there with a surprised look on his face. "Oh, crud! A Keyblade!" He cursed.

Sora pushed Emerald away and hacked at him only to see his opponent spin away in a graceful spin and position his boomerang blade in an attack position. He then positioned it in front of him and gave it so much force that it spun in midair and created a HUGE gust of wind easily as strong as a hurricane's. The force of the wind was enough to knock back virtually everyone that was too close. Sora was the first back up, closely followed by Donald and Goofy: the classic trio was back in action…for only a few seconds, because THIS happened.

Donald cast a fire spell that missed Emerald by a hair and Goofy threw his shield at him only to have it deflected by the boomerang blade. After a second of realizing that they assaulted him, Emerald jumped back and threw his boomerang blade. However, following its exact movement was a tornado of sorts. Though the tornado was small, it was strong enough to lift both of them off the ground and send them flying. Donald and Goofy both went soaring through the air, each emitting their own scream: Donald's was his traditional "waak" while Goofy's was his high-pitched howl in fright.

As soon as both landed a good thirty yards away, Emerald caught his blade in midair and charged with it raised like a sword. He took a swing at a still grounded Riku, who raised his diamond-carved Keyblade and blocked the attack. Emerald backed off, then clicked his tongue a few times. "Chrysallis got you too, huh? Tough." He said in mock pity.

Emerald then stabbed his boomerang blade into the ground and spun on his heel to whack Joyex away with the back of his hand. The Nobody had his chain whip out and was going to thrash him while he was fighting Riku, but apparently he wasn't as dumb as he looked. Kairi was up next and shot a fire spell from her Keyblade, but Emerald took his blade and spun it so that it hovered in midair. The Fire spell hit and splashed off harmlessly like water on an umbrella. When the fire cleared, Kairi was there to meet him. She swung her Keyblade and caught him straight across the face. Emerald staggered back just as Kairi readied another strike, but THIS time, he grabbed her wrist and twisted it until she yelped in pain and dropped it. He put his blade to her neck, but held back for some reason.

"You'll be pretty necessary to kill, girl." Emerald said, actually starting to creep her out, "Never thought I'D have the honors!"

Emerald had just raised the blade when Sora appeared seemingly from nowhere and hacked him in the back with Ultima Weapon. Emerald yelled in pain and turned just as Sora yanked his weapon out of the Crystalli's back. Sora was quite surprised to see that the gash on his back had healed over so quickly, but then looked at his Keyblade. It was covered in blood, but it wasn't red like anyone else's. It was green and sparkled like a gemstone.

"OW! That hurt!" Emerald said, dropping his blade and massaging his back.

Sora and Sakuzy both paused at this comment.

"'Ow, that hurt'?" Sora asked in confusion, "What kind of villain says THAT?"

THIS saying was enough to tick Emerald off, but just when he was about to move, a crescent-shaped shuriken hit the ground right where Emerald was about to put his foot.

Joyex's eyes widened as he suddenly knew whose shuriken those were. "Please don't tell me that's who I think it is…"

Joyex, however, had said the right thing. Crescent jumped off a nearby building and landed in front of Emerald, who started shuddering.

Crescent went over to a spot just ten feet in front of Emerald, then pointed an accusing finger at him and said, "Alright, BUDDY, nobody, but NOBODY, messes with MY BUDDIES, you NOBODY!"

Sakuzy and Joyex simply stared at the ninja, then tried their best to try and understand what Crescent just said.

"Uh…I'm confused." Joyex said, his stupefied expression remaining on his face.

"So am I, Joyex, so am I." Sakuzy agreed.

Emerald did a quick head count, then took a step back. "Uh-oh, I'm outnumbered here! See ya!"

Emerald vanished in a flash of green light and the shield guy turned to Sora. "Thanks for the help, kid. Though, I pretty much had it handled." He said with pride.

Sora chuckled, then asked, "Are you kidding? I saw what situation you were in and he had you on the ropes." He then corrected the guy and said, "And my name isn't 'kid', it's Sora."

The shield-bearer cocked an eyebrow, then gave the thumbs' up. "Well, 'Sora'," He emphasized the word "Sora", then added, "The name's…"

"Blader!"

Blader's eyes widened as he recognized the voice anywhere. "Oh no…"

Crescent grabbed the guy who he called "Blader", whipped off his helmet, and started noogieing him.

"GET OFF ME!" Blader strained.

After a few seconds, Crescent released Blader, who picked up his helmet and massaged his head. The ninja seemed to be oblivious to his "friend's" pain and asked, "How've you been, buddy?"

Blader put the helmet/mask thing back on his head, then answered, "Fine till YOU showed up, you blabbering idiot."

Crescent put a hand over his heart. "You cut me deep, Blader, you cut me REAL deep just now." He suddenly straightened up and held up his finger. "Thankfully, I have a healing factor so, no harm done!"

Blader growled, having failed to get anything through to the Ninja with a Mouth. "You had better leave me alone or one of these days I'll cut off YOUR leg and see how YOU like it!"

Sora stared at Blader. The guy seemed to have both his legs, so why was he threatening Crescent with a similar experience? "What're you talking about?" He asked.

Blader looked over at Sora, then it hit him. "Oh, sorry. I never told you. I lost a leg."

Blader pulled up his right pant leg to just below his knee. In place of a real leg, there was a thin, bionic leg with its foot crafted into a steel boot. It was weird for some people to see something that thin compared to his other, real leg.

"How'd you lose it?" Kairi asked, pointing at it.

Blader dropped his pant leg, then pointed at Crescent like he was accusing him of something, which he was. "Well, it was thanks to Mr. Crazy Man here."

Crescent took a step back, then gestured to himself with his thumb. "I'm not crazy!" He said in self-defense, "Crazy people stay in fetal positions, talk to themselves, and watch Desperate Housewives!"

Blader rolled his hazel eyes. "Ignore him. Anyway, during the Heartless invasion, while this place was still Hollow Bastion, Crescent chopped off my leg!"

Crescent folded his arms and rolled his eyes at Blader, taking up a tone of snobbishness. "Oh, I guess you're gonna say that's MY fault, huh?"

"Did you or did you not throw two of your shuriken at me?!" Blader asked, accusingly.

Crescent thought for a while, then his eyes widened as he put up a finger. "Oh yeah, that WAS my fault."

"Fortunately, our local doctor was kind enough to fashion this bionic leg for me." Blader kicked his metal leg up against a rock to show just how tough it was.

"So, you guys know each other well?" Sakuzy asked.

"Heh, you don't know the half of it, kid." Blader answered, "We're part of the Restoration Committee!"

Goofy put a hand to his chin. "Well, I thought that Radiant Garden was already restored." The dog-man pointed out.

"It is, but we're still needed in case some guys get in over their heads about crime! And we don't really LIKE crime." Crescent said in a mischievous sort of way.

"How about you meet 'em?" said Blader, gesturing behind him with his thumb.

Sora scratched the back of his head. "Uh…we already know Leon and the rest."

Crescent looked oddly hopeful at the mention of Leon's name. "So, if you met HIM, you met that REAL hottie, Yuffie."

Crescent emitted a purring noise from the back of his throat while Blader shook his head and put his head in his hand.

"She's never gonna fall for ya, Crescent." Blader said, blandly. They had obviously been through this before. "How many times does she have to punch you for it to get through?"

Crescent paused and stayed that way for a comical second or two, then simply said, "Beats me."

"Anyway, how about you come with us?" Blader asked again, "You'll meet our buddies."

Sora and co. followed Blader and Crescent through the city until they reached a metal door in the ground. Blader opened it to reveal a stairway, but the ceiling was surprisingly low.

"Mind your head." He warned.

Too late, Donald and Goofy already hit their heads on the top with a resounding CLANG. Sora, Kairi, Sakuzy, Joyex, and Riku had the sense to duck. They eventually came into a room where a large man was working on a computer.

"Hey, Big Green," Blader called out, "Where's the boss-man?"

The man at the computer turned around. He was a heavy-set guy, with skin the color of soil, and no hair unless side-burns counted. He had brown eyes, rather large teeth, and a large chin (like Jay Leno!). His clothes included a leather jacket that revealed a lot of his shirt, which was dark green with golden lining, a necklace that had four silver lines that made half a circle with blue insides, a pair of boots, and a pair of large military jeans.

The big man spoke in a deep voice that sounded tough, but a bit soft at the same time. "He left a few hours ago with Luneth, Blader. And he left ME in charge."

"In that case…" Crescent immediately mock-saluted and said, in a false military voice, "Sir, yes sir! Private Crescent reporting for duty, sir!" Crescent paused, then looked at his hands. "Uh…which hand do I salute with?"

"Ignore the crazy man. Anyhoo, THIS is our medical officer Petross." Blader introduced.

The man known as Petross got out of his seat and shook each member's hand with a steady, iron grip. His hand was easily twice the size of Sora's. "So, YOU'RE Sora?" He asked with a smile, "Leon's told me all about you."

"You know Leon?" Sora asked.

Petross nodded. "Yup. You see, Leon started this part of the Restoration committee some time ago. He wanted more than just his group working on keeping the place safe. I was second to sign up right behind our leader."

While Sora chatted with Petross, Sakuzy, Kairi, and Riku were talking with Blader and Crescent.

"So, guys, what're YOUR stories?" Sakuzy asked.

Blader started things off, quickly beating Crescent to the draw. "Well, it all started a while ago. I grew up in a world called Midgar, but when it fell into darkness, I was sent to Traverse Town. Cid took me under his wing and I became a real computer whiz. When he packed up to head back to the Radiant Garden, I went along. I was alright until the Heartless invasion, which was the time Crescent chopped off my leg!"

Crescent glowered over at Blader and said, "Look, I said I was sorry!"

"Come on. Crescent may be crazy to the point of insane, but he doesn't seem to be the type who'd chop off someone's leg." Riku said, taking in the ninja's appearance.

"Well, you see, he didn't do it on purpose." Blader explained, clasping his hands together, "He threw two of those shuriken at a Heartless, missed by a mile, and chopped off my leg instead! Fortunately, Petross was kind enough to fit met with this leg."

Blader took a seat, then removed his Bionic Leg with a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he was still wearing his pant leg so that they didn't have to see the stump.

Kairi then decided to take the chance no one really wanted and asked, "Well, Crescent, what's your story?"

"Well, after my island was destroyed, I gained the Keyblade and woke up in Traverse Town." He explained, "Then, I met up with the king's court mage and captain and we traveled together. I then turned myself into a Heartless by stabbing myself with a dark Keyblade, but my girlfriend brought me back. After THAT, I lost a year and defeated Organization XIII all in one afternoon."

Sora took quick notice of Crescent's story and turned his attention away from Petross. "Hey, that sounds like MY story!" He said, his arms folded.

Crescent decided to come clean there and then. "It is. I lied. Here's what REALLY happened. After the fall of Radiant Garden, I didn't manage to get away on a Gummi Ship. Maleficent then found me and did several, very painful, human experiments on me, which gave me…" Crescent took out his sword and brought the sharp blade across the palm of his hands hand. It bled for a few seconds before healing over like a zipper being zipped back up. "An accelerated healing factor," Said ninja suddenly jumped and did a backflip in mid-air before landing, gracefully, on his feet. "MAD ninja skills," He then proceeded to run around the room and picked up a rather large file cabinet. "And enhanced speed and strength!"

Crescent dropped the cabinet to the ground with a crash, then continued with his story. "She then labeled me as psychotic and threw me into a prison lab. And to make it worse, I never got my lunch! Can you believe it? Fortunately, I escaped and have since joined the Restoration Committee!"

Blader spun in his computer chair, then shrugged. "Anyway, there's gotta be a reason why you guys dropped by."

"We're taking a break." Sora explained to Blader, "We've been traveling for a while and have also been in a war and trapped on a bloodthirsty island."

Crescent's look was surprisingly bland. "Oh yeah, that's real nice." The ninja's tone suddenly changed to one of more excitement. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with Yuffie to attend to!"

Crescent got up and made for the door as Blader sat up in surprise. "What?! You can't just leave! We're in a bit of a situation here!" When Crescent had already left the premises, Blader took a deep breath, then emitted a heaved sigh as he shook his head. "Why do I even bother?"

Sora and co. were looking at Blader like he was crazy. He took notice, then rounded on them. "Ah, what're YOU lookin' at?" he asked, "Why don't you get your Keyblade in action and take the next Gummi Ship skyward?"

"You mean fly?" Sora asked.

"'Do I mean fly'?" Blader asked, repeating Sora's words, then said, "NO! I mean take a submarine. OF COURSE I MEAN FLY! NOW GET GOIN'!"

"Alright!" Sakuzy said, then immediately made for the door.

After a fun-filled day at Radiant Garden, which included Joyex chasing several Moogles, Sakuzy virtually throwing up because of overeating at a restaurant, and Joyex ruining what could have been a romantic moment between Sora and Kairi, they returned to the Gummi Ship and took off.

Emerald

A Crystalli who wields a blade boomerang and has a rather wimpy attitude. He was messing around on Skull Island, trying to spread the Crystalli reign there, but the island proved too bloodthirsty for their own taste. Sakuzy, Joyex, and Riku inadvertently stranded him on that island by taking his boat and Gummi Ship. He and Sakuzy seem to know each other and Sakuzy calls him 'Jim'.

Blader

A computer genius who's in the Restoration Committee of the east side of Radiant Garden. He's a bit of a smart aleck, but he shows great intelligence and encouragement when he wants to. He has a bionic leg because Crescent, inadvertently, chopped off his leg.

Petross

The momentary leader of the Restoration Committee until the REAL leader returns. Petross is an excellent medical officer and gave Blader his surrogate leg. Crescent likes to poke fun at him with his crazy attitude. Other than that, he's surprisingly intelligent and can be calm when he wants to.

_So, there you have it: My three next original characters. What do ya think? Next world in line is number two of my three non-Disney movies, though the third one won't be arriving for a while._

_I'd like to thank my younger brother for Crescent's line about craziness. He's a bit of a loon himself._

_This chapter is dedicated to all those who died in the Naruto series thus far:_

_Zabuza_

_Haku_

_Hizashi Hyuga_

_Fourth Kazekage_

_Sarutobi_

_Aowoi_

_Raiga_

_The Sound Ninja Four_

_Whoever Keith Silverstein played_

_Sasori_

_Granny Chiyo_

_Deidara_

_Itachi Uchiha_

_Asuma Sarutobi_

_Orochimaru_

_Jiraiya_

_Kakazou_

_Hidan...sort of_

_Gaara...oh, wait, never mind_

_Madara's Brother_

_Unfortunately, not Sasuke_


	25. Split Up

Chapter 25: Split Up

Gummi Ship…

Sakuzy was very relieved at the decision that everyone had come up with. At last things were going back to what they would have been. "So, we're getting back on task?" He asked.

"Yeah. We're heading back to the area where there's two Pure Hearts." Sora said, Sakuzy really liking THAT answer.

Donald typed something on the navigation board and saw two worlds the same distance away. "Can't go to one and then the other. Who knows what this Chrysallis guy can do in that time?"

Sakuzy thought the process over, then gave a mad suggestion. "I think we should split up."

Everyone, through sheer coincidence, said the exact same word at the exact same time. "WHAT?!

Joyex walked into the room with a wrench in his right hand. "No worries. Sakuzy and I checked out this ship and it can split into two ships." Joyex assured them.

"Oh, so THAT'S what the spare steering wheels are for." Donald said, dumbfounded. Now that Donald thought about it, he did notice a few extra steering wheels, but he disregarded them for some reason.

"Alright, here's the way things'll work." Sakuzy told them, "I'm going with Joyex, but the rest of you are on your own.

"Well, who goes where?" asked Goofy.

Sakuzy pushed Donald out of the drivers' seat, then sat in front of the scanner. "According to the scanner, the two worlds are Land of Horrors and Camp Greenlake. Joyex and I'll go to Camp Greenlake, you guys go to...Land of Horrors!"

Thunder rang through the entire Gummi Ship and everyone flinched at the sound. Sakuzy turned to a microwave, which suddenly emitted the same sound as its number reader read "END".

"Whoa, that new microwave beep sure can get a guy's attention." Sakuzy said, somewhat impressed, "And by the way, Sora…" He threw Sora a summon charm and the Keyblade Master fumbled with it before catching it. "Blader gave it to me, but you'll need it more than me."

"Well…thanks." Sora said as he examined the crystal. The charm had a three monkeys on its surface, each one covering either its ears, eyes, or mouth.

A beeping noise came from the ship's control panel as a message started coming in on its main communication link.

"I'll get it!" Sora told them. Sora got to the communications array and pressed a button. In a flurry of lights, a virtual form of Petross' head appeared. "Hey, Petross." He greeted.

"Hey. Glad to see you're on your way." The medical officer greeted, then asked, "By the way, are you going to a place called Camp Greenlake?"

Sakuzy waved to Petross, then answered his question. "Well, I am. So is Joyex."

Petross fingered his large chin, then agreed that it was better than nothing. "Then I need to ask a favor of you two."

"Fire away, chief." Joyex commanded.

"There are four people there you need to find. I'm sending you their profiles now." Petross told them, pausing a second to send them the message.

Four pictures suddenly appeared in a slideshow of sorts. The first picture depicted a teenage boy with sandy hair and a red baseball cap. The caption below read 'Stanley Yelnats IV'. Sora quickly noticed that his last name was the same as the first one, only spelled backwards. The next boy had tanned skin similar to Blader's and had wild, bushy hair. The caption below said 'Hector Zeroni'. The third picture was an older boy with untidy hair and an Aussie hat on his head. The caption said 'Scott Highflier'. The last one was possibly the youngest at about thirteen years old with blonde hair. The caption read 'Ryan Syrus'.

"We're on it, Petross." Joyex affirmed, "Over and out."

Petross' virtual head flickered out of existence as Sakuzy pressed a button. "Initiating separation sequence!" Sakuzy and Joyex got on one side of the ship and saluted. "Good luck."

With the press of a button on Sakuzy's side of the ship, a wall of steel separated the duo from the rest of the group. The one with Sakuzy and Joyex parted from the Gummi Ship and flew away to Camp Greenlake while the others remained on-target.

Donald got back on the ship's main controls and pointed forward like a sailor. "To the Land of Horrors!"

The World that Never Was...

Maleficent strummed her scarlet-nailed hand on the arm of her chair as Hades delivered the news to her.

"Well, if Skull Island could not defeat Sora and his friends, maybe someone who we command COULD." She clapped her hands twice and barked, "Dracula!"

In a flurry of bats, Dracula appeared before Maleficent. "What is it, Maleficent?" He asked.

"Go to your world and eliminate Sora and his friends." She commanded, "Those urchins from the future aren't there to save him THIS time. You know what to do there."

Dracula smiled, showing that his canines had turned into sharpened points. "You know as well as I do. Farewell!"

Dracula turned to his right, then walked into what seemed to be a mirror, without showing any reflection, and phased into it.

_Please review!_


	26. Land of Horrors

Chapter 26: Land of Horrors

Sora, Donald, and Goofy landed somewhere in a dark, dank city. It seemed to be in perpetual night and a full moon hung overhead. Suddenly, Sora only counted three heads in his group. "Hey, where's Riku and Kairi?" He asked.

Goofy looked around, then came to the only reasonable conclusion. "Uh…I think they got lost somewhere in here."

Sora heaved a great sigh, then shook his head in disbelief. "Great!"

_Clouds parted to show an eerie silver, full moon. A wolf howled at it as large, silver, eerie words that spelled out 'Land of Horrors' appeared. As the clouds moved back in front of the moon, the words faded out of existence._

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were wandering around the eerie city. So far, it didn't look like the friendliest place to be...

"This place's like Halloween Town on steroids." Sora said, taking in every detail of the creepy town.

"Sure is spooky here, ain't it, Donald?" Goofy asked.

Donald rolled his eyes. That was the umpteenth time that Goofy had tried to scare him. "Nice try, Goofy. I'm not gonna answer that, cuz I'm not-"

Predictably, a hand tapped Donald on the shoulder and he ended up screaming and clutching Goofy on the face. Sora and Goofy, who still had Donald shuddering on his face, turned to see a man with long, black hair, black clothing, and a matching cowboy hat.

"Uh…hey?" Sora greeted, somewhat uncomfortably.

The man didn't answer, but took out a mirror and put it in front of the three. He then saw their reflections and put the mirror away. "Well, judging by your reflections, you're definitely not vampires."

"VAMPIRES?!" Sora HAD heard about vampires, bat-like people who roamed the worlds at night, sucking people's blood. He often had nightmares about them, but he didn't really imagine them as real creatures. "Well, no wonder this place's called Land of Horrors." He turned to the man, then introduced himself. "Anyway, I'm Sora and these are Donald and Goofy. Who're you?"

Donald finally got off Goofy's face and realized who their visitor was. "Van Helsing!" He quacked, pointing his finger at him, accusingly.

The man that Donald addressed cocked an eyebrow from under his cowboy hat, which shaded his visage.

"You know this guy?" Sora asked.

Donald nodded, then added, "Yeah, he's…"

Donald never finished his sentence because Goofy snapped his bill shut, so the rest of his sentence was inaudible.

"Don't mind him. Anyway, Mr. Van Helsing, sir, what're you up to?" Goofy asked.

The man known as Van Helsing looked off toward another part of town and answered, "Searching for someone."

This response heavily reminded Sora of Cloud when he was looking for Sephiroth. Who was THIS guy after that was so important? "Well, what's he look like?" he asked.

Van Helsing kept his description short, sweet, and to the point. "Large, muscular, has a cigar. Goes by the name Mr. Hyde. If you see him, tell me." Van Helsing then hurried off into the misty town.

Sora turned to Donald, whom Goofy released, then asked, "What were you going to say, Donald?"

"Ah, forget it." Donald said, almost grouchily, "You'll find out soon enough!"

The trio wandered through town for a while before coming to a woman that was lying on the ground. Upon rushing over to her, Sora found that she was already dead.

"Who would do this?"

Goofy scratched his head at Sora's question. "Kill someone? Well, I would guess a cold-blooded, low-down...

"No, not that." Sora quickly said, "This."

Sora reached down to an area just beside the woman and picked up a cigar that seemed to have a bite pattern on it. "Who in their right mind would chew a cigar?"

Suddenly, a voice rang out from another part of the misty town. "Van Helsing! YOU MURDERER!"

Sora turned on the sound of the voice. Had he heard what he thought he heard?

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Sora said, following the chill running down his spine.

"We'd better check it out!" Goofy said, pointing to where the voice came from.

The three ran to a crowd, who was circled around someone dead. The corpse seemed to be very old, judging by the wispy white hair, had no clothing except for a pair of shorts, had several scars on him, and an arm missing.

"Man! This guy's been massacred!" Sora said, wincing at the wounds.

"Van Helsing!" Donald pointed in one direction and the group saw Van Helsing was riding on a black horse through the city of mist.

"Let's go!" Sora said, not exactly wanting to leave town without answers.

As they chased after Van Helsing, trying to stay on his trail, Donald turned to Sora. "You wanna know HOW I know this guy, Sora?"

"How?"

"He's the biggest murderer in the worlds!" He answered, "The deaths are different, but always horrible!"

Sora was shocked. It seemed that the voice was right; maybe Van Helsing was a murderer.

Goofy, on the other hand, thought differently. "Ah, I don't think so." He said, "I think he's one of the good guys!"

"Prove it, ya big palooka!" Donald squawked.

Goofy thought and thought, but in the end, he couldn't think of any proof. "Uh…I dunno."

"Look, I don't care what you say." Sora told them both, "I'm still going after him. I have a feeling I'll get some answers from him."

The three of them followed the black steed through the Land of Horrors until he led them to an ancient city. Unlike the last city, this one was golden thanks to the bright sunlight and a had a pearly-white church. As they watched, Van Helsing dismounted his horse and entered the church. Hardly having any breath left, they followed him without question.

"Van Helsing!"

Van Helsing made an abrupt halt, then turned to see Sora behind him, gasping for breath. "Oh, it's you again." Van Helsing said with slight surprise, "What do you want from me?"

Sora straightened up, then looked Van Helsing in the eye and asked one question he had been wanting to ask since Donald told him of what Van Helsing was. "Why'd you kill that guy back there?"

Van Helsing ran his hands along a wall of the church, then answered Sora without turning to face him. "THAT was Mr. Hyde."

All three people paused, then realized what the monster hunter had just said. "WHAT?!" They all asked.

Donald stamped his webbed foot and began his usual angry outburst toward a certain person. "He didn't look ANYTHING like the guy you described!"

"That's the problem." Van Helsing filled in, "Mr. Hyde was actually another person called Dr. Jekyll. He drank a potion that allowed him to become a powerful monster." He looked down at the floor in slight shame, then said, "I was…supposed to bring him alive, but he gave me no other choice but to kill him."

"Still, THAT wasn't very good!" Donald said, his temper still on the rise.

Van Helsing turned to meet Donald with the ferocity of a beast in his eye, then seized Donald by the collar and lifted him clean off the ground. His voice was both quiet AND intimidating at the same time.

"You think I LIKE being the most wanted man in the world?" He asked, fiercely, "I go in and people see ME standing there as these monsters become the men they once were!"

Van Helsing took a deep breath, then released Donald, sending the duck mage careening to the floor and landing on his feathery back. Goofy looked around just as Van Helsing opened a secret door in the wall. Sora picked Donald back up, then followed Van Helsing down the secret stairs. Goofy looked where they were, then darted down the stairs to catch up.

"Well, what is this place?" Goofy asked.

As Van Helsing reached the bottom of the stairs, Sora found that they had reached an entire organization. It seemed to be a headquarters full of scientific experiments, weapon development, and philosophical research. Amongst the organization were monks and other spiritualists from all across the Land of Horrrors.

At that moment, Van Helsing answered Goofy's question. "The hiding place of the Holy Order."

Van Helsing

A wanted man in Land of Horrors who's a world-renowned monster killer. He tracks down monsters and, though he's supposed to bring them in alive, kills them (occasionally, it's inadvertent). He hates being seen for it and being taken for a murderer because of it, even though he's one of the good guys. He first appeared in _Van Helsing_ 2003.

_Yes, THIS is number two of my three miscellaneous movies, which weren't made by Disney. Please review._


	27. Attacked by Vampires

Chapter 27: Vampires

Upon getting orders on where to go, Van Helsing had found that they were to go to a foreign land filled to the brink with monsters; a land with a menagery of nightmares.

"So, how do we get equipped?" Sora asked.

Van Helsing calmly stated, "Don't worry, there's a friar here who can do that."

"What's his name?" asked Goofy.

"Carl."

Donald sniggered at the single word that Van Helsing said, then asked, "What kind of friar's named Carl?"

Van Helsing was, obviously, not listening, because he came to a short guy with an unusual helmet. He was wearing the clothes of a friar and had average-length, blonde hair.

"Hello, Carl." The monster hunter greeted.

Carl removed his helmet, then turned to speak to Van Helsing with a British accent. "Ah, Welcome back." He said, then asked, "Did you bring Mr. Hyde back or did you kill him?" Carl didn't even wait for Van Helsing to answer, because the answer was obvious. "You killed him, didn't you? THAT'S why they get so annoyed. When they tell you to bring someone back, they don't mean as a corpse. I also see you brought some people in."

Sora, on being addressed by the friar, greeted, "I'm Sora and these are Donald and Goofy."

Carl dismissed the three, then went through the headquarters of the order. "Yes, that's nice. Well, time to put the bit in your mouth."

Goofy fingered a sword, but Carl smacked his hand just as the dog-man's gloved finger touched the hilt. "Oh, any fool can make a sword." He said, dismissing the weapon.

A rather bulky man with a red hot sword turned around to growl at Carl. "Hey."

Carl took a step back, then mumbled an apology as he walked past him. "Oh. Sorry, father."

Carl then walked off to a table and handed him a ring of garlic. He put the items in the bag as he said the name of each item. "Rings of garlic...Holy water...Silver stake...A crucifix…"

There was a series of small bangs and the whole crew turned to see a large Gatling gun that was firing at a target: possibly a test run to make sure it worked.

"Why can't we have that?" Donald asked, pointing it out.

Carl stared at the duck, then asked, "You've never gone up against vampires, have you?"

Donald rolled his eyes at what he thought was a nerd's question. "Vampires, Heartless, Nobodies, they're all the same--Best when cooked well."

"No, no. A vampire is not like a Heartless." Carl hastily explained, "My granny could kill a Heartless."

Sora stifled a laugh in what could only be described as disbelief. "I bet you've hardly been out of this place, so how do you know about vampires?"

Carl turned to Sora and simply answered, "I read. Oh, here's something new." Carl perked as he picked up a very fancy-looking crossbow with a ram's skull at the barrel's tip. It looked like a cross between a machine gun and a crossbow. "It's gas-propelled, and capable of catapulting arrows in quick succession and tremendous velocity. Just pull the trigger and hold on."

Van Helsing took the crossbow in his hand and inspected it, getting used to handling it and pretending to fire.

"Now, I've heard the tales coming out of the place we're going. You'll need this." Carl told him, earning an odd stare from Van Helsing.

"Why didn't you say so yourself?" asked Van Helsing.

"I did." Carl answered.

Sora suddenly noticed an orb of sorts and picked it up. It looked sort of like a bomb, but had notable differences; the lack of a fuse or any form of gunpowder inside.

"Hey, what's this?" Sora asked as he moved it around in his hand.

Carl saw what Sora had and tried to take it back, but as he was talking, Sora, Donald, and Goofy acted like they were playing Monkey in the Middle with him. "I've been working on that for twelve years! It's magma from Mt. Vesuvius and acolyte from the Gobi Desert!" After an immense challenge, Carl finally took the device from Sora, who was still smiling after having a bit of fun with the friar. "One of a kind." Carl finished.

"Well, what's it for?" Goofy asked.

Carl shrugged as he answered, "Well, I don't know. I'm sure it'll come in handy."

Donald coughed, which might have held a snigger, then asked, "Twelve years and you don't know what it does?"

At that question, Carl rounded on Donald and held up a finger. "I didn't say that. I said I didn't know what it's FOR. What it does is create a light equal to the intensity of the sun."

"And that'll help us…how?" Sora asked.

Carl shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. You could blind your enemy, charbroil a herd of charging wildebeests. Use your imagination."

At that moment, Van Helsing walked by and shoved all the stuff that was packed into Carl's arms. "We'll just use YOURS, Carl. The Cardinal ordered you to keep us alive…for as long as possible."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were leaving with Van Helsing as the monster hunter's statement struck something in the friar. "But I'm not a field man! Van Helsing! I don't want to go!" Carl said, trying to reason with Van Helsing.

Too late, they were on their way with Carl tagging along.

After a long and strenuous journey across mountain ranges and massive plains, the crew came upon a foggy town. In Sora's opinion, it was a bit creepier than the last town they were in.

"So, Van Helsing, lemme get this straight...the order believes that you're reincarnated?" Sora asked, trying to strike conversation with him.

Van Helsing didn't turn to face Sora the whole time they walked through the town, receiving odd looks from the townsfolk. "Yes. That's what they believe." He answered.

"And you don't remember a thing about your earlier life?"

Van Helsing shook his head. "Nothing."

"Well, I seem to remember some place with white halls. But it's like a distant dream…" Sora said, trying to catch what he remembered, "Maybe this adventure'll tell me what it was all about. Maybe I'll find out along the way."

Van Helsing shrugged his shoulders, for his crossbow was still in hand. "Maybe, maybe not. There's only one way to find out."

Donald decided to enter the talk as he said, "Well, guys, you gotta remember something."

Van Helsing quickly thought this over, then answered with just one memory. "I remember fighting an old man in a desert."

Goofy stared at Van Helsing as well as Carl. "Gawrsh, Mr. Van Helsing. You don't even look like you've SEEN a desert." Goofy pointed out.

"You asked."

Donald turned to Sora and asked, "What about you, Sora?"

"Well, I remember some guy with long, brown hair and a scythe." Sora said, relaying what information he had.

Goofy pondered what Sora was talking about, then scratched his head. "Nope, doesn't ring a bell."

Before anything else could be told, a familiar voice called out to them. "Sora!"

Sora turned on being addressed and saw Kairi running towards them, looking very relieved and frightened at the same time. Before Sora knew it, Kairi had quickly embraced him, who returned it in an instant. Donald and Goofy made a chuckling gesture and the two quickly parted, looking sheepish.

"Well, now that we've found one of your friends, Sora, time to get rid of some Heartless." Van Helsing said, fingering his crossbow.

Sora gave Van Helsing a quizzical look, then cocked his head in confusion. "I don't think there ARE any Heartless around here."

Van Helsing kept his cool as he asked, "Oh, really?"

In the blink of an eye, Van Helsing whipped out his crossbow and Sora wheeled around to see three Heartless with bat wings in flight. They had the traditional face of Heartless: a mouthful of jagged teeth and slanted, yellow eyes, but each one was different from the other. One had a trail of red hair, one had short-cut black hair, and the last had dirty-blonde, shoulder-length hair. Sora had to tackle Kairi to the ground to get her out of the way.

"I'm just guessing, but I think they're after Kairi." Donald said over the screeching Heartless.

"What gave you THAT idea?!" Sora said, not believing Donald's guessing.

The Vampire Heartless were flying above the town like birds trapped in a building. The black-haired one and the blonde one rose high into the air, where they hovered to spy on the newcomers.

As the black-haired Heartless spied Sora and Van Helsing, he spoke in a male, British voice. "Kill the strangers!"

The Blonde, on the other hand, spoke in a female voice and a French accent. "Love to!"

The blonde Heartless flew in Sora's direction like a bird of prey after its victim. Sora ran with the Heartless close behind, then got out his Keyblade and ducked under her talonedfeet. As soon as Sora saw that she overshot it, he attacked with his Keyblade and clipped her wing, sending the Heartless wheeling away.

"Van Helsing!"

Van Helsing ran over to Sora and got out his crossbow. "I bet this'll be upsetting!"

Van Helsing opened fire with his crossbow. Apparently, Carl wasn't exaggerating back at the Holy Order, because that crossbow alone was catapulting arrows like a machine gun. Said weapon shot several arrows straight through the French Heartless in a matter of seconds. Sora then did Blitz, hacking her three times and a hard impact on the last. The Vampire Heartless, much to Sora's surprise, just continued on flying like a falcon and recovered as though nothing happened. Sora was expecting her, like other Heartless, to vanish after a few strikes, but she didn't. Was there some other way to kill them?

Van Helsing kept firing his Crossbow until his gun clicked: out of ammo. "Carl! It's not working!" He called out.

Carl hastily reached into his bag, then grabbed a canister filled with what Sora hoped was extra arrows out of a sack he brought along. "Try aiming at their hearts!" He informed, trying to avoid the Heartless.

With a heave, Carl tossed the ammunition canister to Van Helsing, who caught it and reloaded his gun. Meanwhile, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy were doing as well as Sora and Van Helsing were: Doing little to no damage. The Vampire Heartless recovered from Donald's magic, Goofy's shield only repulsed them for a few seconds, and Kairi seemed to be the main target. One went for Kairi, but Goofy tackled her out of the way, so the Vampiress Heartless only threw a cow into a nearby house with her eagle-like feet.

"Whoa!" Goofy shouted in surprise.

"WAK!" Donald squawked as he got to his feet, then scrambled away.

Kairi could only stare at the feat that the Heartless just did, "That's strong…"

Kairi was suddenly grabbed by the forearm and was being carried through the air by the redheaded Heartless. Said Vampire Heartless looked down at her and spoke in almost a screech, and in a thick European accent. "Do you like to fly, Kairi?!"

THAT screech was enough for Sora to hear and he looked up in surprise "Kairi! Van Helsing!"

Van Helsing took notice of what Sora was pointing out, then whipped out a pair of rotary blades and threw one at the redheaded Heartless that had Kairi. The blades ripped right through the Heartless' left heel, causing her to screech in pain. Said Heartless instantly turned to see them, wanting to know who would do such a thing. Van Helsing, however, simply kept his cool as he caught the rotary blade like a boomerang.

"Now that I have your attention..." Van Helsing said, coolly.

Van Helsing started wielding the rotary blades as he jumped at the Vampiress, making several long gashes in her dark body, all of which healed over. However, Van Helsing didn't intend to kill; simply make her to drop Kairi, which she did. Van Helsing caught Kairi, then put her back on her feet and continued with the assault.

Suddenly, all three of the vicious Heartless vanished and quiet blanketed the village as it got somewhat brighter. Donald came out of hiding and looked around the village, which was now so silent that even the silence could be heard.

"What just happened here?" The court mage asked, still a little spooked.

"It's the sun." Van Helsing asked.

Sora looked up and saw that the cloudy sky had shifted to reveal the sun. The sun must have been blocked, only then could the vampires attack in broad daylight. "That means they're gone?" He asked.

Van Helsing kept his eyes focused as he simply answered, "For now..."

Carl

A friar from the Holy Order (The order Van Helsing's in) with the courage of a flea. He's smart, but often, inadvertently, creates weapons of mass destruction to the order itself. He gave the group weapons to deal with vampires and went with them (it WASN'T of his free will). He first appeared in _Van Helsing_ 2003.

_That would be Van Helsing's Mercenary Shot and Rotary Rampage. Please review._


	28. Servants of Dracula

Chapter 28: The Servants of Dracula

The sun was still out and Sora, Kairi, and Van Helsing had their weapons out, ready for when the Heartless were to come out and attack. Suddenly, they heard the telltale sound of splashing water. There was a well RIGHT in the middle of the town. They then looked down the well and saw nothing but darkness.

Carl, Donald, and Goofy then noticed that a cloud was covering the sun again. Fright was apparent in the duck mage's voice as he spoke. "Uh…guys?"

The redheaded Vampire Heartless flew out of the well as quick as a flash, knocking Van Helsing and Sora away and she seized Kairi again. Luckily, the Princess of Heart had her Keyblade and she cut the Heartless' foot. The redhead screeched in pain and dropped Kairi, only for her the black-haired male to grab her out of the air. Sora chased after them and threw the Ultima Weapon at the Heartless in a Strikeraid, causing the said Heartless to drop Kairi…onto a rooftop. She slid off the roof, got caught in a tree, and landed on the ground. She then ran into a nearby house and shut the door behind her without even turning to look back.

Van Helsing took careful aim, then opened fire with a cascade of arrows and sent the blonde, French Heartless crashing into the remnants house. Said Heartless shrieked in pain and smashed right through the fragile wall, splintering the boards that made it up.

Back in the house, Kairi locked the door behind her, but barely even turned around when she saw the redhead Heartless was standing RIGHT behind her without Kairi even noticing she was there.

"Hello, Princess." She greeted.

The redhead smiled a malevolent smile, as most Heartless did, then turned into a cloud of black smoke. When the smoke cleared, a woman stood in front of Kairi. She had long, red hair, emerald-green eyes, and was wearing a flowing, black dress with the Heartless symbol on its front.

"You again..." Kairi said with a slight twist of fear.

Back with Sora and Van Helsing, the two were still fighting the blonde, who had picked herself up and out of the smashed house. She dove at Sora, who swatted her at Van Helsing with a swipe of his Keyblade, who in return shot several arrows through her. She simply flew away, then landed and plucked them out as she puffed into black smoke. When the smoke cleared, it revealed another woman with a sallow face, heavily shaded eyes, and straw-colored, shoulder-length hair. Her dress was an exact replica of the redhead's: black with the Heartless symbol on its front. She took the protruding arrow from her stomach, inspected it like a toy, and then threw it away.

Sora stared at her at the feat she just performed. "She's a human?! But Heartless can't change back and forth!"

"Looks like they can now..." Van Helsing said, aiming his crossbow at her.

The blonde looked at Sora, and licked her chops with a long, serpentine tongue. THIS caused Sora to cringe in slight disgust. "Man! These things just won't die! And they're DISGUSTING!"

Carl rummaged through his sack and then pulled out a silver container made of tin that had a cross emblazoned on its front. "This should do the trick..." He shouted the next part to grab Sora and Van Helsing's attention. "Holy Water!"

The monk threw the container at Van Helsing, but the black haired Heartless snatched it out of the air and poured it out onto the ground below. "Cease your teasing and FINISH THEM!" The Heartless barked, "I'm going to find Aleera and the Princess." With a single flap of his bat-like wings, the male took off faster than lightning.

The blonde heard his order, then crouched right in front of them like some form of wild predator. She then waved in a way that would make an infant throw up and spoke in a baby talk that would pretty much do the same thing. "Au revoir my leetle troublemakers."

The French Heartless grinned a very evil grin and a shiver went down Sora's spine as her upper canines elongated into sharp fangs.

Meanwhile, Kairi was cornered by Aleera, the redheaded Heartless. And with every step the vampiress took, Kairi backed off slightly.

"What did I do to deserve this?" She asked to both herself and the vampiress.

"Don't play coy with me." Aleera said in a cold voice. Kairi made to leave, but the vampiress was there to meet her, face-to-face. Oddly enough, she hadn't taken a single step. "I know what is in your heart…" Aleera added.

"Hope YOU have a heart, because sooner or later, I'll drive my Keyblade through it!" Kairi said, new courage showing in her voice.

The vampiress, in a rage, swatted Kairi into another room, just like the blonde did to Sora and Van Helsing outside.

Van Helsing flew through the air with Sora, losing his crossbow in the process and the wind knocked out of his lungs. Sora didn't much enjoy it either.

"THE CHURCH!" Carl shouted.

On hearing Carl's exclamation, Sora saw that the church had a spigot that was dripping water: Holy Water. Van Helsing and Sora glanced at each other, then smirked and nodded. They had a Heartless to kill.

Back inside, Kairi found the owner of the house dead and she didn't have to guess why, because Aleera was nearby the corpse, drinking blood like wine. "Thirty years old, perfectly aged." She said, silkily.

The human form of the black haired Heartless suddenly appeared behind Kairi just as she turned to meet him. He was a tall, handsome man with neatly-combed hair, blood-red eyes, and a thin mustache. He, like the other Heartless, was clad in black, only it was a formal suit, but it still had the Heartless symbol on the chest.

He spoke to Kairi in a calm, British accent. "Hello there, Kairi." He greeted, "I certainly didn't expect to see YOU again."

Kairi was clearly confused. She had never met this Heartless in her life, yet it knew her name. "Wait. What do you mean 'again'?" She asked.

The Black Hair shook his head as he chuckled to himself, then lifted a card from his pocket: one that Kairi had seen used by a certain Nobody. "My name is Eoin, the Heartless of the man who became Luxord." Eoin tossed the card over his shoulder and held out a hand, beckoning Kairi to take it. "Now, I suggest you come with me before I'm forced to get…well, ANGRY."

Before he said "angry", Eoin's teeth had elongated into fangs and his pupils had turned into catlike slits. The two slowly approached, backing the Princess of Heart into a corner. "Princess of Heart, come with me." Eoin suggested, holding out his hand.

Outside, Sora raced as fast as he could toward the church's fountain as the blonde Heartless sped at him like an attacking falcon. Just as she was ten feet away, Sora dipped his Keyblade in the water and turned it to see an oncoming blonde Heartless, who looked ready to kill. Upon realizing that she had gotten this close to her own demise.

Back inside, Kairi made a slash with her Keyblade, but her wrist was caught by Eoin, who twisted it out of her hands with a chuckle. Aleera, on the other hand, stared at Kairi like she was some delicious morsel. "I can feel fresh blood coursing through her veins!" She said, licking her chops.

Eoin glanced at her and growled an inhuman growl. "You heard Lord Dracula, Aleera. The princess is NOT for our feasting!" He growled, "He wants her alive and unspoiled."

Outside, Sora and the blonde looked ready to fight again, which would soon be decided.

Inside, Aleera threw her glass away, breaking it. She wasn't really acting in a manner to impress Eoin, who looked full to exploding at her disobedience. "Just one bite!"

Eoin didn't tolerate this and his jaw extended like a snake as he let out a snarl. Aleera did the same, looking ready to suck Kairi dry in a matter of seconds.

Outside, Sora dodged a blow from the blonde and pointed his Keyblade at her and performed a new spell: one that Sakuzy had taught him on the way out of Narnia.

"Bladaga!"

A sharp blade, made from pure white energy, shot out of his Keyblade. It moved as fast as a bullet as it passed through the holy water and impaling the blonde on it.

Back inside the building, the other two Heartless screamed and roared in apparent pain, turned back into their Heartless forms, and flew out of the ceilings and out of sight.

"NOOOO!" Aleera cried as she flew away.

Sora got a good look at the blonde Heartless before him, clutching the spot where the blade had impaled her. Then, in a sparkle, a pink heart exited her body and floated away to join Kingdom Hearts. Upon realizing this fact, the blonde Heartless let loose an angered shriek as she disappeared in dark smoke. When the smoke cleared, an ancient skeleton stood where she once did and then turned to dust.

Sora stared at the pile of dust before him. "I'm still a bit new to this world, but that's…just plain freaky."

"Did you expect for this job to be easy?" Van Helsing asked as he put his hat back on.

Sora looked around. Kairi was nowhere in sight... "Kairi? KAIRI?!" He called out.

"I'm okay, Sora!"

Kairi ran out and the two embraced again. When they finally did part, Sora managed to ask a question he didn't manage to ask. "Where's Riku?"

Kairi looked at the ground, still a little shaken by what happened, but managed to answer. "I don't know. We were together for a while, but a werewolf forced us to split up."

Goofy's jaw dropped while Donald smacked himself in the forehead, sarcasm in his voice. "Great, vampires AND werewolves. How many monsters can this place hold?!"

Suddenly, something came to Kairi's mind: something that she had heard back at the house. "That black-haired Heartless mentioned someone. It must be their leader."

THIS was enough to get Van Helsing's attention and he turned to Kairi with a curious look on his face. "Really?" He asked.

Kairi nodded and answered, "Yeah. I think he said his name was...Dracula."

Van Helsing seemed to be both confused and somewhat disturbed by the mention of that name. "Dracula?"

Dracula's Lair...

Dracula seemingly melted through a hunk of glass and when he broke out, several bats started flying out. He then let out a roar that seemed to be anger mixed with sudden loss. When he was done, he looked at Eoin and Aleera. Eoin was leaning against the wall while Aleera was looking somewhat fearful.

"You were supposed to bring the Princess to me, Aleera, alive and unspoiled." Dracula scolded, "And thanks to your little act, we lost a valuable ally!"

Several Heartless were watching Dracula from above. Though some were familiar: Neo Shadows, Ghosts, Living Bone, etc. while OTHERS looked like zombies, ghosts, and ghouls.

"I tried to tell her not to." Eoin pointed out, trying to avoid trouble, "But obviously her stomach was larger than her brain, my lord."

Dracula raised a finger, then said, "THAT I will give credit for, Eoin. However, it is time to put our little theory to the test."

Eoin's eyes snapped open as he eyed Dracula. "If this is a repeat of the last time, you can count me out."

Suddenly, there was a crackling of electricity and a human scream. Dracula turned down to see a hunchbacked, skeletal-looking man with an electric prod clenched in his fist.

"Igor! Why must you torment prisoners so?" He asked, malevolently.

The hunchback, Igor, wore a sick grin as he answered in a thick, European accent. "It's what I do."

"Remember, Igor," Dracula reminded, "Do unto others…"

Igor finished the sentence; they had obviously been through this before. "Before they do unto me."

"Now, to Castle Frankenstein!" Dracula ordered in almost a roar.

Eoin sighed as he took to flight, via his Heartless form.

Aleera

One of Dracula's servants who has been given the ability to change between a Heartless and vampiress somehow. She has some unknown craving for Kairi's blood and wants to suck her dry. She first appeared in _Van Helsing_ 2003.

Eoin 

Another of Dracula's servants who can also change from Heartless to vampire. Unlike most vampiric beings, he speaks in a British accent and doesn't appear to crave blood as much as Aleera. He's a bit more obedient and loyal to Dracula, though he is somewhat doubtful of his master's orders.

Dracula

An evil being who has allied himself with Maleficent. He has, somehow, given his servants the ability to change into Heartless and back. He and Van Helsing have some sort of run-in with destiny. He is currently trying to raise an army of dead Heartless, but can't...yet. He first appeared in _Van Helsing_ 2003.

Igor

A hunchback who enjoys torturing others for his own entertainment. He used to work for Dr. Frankenstein, but betrayed him for money and became Dracula's servant instead. He first appeared in _Van Helsing_ 2003.

_The blonde and Eoin do not belong to Van Helsing. Dimensiondude made them while he was editing because he didn't want this TOO relevant to the movie. Oh well. Eoin is named after Eoin Colfer, the author of the book series Artemis Fowl. Please review!_


	29. Heartless, Werewolves, and Frankenstein

Chapter 29: Heartless, Werewolves, and Frankenstein

After the Vampire Heartless incident, Kairi gave the new troop the grand tour of the village. She had brought the group into an old mansion near the center of the town. "Some people say that Dracula himself used to stay here, though no one knows where he is now." Kairi paused, then shook her head. "The vampires seem to be desperate to kill me…or take me alive."

Van Helsing agreed to her. "I'd say so, considering that they were attacking in daylight."

Donald and Goofy were gasping for breath, seeing as they preferred to avoid the Vampires rather than fight them. "Yeah. But, being attacked sure has made me tired. I'm turning in." The duck mage said, trundling off to a room.

"Me too."

With that word, Donald and Goofy dragged themselves to a room, their arms trailing on the floor.

"We need to kill Dracula, but he caught us off guard in the daylight and we can't see in the dark." Van Helsing said, getting ahead of the group already, "By morning we hunt, together."

"Okay." Kairi said as she walked away, but Sora turned to Van Helsing.

"Donald told me you're a murderer, Van Helsing," Sora told him, "But Goofy said you're one of the good guys. Which is it?"

Van Helsing had to think about this. It was a good question after all... "I guess it's a bit of both." He answered, honestly, "Now, Sora, I need you to do something."

Sora turned to Van Helsing with a shrug. "Sure thing. What can I do?"

"Take a rest."

Van Helsing took out a strange bottle, then sprayed Sora with some liquid that knocked him out like a light. The Keyblade Master landed on the ground with an audible "thud". Kairi heard the noise and ran in to see him on the ground.

"What's with Sora…"

Before she could even finish, Van Helsing suddenly sprayed Kairi with the same liquid, knocking her out too, but rather than let her fall, he caught her.

"Sorry about that, too." He apologized.

One hour later...

Sora woke up in his room. He was a bit confused, but then he remembered something about that place…Castle Oblivion . He also remembered something else: Van Helsing just sprayed him, knocking him out. How else could he have gotten the throbbing pain in the back of his head?

Sora pounded the mattress with his fist and muttered something under his breath. "Van Helsing, I'm going to kill you for this..."

He stood off the bed, then exited the room in just a few strides. As Sora began scouring the mansion, he found himself in a library of sorts. As he realized that night had fallen, he felt a shiver going down his spine, like something was watching him. The Ultima Weapon flashed into Sora's hand as he slowly slunk along the corridors, barely keeping himself in control and his eyes darted from side to side. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Sora's neck prickled as a warm, steady breath trickled down his collar. Slowly, he turned and soon wished he hadn't, for a large wolfman with short, auburn fur got so close that they were virtually nose-to-nose and snarled right at his face.

"Bladaga!"

Acting on instinct, an energy blade, exactly like the one that impaled the Vampire Heartless, shot from his Keyblade like an arrow, but the werewolf dodged it and was gone in an instant. Sora backed away, and slowly made his way for the door, not even daring to turn his back on the place, when he backed into something. Sora wheeled around to see Riku, standing just behind him, diamond arm and Keyblade raised.

"Riku!"

Riku registered his friend's face, then lowered his diamond-cast Keyblade. "Oh, there you are. Yeah, it's me. Only…LOOK OUT!"

Riku pushed Sora to the left as he moved to the right: the werewolf was back. The werewolf snapped at Riku, but he stuck the diamond version of his Way To Dawn Keyblade between the werewolf's teeth. The collision bowled Riku to the ground with the beast on top of him, but apparently Riku had planned this, for he kicked his feet into the wolfman's midsection and rolled backward, kicking it out of the window with a panicked howl.

Van Helsing, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy ran in, just in time to see Riku get back on his feet. When Carl entered the room, he sniffed the air and cocked an eyebrow at a curious smell.

"Why does it smell like wet dog in here?" asked the plucky friar.

Sora's response was immediate and instinctive. "Werewolf!"

Sudden realization dawned on Carl as he reached into one of his robe's pockets. "Well, if that's the case, you'll need silver weapons."

Van Helsing, Sora, and Kairi ran out of the room with Carl hot on their heels, leaving Riku, Donald, and Goofy in the dust. A bit unsure as to whether follow Sora or do something else.

"Uh…maybe this should be left to the professionals." Goofy suggested.

"Let's get a bite to eat, then..." Donald said, looking down at his scrawny self. He hadn't had a decent bite since Narnia.

Donald and Goofy walked to the kitchen of the mansion, ready to have something OTHER than the food reserves on the Gummi Ship. Riku tried to follow, but there was the all-too-familiar sound of flapping of wings and he just had time to take in what he was seeing.

"WHAT THE…?!"

Riku never finished his sentence when a pair of taloned feet slammed into his face, knocking him out as cold as cabbage.

Back with the three monster slayers, the trio were wandering around the city. Sora and Kairi had their Keyblades drawn and Van Helsing had out a pair of hand pistols. They were eventually forced to join forces again.

"So, Van Helsing, do you have any family?" Sora asked.

Van Helsing stared at Sora's attempt to strike conversation, but eventually went with it. "I don't know. I hope that I'll find them if I try hard enough." He answered.

They continued walking until they reached a castle on the outskirts of town. Apparently, Kairi had been to this place longer than they thought, for she knew of this place.

"Castle Frankenstein." She explained, "The villagers said that the man who lived here died a year ago. A graverobber, among other things."

"Well, if I were Dracula, then THAT would be just the place to hide..." Sora said, scratching his head of spiky hair.

Before anyone could object, Sora entered the castle, but hadn't even gone a few steps when Kairi caught up to him as well as Van Helsing. She drug them aside when they saw several Heartless passed by. Their unique armor looked like gargoyle parts and they had chains wrapped around their arms and shoulders.

"Ghoul Heartless!" Kairi hissed, remaining as quiet as she could.

"Ghouls?" asked Sora.

Kairi nodded. "They're Dracula's servants. Better kill them while you have the chance, because they'll do WORSE to you." She explained.

The Heartless turned, then seemed to start talking to each other. Strangely, Sora understood every word they said.

"They're speaking..."

Kairi listened in on them, but apparently she couldn't hear them as well as Sora. "They are?"

Sora gave Kairi a questioning look, then asked, "Can't you hear them? They're talking out LOUD."

Kairi shook her head. "Sorry, Sora. I don't hear anything except a few grunts and growls."

Sora ruffled his spiky hair, then sighed a defeated sigh. He guessed that the reason he understood them was because he had been a Heartless and had spoken their language at one point in his life.

"Never mind." He said, then continued to listen in on them. A second later, he translated, "They said they've caught their guinea pig. Who's that?"

Meanwhile, in a laboratory located somewhere in the center of the castle, the same werewolf from the library walked by on all fours. It was dragging a half-conscious Riku by the collar through the gates. Dracula smirked a smug grin and was quickly joined by Eoin just as Riku was dropped on the floor with enough force to get some consciousness back in him.

"I was hoping to use you as bait, Riku; to lure your friends here and have them killed by my Heartless. However, I'm more interested in that arm of yours." Dracula ran a finger along its back, then added, "It looks…otherworldly, shall we say?"

Riku grinned a slightly humorous grin through bloody lips as he said, "You have no idea."

Eoin strode over to Riku and tapped his arm with his index finger. He sounded about as amazed as he looked. "His arm is made of pure diamond and giving off some unknown energy." Eoin said, his eyes wide in amazement, "This energy makes the doctor's work look like rubbish. This might actually work!"

Dracula smiled as his servant pointed the fact out. "Well, let's put that to the test then. Heartless!" Dracula clapped his hands twice and several Ghoul Heartless scrambled out of the shadows like ugly, chain-clad primates gone mad. "Strap him up to the machine." He ordered.

The Ghouls spoke in garbled voices as they strapped Riku to a metal lab table of sorts. Riku resisted with every fiber of his being, but no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't couldn't break free.

"Let us begin!" Dracula roared to the heavens.

Back with Sora and co., they had just entered an area of the castle's lowest levels that was filled to bursting with odd sacks. They were easily big enough to hold Donald in them, pitch-black with crimson markings on them, and looked abnormally slimy, as though someone had dipped them in a swamp's water then pulled them back out.

"What are these things?" Van Helsing asked, eyeing one suspiciously.

Sora shrugged. "Beats me."

"I don't know, either. What about you, Van Helsing? Any ideas?" She asked.

"One." He answered. On seeing their eagerly-listening expressions, he answered with just one word. "Heartless."

Sora stared, one time at Van Helsing, then at the strange sacs. "Heartless in eggs?"

Van Helsing fingered one with his gloved hand, then pointed out, "Two vampires that lived with two females for four hundred years? You'd be surprised."

Sora inspected the sacks and saw that they had remained oddly inactive. A sudden suspicion creeped into Sora's mind. "People on the islands said that vampires were the living dead." Sora thought out loud, "So it'd make sense that their children are born dead."

Kairi suddenly noticed an odd device at the top of each sac. Attached to each of the devices was a wire that linked them all together. "So…he's trying to bring them to life?" She asked.

Van Helsing ran a gloved hand down the full length of one of the sacks. "Vampires only take out one or two people a month, but if he brings THESE things to life…"

A shudder ran down the group's spines at the thought of SEVERAL mini-vampires rampaging around town. Whatever these things were, they had to be destroyed IMMEDIATELY.

Meanwhile, in the experiment room, the table with Riku on it was raised into the sky, which was starting to flash with lightning. Riku screamed as a fork of lightning struck the table he was on and coursed through his body. The HUGE amount of electricity from the sky didn't hurt as much as it normally would, because it was now concentrating into his diamond arm, which was glowing electric-blue.

Back in the egg chamber, Sora and co. heard the scream and they were a good few meters below him.

"RIKU!"

Kairi vaguely remembered something Sora said and the suspicion flowed through her veins. "This may sound crazy, but something tells me HE'S the guinea pig that those Ghouls were talking about."

A burst of lightning shot from the sky and struck Riku full on again. This time, however, electricity started coursing through the electrical equipment attached to the egg sacks. Said sacks sparked for a second or two, then slightly inflated like grotesque balloons that had only one puff put in them.

"Kairi, maybe you'd better try and help Riku. Things could get ugly here." Sora warned, Ultima Weapon flashing into his outstretched hand.

"OK." Kairi didn't waste a second in running away. She was in NO mood to see what was going to come out of the eggs.

Van Helsing, on the other hand, walked over to the nearest egg sack and took off one of his leather gloves. Sora touched one and got electrocuted by a small jolt of static electricity, causing him to jump back in surprise. Still, Van Helsing opened a sack up by slightly tearing the sac with his bare hand.

"Uh…what're you doing?" asked Sora.

"Trying to see what we're up against." the monster hunter answered.

When the sac opened up, dark-green goop started to spill out of the rubbery object, looking like swamp water. Some of the stuff flowed like water, other was a sticky, mucus-like substance. Van Helsing then started shoveling the green gunk out until he finally got to something solid, not liquid or near-solid. From the look on his face, Sora could tell that the monster hunter had struck gold.

"So this is what you get when Heartless mate?"

Van Helsing held out his hand to touch whatever he reached, but something screeched, causing both to jump. The thing in the egg sack was certainly alive...grumpy, too. Then, with another explosion of lighting and a course of electrical energy, all the egg sacs seemed to explode into odd creatures. They were small; less than half a meter high, had black skin, and large yellow eyes. They also had a rat-like tail, a pair of bat-like wings, and the Heartless symbol on their chest. Sora brought his Keyblade down on one that had gotten too close, dislodging it in an instant. However, that was less than just the beginning: there were a couple hundred more where that came from.

"Van Helsing!"

"Time to be a nuisance." said Van Helsing in a cunning voice.

Van Helsing whipped out a shotgun and started shooting down Vampire Bat Heartless. Dracula's servants shifted into their Heartless forms and flew off with the flock Vampire Bat Heartless, probably to teach them the ropes of hunting. Dracula looked over the balcony, then noticed Van Helsing shooting down his children, causing them to explode not in smoke, but in green goo.

Van Helsing then looked up at Dracula, his shotgun still smoking from a fresh shot. "Now that we have your attention…"

Dracula seemed REALLY ticked at this, because he jumped and he changed. Sora and Van Helsing didn't have time to have a look at the monstrosity, because they turned tail and ran for their lives.

Meanwhile, with Kairi, she was knocking down Ghoul Heartless like flies. They were NASTY little pests, using their chains like whips and gnashing at her with their sharp teeth and claws. Still, they were no match for Keyblades. There were no stairs to get to the top of the tower, so she did the only thing she could do. She found a rope leading upward and jumped for it, seizing it as hard as she could.

As Kairi started climbing, she suddenly realized something as she slid a few inches down. _Great. I always hated this in gym class._

Kairi struggled to climb, but didn't get too far when a Ghoul Heartless spotted her and also jumped on the rope, clambering after her like a malevolent, black monkey. Another one appeared above her and appeared to be trying to block her progress. Fortunately, she was smarter than they thought. Kairi seized the Ghoul above her by the ankle and gave it a good tug. With a heave, the Heartless lost its grip and fell several stories to the floor where it poofed out of existence. The one below her was beginning to catch up, but she solved the problem instantly. She took the Flowering Strength Keyblade in her hand and severed the rope, causing it to join its brother.

"Whew. Good riddance…" she said to herself.

After a long, strenuous climb, Kairi had reached the top of the tower to find Riku on the table. She cut his straps with just two strokes of her Keyblade.

"C'mon, Riku!"

Riku struggled back to his feet, then quickly said, "Thanks."

Kairi had barely gotten Riku out, but hadn't even started to run when a bloodthirsty roar sounded from beneath them. "Oh no." Riku cursed.

The all-too-familiar wolfman sprung at the two from behind. Riku and Kairi barely dodged its pounce and their weapons were back in battle positions already.

"Perfect." Riku said, sarcastically, "I wasn't expecting to see YOU again, especially after I tossed you out a window."

The wolfman simply snarled as it circled them like a shark, waiting for its prey to slip up.

Back with Sora and Van Helsing, both hid themselves real well just as Dracula touched down and resumed his human form. Slowly, the lord of all vampires stalked through the room and his scarlet eyes darted back and forth.

"You can tell the nature of a man by his heartbeat." Dracula said, trying to draw attention to himself, "Usually, when I approach..." Dracula started to clap his hands, as though imitating a beating heart. And as he continued speaking, he began to do so faster and faster. "I can almost dance to the beat!" Dracula's voice eased, as did his so-called "heartbeat" clapping, which had slowed greatly. "But it's a mystery as to why yours is so soft…"

A rock shifted and Dracula turned his attention toward it, trying to see what it was. Van Helsing seized his chance to leap out of his hiding place and drove a silver stake into Dracula's heart. Dracula grunted in surprise as it slowly started to turn into a choking gasp for breath. Van Helsing said something Sora didn't understand and made a symbol of a cross on his body while Sora sighed in relief. But he hadn't even turned to leave when Dracula suddenly looked up at Van Helsing, but didn't seem to be doing one thing: dying.

"Hello, Gabriel." He said as though he were a familiar friend, "And hello to you, too, Sora."

Both stared in surprise as Dracula took the stake out of his heart, hearing it do so as it slid past muscle and bone. Only Sora had enough sense to speak. "How do YOU know my name?" He asked in a hushed whisper.

Dracula paid no mind to Sora as he glanced at Van Helsing. "Is this YOUR silver stake?" He asked.

Dracula threw said stake away with a clatter, then slowly approached them. Sora took a step back while Van Helsing remained rooted to the spot, unaffected by any form of fear. "So, you are the great Van Helsing." Dracula said, coolly, "Trained by monks and moolas. Protected by Rome, herself! But, like me, hunted by all others."

Van Helsing went with Dracula as the vampire circled him, each one in constant movement, not intending to show weakness. "The knights of the Holy Order know all about you, it would be no surprise that you should know about me." Van Helsing said, keeping his cool.

Dracula's face curved into a smile as he stopped. Van Helsing also did stopped in his tracks. "Yes, but it is much more than that!" He pointed out, "And Sora, I know of your battle with the Nobody known as Marluxia."

Sora flinched on being addressed, then spoke. "Marluxia? Who's that?"

Dracula actually answered Sora's question this time and did so while holding out his fully-spread hands. "Of course, the memory witch thought it more important to erase those memories. Just imagine how different you'd be with them still in your head."

Sora had a small flashback of someone at the mention of the name "Marluxia": a man with shoulder-length, reddish-pink hair, but he put it out of his mind. Not wanting to hear any more, he whipped out a bottle of Holy Water that Carl packed and spritzed Dracula with it. Dracula howled in pain as the water burned away his flesh like acid, exposing raw flesh and bone. It didn't seem to work, because the skin grew back in a matter of seconds with Dracula looking surprisingly calm despite the pain he had been through.

Sora growled in frustration, then threw the emptied bottle on the ground. "What does it take to kill this guy?!" He growled.

"Would you like me to refresh your memories a little?" Dracula asked, "Explain why you two have such horrible nightmares?" Dracula held out his hand, but Van Helsing jammed a Crucifix into it. The model of a cross burst into flames and caused Dracula searing pain as he simply gripped it as the crucifix turned red-hot. The vampire soon dropped said object, which was now no more than a hunk of molten metal. "Perhaps that is a conversation for another time. Allow me to, for Van Helsing, to reintroduce myself. I am Count Vladislav Dracula."

Dracula bowed to both of them, then straightened up as he spoke. "Born 1422, MURDERED 1462."

Back with Riku and Kairi, they were barely avoiding the wolfman's attacks. Riku kept a safe distance from the beast and soon explained it to Kairi. "Don't let that thing bite you!" He warned, "If you get bitten, you'll turn INTO a werewolf yourself!"

Upon that warning, Kairi kept her distance, especially from the front of the beast, which suddenly lunged and missed Kairi by a hair. Kairi stabbed the wolfman with her Keyblade, but the only thing the monster did was leap back in shock. THAT didn't work as well as she hoped. Suddenly, it hit her. She remembered what Carl said back in the library.

"We need silver for the job." Kairi said, relaying the memory, "There's nothing we can do about this thing. What are we going to do now?"

Riku pointed his diamond Way to Dawn at the Wolfman and answered, "Improvise."

Riku positioned his Way to Dawn Keyblade and quickly jumped to the side to avoid the wolfman. It had just turned to meet him when Riku struck the beast right across the face with his diamond hand. The blow almost dislocated its jaw and was more than enough to stun it.

Kairi looked at her Keyblade and, on instinct, pointed it at the werewolf.

"LIGHT!"

A blast of pure white energy erupted from the tip of the Keyblade and hit the wolfman smack-dab in the back. The beam was only about as thick as her arm, but it knocked the beast right over the edge of the building with a frightened howl.

Riku looked at Kairi in awe, then quickly acted and barely caught her as she almost fainted. "You okay?" He asked.

Riku slung Kairi's arm over his shoulder and helped her to her feet as she came back to her senses. "Yeah..." She answered, "Yeah, I think I'm okay."

Riku and Kairi looked down through the hole of the building and saw Igor barking orders at the Ghoul Heartless. WE MUST KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE ELECTRIFIED! WE MUST NOT LOSE THE MASTER'S PROGIDY!"

The duo slipped back into the castle and went behind a large, important-looking engine. Riku looked at his hand, then got an idea. "Time to do some damage..." He said to himself.

Riku reeled back his diamond fist, then brought his diamond Keyblade slamming into the engine, creating a huge dent in it. After seeing that, he pulled his fist back out and smashed it again. He did it three more times, and on the third, his fist, Keyblade and all, smashed through the machinery. When he pulled his fist out, the machine sparked and sputtered uncontrollably.

"Having disposed of the machine, exit the diamond fist, stage right!" Riku, very satisfied at his work, ran for it with Kairi in hot pursuit.

In seconds, the two were quickly joined by Sora and Van Helsing. "What took you so long?" Kairi asked.

Both Sora and Van Helsing had their own unique answers.

"Dracula caught up with us! He just won't die!" was Sora's answer.

"I think we overstayed our welcome!" was Van Helsing's.

The whole group was now outside, but the bridge they took to get to the castle was out. Apparently the Heartless had planned ahead. This didn't worry Van Helsing, for he took a small gun of sorts from his coat, took aim, then fired a grappling hook of sorts to the other side of the bridge. Van Helsing grabbed Sora, Sora seized Kairi's hand and Kairi quickly seized Riku's. They then started riding the wire's path by sliding down its full length. Unfortunately the wolfman had the same idea.

When Sora and co. got to the other side safely, but saw that the werewolf was halfway there, moving along it like a tightrope walker. Sora, on instinct, summoned his Keyblade and cut the wire, sending the humanoid canine into the water below. When they heard the splash, they quickly made their way out of there.

Back at the castle, Dracula turned to see that his servants were back. Aleera had burst into tears while Eoin looked angry enough to kill her. Dracula was quickly joined by Igor and the wolfman, which shook water out of its fur from its dip into the lake.

"It would seem that the good doctor took the secret of life to his grave." The vampire lord said, grimly. Dracula turned to the Wolfman, then spoke to it like it was his personal hunting dog. "Hunt them down." He ordered, "Kill those who fight, but bring the Princess to me. If that is what Maleficent wants, we might as well grant her wish."

Back with Van Helsing's group, everyone had found their way back to the village, but it started to rain as Sora and co. found their way to a burned-down windmill.

"A silver stake?!" Kairi asked. Sora and Van Helsing had told her of their attempts to kill Dracula once and for all only to fail. "Holy Water?! A Crucifix?! Do you think that no one's tried to kill this guy before?!" She asked, "They've shot him, clubbed him, staked him through the heart, spritzed him with Holy Water, and STILL he won't die! No one knows how to kill him!"

Van Helsing cocked his head as though saying, in a sarcastic tone, "thanks a lot". "Well, I could've used that information a bit earlier."

"How can we kill something that's already dead?" Sora asked, desperate for an answer, "I killed that blonde Heartless by stabbing it through the heart and that's a way to kill vampires. Why didn't it work on Dracula?"

They had just stopped in the shade to think when the ground collapsed, sending them into a pit with a cry in surprise.

Back in the mansion, Donald and Goofy woke up from a good night's sleep. Carl was there to meet them, he rested himself on a part of the wall, which turned around to reveal a picture with two knights, fighting at night. He and Donald spoke out the following words.

"'Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the moon is shining bright.'" Carl read.

"'Or crave another's blood when the sun goes down and his body takes to flight.'" Donald finished.

There was a bell toll, but it came from the portrait, not the clock tower outside. The two knights used their swords to try and strike, then their shields to push. The first one then turned into a werewolf and the other into a vampire. They then attacked each other with a loud snarl from both of them. Goofy screamed, then made a run for it, but tripped. On losing his balance, he knocked down several bottles, which broke on contact with the floor.

Back with Sora and co., the four came back to consciousness in the same pit below the windmill. It was about fifty feet below ground and had a small pool of water right in its center.

"Where are we?" asked Sora.

"Sure, ask me, like I know." Riku asked, getting himself on his feet.

Van Helsing wasn't interested in where they were, because he was examining the cavern with what could only be described as suspicion. Soon, he quietly said, "Something's down here." Van Helsing pointed and the whole group saw a human skeleton laying next to the small pool. "And it's carnivorous." Van Helsing reached down and picked up a small, leather-bound book with a golden cross on it. "Whatever it is, it appears to be…human."

Van Helsing looked to a spot adjacent to the place where he found the book and saw several footprints and began to trace them. "He wears a size seven, he has a bad gimp in his leg, weighs about three hundred pounds, eight-and-a-half to nine feet tall, and has three copper teeth."

Sora paused. How could Van Helsing tell that from a few footprints? "Wait. How do you know he has copper teeth?" he asked.

Van Helsing's next words were quick, but answered Sora's question in an instant. "Because he's standing right behind you. MOVE!"

Van Helsing pulled Sora out of the way, because a cloaked figure, large and bulky, was about to attack them. The thing made short work of Van Helsing, tossing him a few yards away and its hood had lowered from its attack. It was pale, had two bolts in its neck, and was apparently made from several pieces of other bodies that had been stitched to each other.

Kairi cringed in fright and backed away. "Oh no, Frankenstein's monster!"

Oddly enough, this "monster" didn't speak in a primitive language like in the movies Kairi had seen. Instead, it spoke in a dignified, English voice. "'Monster'?! Who's the monster here?!" It asked.

Frankenstein grabbed Kairi by the neck and forced her up against the wall, though he wasn't choking her. Still, Kairi whimpered in fright on impact. "I have done NOTHING wrong and yet you and your kind ALL WISH ME DEAD!"

"Force!"

The Gravity spell hit Frankenstein smack dab in the back and forced him to the ground. Frankenstein dropped Kairi in surprise and stayed pinned to the ground, Sora's expression surprisingly feral. "DON'T…EVEN…TOUCH…KAIRI!" He said, his voice slow and almost in a snarl.

Frankenstein simply got up with a roar and swatted Sora aside with one swing of his powerful arm. He then turned and advanced on Kairi, the gimp in his leg showing easily.

"What do you want?!" Kairi asked, desperate to keep it busy.

Almost immediately, Frankenstein stopped his rampage and turned to look at Kairi. He now looked different from what he was a few seconds ago; rather than an angry monster, he now looked kind of sad as he answered Kairi's question. "To exist…"

Frankenstein didn't even take one step when he was punched on the side of the head by Riku's diamond fist. Frankenstein howled in pain and fell to the ground, clutching his jaw in pain.

Sora walked over, ready for the kill, when Van Helsing stopped him. "No, DON'T kill him." Van Helsing ordered.

Frankenstein, oddly enough, spoke, "If you value your lives and the lives of your kind, you WILL KILL ME!" Frankenstein sounded on the verge of either sadness or insanity as he spoke. He slowly looked up and spoke in a thin, raspy voice. "I am the key to my father's machine. The key to life for Dracula's Heartless Army!"

Riku cocked his head in confusion. "I thought he awakened them last night."

Frankenstein emitted a coughing laugh, then said, "Those…were from only one clutch. One…single…birthing. And they died just like the last time he tried!" His tone changed to that of sorrow once more. "Only with ME can he give them lasting life!"

Kairi's eyes widened. The eggs she saw were from only one clutch? "He's got more?" she asked.

An eerie silence filled the dank air as Frankenstein spoke only three words, and two sentences. "THOUSANDS...Thousands more."

Frankenstein collapsed from all the pain he had received, out like a light. Sora continued to approach Frankenstein with his Keyblade drawn.

"No!" Van Helsing said, blocking Sora's advance.

"You heard what he said!" Sora argued.

Van Helsing's expression was both serious and somewhat-sensible. "My job is to vanquish evil! I can SENSE it!" He gave the strange creature a look of pity, then said, "Whatever this thing is…man or beast, evil may have created it, may have left its mark on it, but evil does not RULE it. I cannot kill it."

"You can't, but I can!" Sora said, almost coldly.

Sora was apparently still angry about Frankenstein trying to strangle Kairi and he tried to approach, but Van Helsing stopped him again. "Not while I'm here." said Van Helsing, "People over hundreds of years have tried to kill Dracula before, maybe this poor creature can help us…"

The surprising level of quietness was suddenly split by a roar and Van Helsing pulled out his shotgun, firing a shot at the wolfman, which was on the crawling on the walls like it was defying gravity. He missed all four times as the werewolf crawled out of the hole they had come from.

"Uh-oh." Riku said to himself.

Kairi's eyes widened as she realized what could possibly happen. "He saw us! They'll come for Frankenstein! And none of us can stop them!"

Van Helsing stayed calm, then said, "I can take him back to the order, and we can protect him there."

Meanwhile, in his castle, Dracula had just gotten word from the Wolfman and smiled. "So, the creature IS alive." He said, his grin spreading by the second, "Looks like my plans will need a new twist."

Eoin raised an eyebrow as he combed his thin mustache. "You're actually going to disobey Maleficent?" The British Heartless asked, "I thought she said SHE would provide life for our army."

Dracula turned to his servant and grinned an almost-insane smile. "No need to provide something I already found. The deal, as far as I know it, is off. If Maleficent wants the princess, she can get her herself." Dracula turned to walk away, then paused. "However…we may be able to use the princess to our advantage. Go."

Eoin rolled his eyes behind Dracula's back before morphing into his Heartless form. He took flight, not wanting to disappoint Dracula.

Vampire Bat

A small species of Heartless. They are considered Dracula's children, some being Eoin's, but they always seem to die before they can do any real damage. Maybe it's because the life they use for themselves is only temporary. THAT'S why Dracula needs Frankenstein, to power his machine and give them lasting life.

Wolfman

A werewolf who's under Dracula's control. He was once human, but the curse of the full moon is upon him and he no longer remembers his former self. He is now forced to do Dracula's bidding and is a superb assassin and hunting dog. It first appeared in _Van Helsing_ 2003.

Frankenstein

A sentient being who was created from certain parts of seven corpses. He is the key to life for Dracula's Heartless Army and fears them more than anything else. Though his creator was crazed, he isn't evil and simply wants to exist as a normal person, if that's possible. He first appeared in _Van Helsing_ 2003.

_That would be Van Helsing's Single-Shot Rifle attack._

_If you're wondering how I remember all the movie...it's amazing what you can write down if you get constant studying of the said movie, an overactive imagination, and the ability to write BEFORE you get onto this site._


	30. Attacked

Chapter 30: Escape

Sora and co. had gotten out of the well where they made the discovery and were ready to leave the immediate area. Donald, Goofy, and Carl were explaining what happened. There were a pair of stagecoaches that were drawn by large, black horses outside, ready for use.

"And then the painting came alive and the two warriors attacked each other." Carl relayed, remembering what he saw as clear as day.

"Well, what does it mean?" asked Van Helsing.

Carl shrugged, not quite sure himself. "Hm. I don't really know."

"Now, guys, whatever you do, DON'T stare at him!" Sora stated as he opened the coach's door to show Frankenstein, who was chained and struggling in what could only be described as determination to free himself. The three seemed to be freaked out by this as they stared with wide eyes.

"We're staring at him…" Donald stammered. Goofy turned to look at the rest, freaked out.

"Is that a man?" Asked Goofy.

"Actually, he's SEVEN men," replied Riku "or at least parts of them."

The team got on the coaches and took off. Not even werewolves were faster than Transylvanian horses, Sora had been told.

As night fell, it was Sora's turn to drive the coach and he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. He summoned his Keyblade and fastened the reigns of the horses just in case. Before he knew it, he was knocked off the seat by Aleera's Heartless form. The Keyblade Master barely caught himself and got back on the seat. When she came back, he was ready for her. He summoned his Keyblade and hacked at her feet, which were trying to grab him. It didn't permanently hurt her, but it was enough to drive her off for a while.

Van Helsing had heard the racket outside and went outside to join Sora on the roof. Eoin arrived and started trying to get at Frankenstein only to meet Van Helsing rotary blades. The blades tore through muscle, skin, bone, and ligament only to have it heal over in a matter of seconds. Eoin was also driven off, but not to retreat. He swooped over to Van Helsing and seized him in his taloned feet. He carried him off and was carrying him higher and higher until Van Helsing seized his left wing. Eoin grunted in an effort to keep airborne, but it was no use; he needed both wings to keep flying, so he let go and Van Helsing landed on the coach's roof.

Back in the fight, Sora suddenly noticed that the coach was headed for a broken bridge. He quickly hopped onto the back of one of the horses and Van Helsing quickly did so with just one catch: the horses had just jumped. The horses got to the other side just as Van Helsing landed on one's back. The coach, on the other hand, didn't. It crashed on the bridge's edge, releasing the horses and falling to the chasm's bottom. Eoin saw it fall and dove after it like a falcon.

"I will NOT disappoint my lord!" Eoin screeched "NOT THIS TIME!"

Eoin flew after the coach in a desperate attempt to keep it from falling. After a futile attempt, he opened the door and saw…

"WHAT?!" Demanded the male vampire "NOTHING?!"

It was true. The coach that Sora and Van Helsing were riding on was a decoy, not holding the actual Frankenstein.

Back on the road, another stagecoach was adjacent to Sora and Van Helsing's. THIS one had Kairi and the others with Goofy steering the horses.

"Alright, Sora!" Goofy called "We gotcha covered!"

"And the Heartless?" Asked Donald.

Van Helsing smiled a half-smile as he answered.

"As good as gone." Replied the monster hunter.

Eoin inspected the coach and soon saw the one thing that vampires dreaded. Several silver stakes strapped to an explosive. It was at that moment that Eoin realized that he'd been suckered.

"NO!" Screamed Eoin as he let go and tried to fly away, but the coach landed on the ground and EXPLODED. The blast sent stakes flying in every direction and several stabbed Eoin right in the back. He let out a pained screech and was dead before he entered the flaming remnants of the coach.

Back on the road, the group suddenly heard an all-too-familiar snarl of the Wolfman. It snarled as it leapt up onto the coach, shattering one of the lamps on its roof and setting it on fire. Sora made to attack, but with one swipe of its massive hand, the werewolf knocked Sora off the coach and sent him tumbling off-road. The werewolf then jumped after Sora, who summoned his Keyblade just in time to block the werewol'f next swipe, but not a lunge it made with its fangs. They pierced his shoulder and Sora yelled in pain before wrenching his Keyblade loose and brought it smashing into the werewolf's face. The wolfman shook the pain out of its head and ran off for the others. Sora clutched the wound and tried to follow them, but he passed out from blood loss. Meanwhile, Kairi saw the whole thing.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted.

Without another word, Kairi opened the door and jumped off after him. Riku got out to help Van Helsing since Goofy jumped off to avoid the wolfman.

"She's got a crush on him, alright." Riku sighed to himself.

"Never saw her do THAT before." Van Helsing said.

Riku looked at Van Helsing and shook his head slightly.

"You have no idea." Replied the Darkling "Usually it was Sora doing the dangerous stuff."

Inside the coach was Donald, Carl, and Frankenstein. Neither were in any mood of becoming dog chow.

"Unchain me now!" Frankenstein demanded.

"You promise not to kill us?" Asked Carl, nervously. Donald nodded in agreement to the question.

"Only if you don't hurry!" Growled the multi-man monster.

Without any further hesitation, Donald waved his wand and the lock undid itself. Frankenstein virtually tackled the duck and friar as he jumped out.

"I think everyone's safe now." Said Riku "Let's get out of here, Van Helsing!"

Van Helsing took a hand pistol out and fingered the trigger.

"Not until we get HIM off our trail." He said.

Riku tried punching the werewolf, but it dodged the blow and slashed Riku across the chest, sending him off the coach. Van Helsing finally jumped off the coach and what happened next seemed to happen in slow motion. Van Helsing turned in midair just as the wolfman jumped, but the monster killer had his gun at the ready. Van Helsing fired just as it was five feet away and the werewolf howled in pain and landed on top of Van Helsing as they rolled on impact with the ground.

Morning came and Sora came back to his senses. Without another word, he got to his feet and started looking for his friends, hoping that the worst hadn't happened. He eventually came to Kairi, who seemed to be searching for something.

"Kairi!" Called Sora. This alerted Kairi to his presence.

"Sora!" She called back.

They embraced again until Kairi backed off when she felt something wet…it was blood. It was coming from his chest.

"It didn't…" she whispered.

Sora felt the wounded area, which showed a bloody wound on his chest.

"It's okay." Sora replied, optimistically "The werewolf only whacked me off the roof and..." Sora then felt another wet spot on the shoulder. Kairi looked at the spot to see a bite-pattern. She recoiled as she took in the fact that Sora was now cursed. Van Helsing then staggered towards them with a similar amount of blood on him. The wolfman landed on top of him, tooth-first.

"Oh no…you've both been bitten!" Kairi gasped before asking "What about Riku?"

"He's fine." Groaned Van Helsing "He only got a gash or two."

Riku came by, wearing a shirt that had several slash marks on it.

"My dad's gonna kill me." He muttered "It was my best shirt, too."

"What about Donald, Goofy, Carl, and Frankenstein?" Sora asked, worried and covering the place where he was bitten.

"We're a-okay, Sora!" Shouted the voice of Goofy. Sora looked to see that the said four were running towards them, though with Frankenstein, it was more of a trot. Kairi then looked at Sora in horror. Her best friend was going to become a...

Something suddenly hit Kairi hard over the head and she fell unconscious to the ground. It was Aleera, who cackled as she grabbed Kairi by the leg and flew her away.

"Kairi!" Sora shouted.

The group went to the edge of a cliff and saw her heading towards a small town. It wasn't too far away, so they would be able to catch him.

"Not again!" Moaned Sora. First he was cursed, then his best friend was taken away from him.


	31. Allhallow's Eve

Chapter 31: Allhallow's Eve

The group went into the town, Sora slower even than Frankenstein. Kairi was…gone. Out of Sora's reach. He should've protected her. And, to make matters worse, he and Van Helsing were going to turn into howling, drooling, flesh-eating MONSTERS. When they got to town, Aleera was there to meet them. She was standing on the edge of a wall, waggling her finger at them, and clicking her tongue.

"So much trouble to my lord," tsked the vampiress "So much trouble."

"Where's Kairi?!" Sora demanded.

Van Helsing put a hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Sora, calm down." Van Helsing commanded and then turned to face Aleera, then spoke in a straight, calm voice. "What is it your master wants?"

Aleera's wicked grin spread across her face as she gave the negotiations.

"My master would like to offer a trade. The monster…" Frankenstein growled at this, clenching his teeth "For the princess."

Sora's fist clenched so hard that his knuckles crackled. Again, Van Helsing waved him off. He obviously had something planned.

"Somewhere in public, with lots of people." Van Helsing replied "Somewhere your master would be less inclined to show his…other side."

Aleera thought this over, then returned to her snide look.

"Tomorrow night is Allhallow's Eve." She stated "There will be a WONDERFUL masquerade ball. Think about it!"

Aleera converted to her Heartless form, then flew, cackling, into the air. Sora was torn between choices. Frankenstein or Kairi? If they kept Frankenstein, Dracula wouldn't be able to give life to his children, but Kairi would be forever at his mercy. If they gave him Frankenstein, Dracula would be able to bring his children to life, but he could have Kairi. Suddenly, the place where the werewolf bit him started to burn and he clutched the wound. Van Helsing was apparently experiencing the same pain, too, judging by how his hand flew to the bite wound.

"Uh-oh!" Goofy gapsed "You alright, Mr. Van Helsing?"

"What about Sora?" Asked Donald.

Frankenstein roared in rage as he gave Van Helsing a good shove. The force of Frankenstein's push was enough to pull Van Helsing's hand away from the burning area, exposing the bite wound. Donald and Goofy both gulped at this and removed Sora's hand to show his bite-wound. When the two recovered, Frankenstein's voice was as good as an accusing finger.

"They've both been bitten. Bitten by a werewolf! By the next full moon, they will become what people have hunted so passionately."

Van Helsing got out a blowpipe and loaded it with a dart.

"I'm sorry." He apologized.

"May others hunt you with just as much passion!" Frankenstein ended.

Van Helsing blew the dart gun and Frankenstein was instantly hit by a dart, which happened to be loaded with sleeping potion. The group took him into a graveyard and put him in an empty tomb. They already had their costumes: for Sora and Van Helsing, it was a silver mask and a cloak. For Riku, it was an embroided version of an Organization XIII jacket. For Carl, it was a jester suit, and for Donald and Goofy, they were gold and black versions of their Disney Castle garbs. All of them had different masks, but they were the same basic design.

"Don't you think the hat is a bit much?" Asked Carl, unsure of himself.

"No!" Shouted Donald.

Carl seemed worried when Van Helsing was using a large, stone cross to bar the graveyard.

"Oh, how many commandments do we have to break in one day?!" The monk asked, getting more unsure by the moment.

"Don't worry," replied Van Helsing "God will forgive us."

"So, Van Helsing and I are cursed?" Sora asked, worried about himself and Van Helsing.

"Yes." Replied Carl before explaining "Every full moon, you two will become a bloodthirsty monster who has no other purpose other than killing. There's still forty-eight hours until the full moon. Until then, you can fight Dracula's control over you!"

Sarcasm rang in Sora's voice as he rolled his eyes.

"REAL comforting."

Sora turned to Van Helsing this time.

"So, do ya think Frankenstein can get out of there?" Asked Sora, wanting to change the subject.

"Not unless he has help from the dead." Replied Riku.

The group walked away to where the ball was to be held. However, they all didn't realize the foolishness of this statement, because something pried its tombstone open with a slimy, black hand.

Sora and Van Helsing entered the building to see all kinds of people dancing and fancy violin music playing. Sora had to wear a hat to hide his hair and looked through the ballroom. Neither Dracula nor Kairi were in sight.

"I don't see them anywhere…" Sora said, straining his eyes.

When anyone spoke, they spoke out of the corner of their mouth to avoid attention.

"I only have one idea. She's somewhere where Dracula wants her out of the way." Riku explained "Try searching the edges of the place and see if you can find anything."

"Alright." Sora replied as he tried walking away, but Van Helsing stopped then for a minute, then handed him a floor-length, black cloak with a hood.

"If you find her," explained the hunter "Use this to hide her appearance."

Sora took the cloak and slipped it on like a cape before he hurried away in search of anything suspicious.

In a dank, dingy room, Kairi was shackled at her wrists and ankles. She would have freed herself, but the cuffs were forged together. Summoning the Keyblade here would be worthless Suddenly, Dracula appeared just in front of her in a puff of dark smoke. Upon inspection of a small puddle caused by a leak, Kairi saw no reflection even as Dracula walked in line of reflection. This was the first time she saw Dracula, and when she got one look at him, she shied away from him as best she could.

"What do you want from me?" Asked Kairi.

"Nothing from YOU, but from your little friend." Replied Dracula "However, should he not show up, I think you will have Maleficent's attention."

Kairi INSTANTLY knew that name. It was only a distant memory, but the name chilled her to the core.

"Maleficent? You're with HER?"

Dracula spread his arms in a "let me explain" sort of way.

"No. I don't actually need her anymore." Replied the lord of vampires "If all goes to plan, I'll have EVERYTHING I need. Now if you'll excuse me…"

Dracula held up a finger and put it to her forehead.

"I have a little business to attend to. So, goodnight, princess."

Kairi suddenly started to feel drowsy until she slumped to the floor. Dracula smiled as he walked out the door.

Back in the ballroom, Sora returned to Van Helsing with a very down expression.

"Nothing." Sora reported.

Van Helsing sniffed the air a few times, then pointed to a nearby door right across from where their railing was.

"I think she might be in there." Explained Van Helsing "Go check it out."

Sora nodded, but hadn't taken a single step when Dracula walked out the door and down the stairs. THIS complicated matters. An idea crept into Van Helsing's mind.

"Donald, I need you to do something…"

"I'm not gonna like this, am I?" Asked Donald.

"Maybe not." Replied Van Helsing.

As soon as Dracula was out of sight, Sora slunk quietly over to the room Dracula walked out of. He quietly opened the door and found himself in a storage room of sorts, but as his vision adapted to the darkness, he made out a figure.

"Kairi!" Sora called, but kept his voice low. He then hurried over to her and saw her in shackles. The Keyblade sparkled to life as he summoned it into his hands and unlocked both shackles. Then, with extreme difficulty, he managed to slip the cloak onto her limp body. Sora slung Kairi's arm over his shoulder and began to carry her away shortly after raising the hood to hide her face.

Back in the ballroom, Dracula was now in the crowd as well as Donald, who was keeping an eye on him. Suddenly, both heard a door creak open as Sora came out of the room with Kairi. Dracula hadn't even turned around when Donald whipped out his staff and whispered a spell under his breath.

"FIRE!" Donald shouted.

A fireball shot from the tip of the staff and pelted Dracula's cape, igniting it, burning away the vampire's skin, and providing enough of a distraction for Sora. When Sora got to the exit, Kairi stirred; she seemed to be in a bit of a daze.

"Kairi?" Sora asked, this confirmed his thought and he began shaking her "Kairi! Snap out of it!"

Kairi came to and began to take in her surroundings.

"Sora!" Shouted Kairi.

Van Helsing, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Carl ran over to get to them. But just as they were about to leave, Dracula spoke up in a loud, clear voice.

"Gabriel. Oh, Gabriel. Welcome to my summer home."

The doors banged open and Dracula turned to see Frankenstein tied to a slab of stone with Igor in the front. All the while, Frankenstein was shouting some curse on everyone. Then, Sora took a good look and found that under the masks, the dancers' eyes were a glowing yellow. These weren't people, but Heartless. Only then did Sora realize that they had just been suckered. Dracula had planned all this.

"We've got him, master!" Igor shouted "WE'VE GOT HIM!"

All in all, it seemed that they had made the trade anyway. Dracula knew that Sora would come for her, so he had a few Heartless collect Frankenstein from the tomb. The good guys had Kairi, but Dracula had Frankenstein.

"It seems that everything is in order." Dracula said before shouting to his guests "Ladies and gentlemen I give you VAN HELSING!"

The entire assembly of people turned into Vampire Heartless in a haze of smoke. As Sora and co. made their untimely exit, Carl took out his orb and inspiration struck.

"Ah! I know what it's for!" Carl exclaimed.

As Carl turned to face them, he suddenly noticed that they were running towards a stained-glass window without any signs of slowing down.

"Uh…where are we going?" Asked the friar.

"THROUGH THE WINDOW!" Everyone shouted.

There was a large stained glass window and they all jumped through it with a "shattering" result as Carl dropped the orb behind him like an activated grenade. The Heartless charged after them in pursuit, but the orb acted up and burst into light equal to the intensity of the sun. The light illuminated the entire building, sending a flurry of pink hearts out the roof.

Down below, the group had just fallen into a moat just below the window. When they surfaced, Donald gasped for breath.

"Carl, you're a genius!" Complimented Donald.

Carl held up his index finger and corrected Donald.

"A genius with access to unstable chemicals."

Suddenly, Van Helsing's sharp eyes noticed something as he swam over to a caged area where Igor was carting Frankenstein away. Igor then waved goodbye in a very SICK manor. Soon, two flying creatures landed on said barge and Van Helsing could only tell that they were Aleera and Dracula.

"I'LL FIND YOU! I'LL FIND YOU AND SET YOU FREE! I SWEAR IT!" Shouted Van Helsing.

"No, you can't." Carl said.

Sora turned to Carl in disbelief. Had he said what he thought he said?

"What?!" Demanded the Keyblade Master.

"I got orders from Rome that even if we somehow kill Dracula, we'll have to kill Frankenstein as well."

"But he's not evil!" Shouted Sora.

"Well, technically, he's not human either." Carl explained "You need to kill him to make sure that he'll never harm humanity again."

Sora then grabbed the friar by the throat.

"WHAT ABOUT ME AND VAN HELSING?!" Sora shouted, enraged "HAVE YOU TOLD HIM WHAT HE'LL BECOME?! DID YOU PUT SILVER BULLETS IN YOUR GUN?!"

"Actually, I left that part out." Carl gasped.

Suddenly, Sora opened his mouth and a lion-like roar came out of it. He let go of Carl and he slammed up against the bars, along with Van Helsing, who was also roaring. The growling stopped and the two slouched over, trying to catch their breath.

"Sorry…" Sora gasped.

"It's starting." Van Helsing explained. They were running out of time...


	32. Castle Dracula

Chapter 32: Castle Dracula

After the incident at the Allhallows' Eve, the group had returned to where they started and was currently searching Castle Frankenstein, which was deserted. There was no machinery, no equipment, no...anything. Out of anger, Sora stamped his foot on the ground.

"SHOOT!" He growled.

"Something tells me that they packed up and left." Riku explained.

Van Helsing's werewolf side seemed to act up because he roared like a lion again, picked up a hunk of metal that weighed about a quarter of a ton, and heaved it across the room like paper out of simple frustration. The piece of metal landed on the ground with a resounding CLANG and scared the heck out of Donald and Goofy.

"Van Helsing," Sora said "Calm down!"

Carl decided to back Sora up on this one and nodded, approvingly.

"Yes. Dracula can't release his children until sundown." Carl explained.

THIS moment of calm was suddenly shattered by Kairi.

"The sun sets in TWO hours! Let's face it...People have been searching for Dracula for two hundred years!"

"Well, I wasn't around for those two hundred years, now was I?" Asked Carl.

In a very short amount of time, the entire group was back at the mansion where Dracula once lived. Carl was looking through all kinds of scrolls, books, and parchment; anything that would give him some form of information. He then held up a black and white portrait and held it below three others.

"Alright, it all starts four hundred and fifty years ago when Dracula was murdered." Explained the friar.

"OK...who murdered him?" Sora asked.

"There's some vague mention of the Left Hand of God." Carl murmured before continuing "After that, he made a deal with the darkness to give him eternal life, thus turning him into this "Heartless" you call him."

"He turned himself into a Heartless to stay alive, but only the blood of others could KEEP that life." Kairi whispered.

"I'm not finished." Carl said before continuing "Then, his father, Valerias the Elder, after seeing this evil creature, went to Rome to seek forgiveness. He then promised God that, in exchange for eternal salvation, he would kill Dracula."

"Well, I guess this Valerias, Volaries, or whoever it was, couldn't do it." Goofy said, mispronouncing the name Valerias.

"As evil as Dracula was, he couldn't kill his own son." Riku replied.

"THAT'S why he left behind clues…" Carl explained as he tapped on a wall and the picture he, Donald, and Goofy discovered flipped to show itself to them "So that future generations might do it for him. He then succeeded in banishing Dracula through a door, into an icy palace, from which there is no return."

"And then the darkness gave him wings." Ended Van Helsing.

Van Helsing looked as if he was going to slap himself in the face. He then ran into a room where there was a large painting that was made into a map of Land of Horrors.

"What is this?" Sora asked.

"Remember what Kairi said when she was giving us the tour?" Van Helsing asked, in turn. It was true, Kairi did give them a tour of the mansion before they started hunting Dracula.

"Yeah," replied Sora "She said that people who wanted to kill Dracula started with that painting, trying to find his lair."

"I think they were, literally." Van Helsing continued "I think THIS is the doorway to his lair! They just didn't know how to open it!"

Donald inspected the painting, then shook his head in disbelief.

"Don't you think that someone would've found it long ago?" Donald asked before screaming, spastically "Then we wouldn't be here now!"

Carl studied the painting, muttering the inscription in Latin. However, the painting was missing part of its lower left corner.

"No. I can't finish the inscription." Carl replied "There's a piece missing."

Van Helsing thought it over, then pulled out a container from his coat and pulled something out of said container. It looked exactly like the tapestry and had a symbol that matched a ring he was wearing.

"Where'd you get that?" Sora asked.

"The cardinal gave it to me when we started." Replied Van Helsing.

Van Helsing got down to the corner's level, then put the piece of parchment on the missing corner. It fit like a glove, then he translated it into English.

"In the name of God, open this door…"

The room suddenly seemed to get colder as patches of the tapestry started to fade away into what appeared to be a giant mirror. It went from the floor all the way to the ceiling. Goofy put a finger on his chin.

"A mirror?"

"I thought vampires didn't HAVE reflections." Donald stated.

Donald and Goofy scratched their heads as they thought this over. However, Carl was the one to figure it out...

"Maybe…maybe to Dracula it's not a mirror at all."

Sora slowly extended his hand and made to touch the mirror. He never touched it, because his hand phased right through the "mirror", because it was a gateway of sorts.

"It's cold…" Sora stated as he withdrew his hand to reveal that it had a thin layer of snow on it "And it's snowing."

"So, THAT'S snow." Kairi said, in awe.

"Yeah." Replied Sora.

It was true that Kairi had never seen snow. It was too warm for it on Destiny Island and the first time Sora ever saw snow was in Land of the Dragons.

Not wanting to waste any time in killing Dracula, Sora took a torch off the nearby wall.

"See you guys on the other side!" He said.

Then, with one brave step, Sora phased through the "mirror", which wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. It felt like he had walked right through a very, VERY cold shower...in the middle of December. On the other side of the gateway was a mountain in a blizzard. He was soon joined by Van Helsing, Kairi, Riku, Carl, Donald, and Goofy as they also phased through the icy gate. Everyone stared at the fortress that lay before them: a massive, obsidian castle right in the middle of the storm.

"Castle Dracula!" Kairi gasped.

Donald and Carl looked very frightened at the sight of the castle and tried to run through the gate again. But it seemed that they could only get to the CASTLE through that gate, not the other way around, because the duck and friar bounced off the gate like it was solid concrete.

"No turning back now, guys." Riku said.

Sora, Goofy, and Van Helsing went over to the castle's entrance: a massive door that rivaled the one at Disney Castle. Goofy made to push the door open, but it didn't even budge an inch. After giving up, he turned to Sora and Van Helsing.

"So, what's the plan, guys?" Goofy asked.

"Find Dracula." Replied Van Helsing.

"And kill anything in our way." Sora added.

Donald and Carl arrived on the scene with Riku and Kairi and Donald rolled his eyes.

"I think that's over-simplifying it." Donald simply said.

"Well, you seem to have everything under control, I'll just…" Carl tried saying, but he never finished his sentence because Van Helsing grabbed Carl, Riku, and Goofy and leapt up into the air. However, he jumped a lot higher than any normal person would have; probably due to the werewolf in him. The monster hunter jumped off sides of the massive castle door until he leapt through a window on the very top of the doorway. Just one problem: he forgot the others.

"Okay. How are WE going to get in there?" Kairi asked.

Sora searched the entire door and then spotted an all-too familiar sign. It was none other than a keyhole. In an instant, his Keyblade flashed into his outstretched hand and he pointed it at the keyhole. A beam of light shot from the Keyblade's tip and the lock disintegrated in a flash of light. Then, with a long and drawn-out creak, the gargantuan door of stone slid open. Van Helsing and the others were there to meet them with stunned looks on their faces.

"Well, that woulda been faster. Ahyuck!" Goofy gufawed.

Suddenly, the sound of indistinct muttering reached their ears and the group turned to see Igor sulking along the castle hall.

" 'Igor do this! Igor do that!' I just wish he could…" The hunchback suddenly stopped when he noticed Sora and co. were there; more notably, that the huge door was open "How did you get…it's impossible!"

Igor quickly turned tail and tried running away, but Van Helsing reached into his coat, whipped out a rotary blade and threw it at the hunchback, pinning him to the wall. Van Helsing sprinted over to Igor and grabbed him the shirt.

"DON'T KILL ME!" Igor begged.

"Why?!" Van Helsing snarled.

"Well…uh…"

Igor didn't even answer when an inhuman screech rang throughout the castle. Igor grinned at the sound as though he had heard wonderful music.

"My master has awakened."

There was an all-too-familiar sound of machinery and the group saw Frankenstein, who was stuck in a huge block of ice, and being cranked up by a rope. Van Helsing started pulling the bars that separated them from Frankenstein so hard that the metal actually bent. Frankenstein noticed them and took an opportunity to speak again.

"He has a cure !" Frankenstein hissed.

"Who?" Riku asked.

"Dracula! He has a cure to remove the curse of the werewolf! Go, find the cure. Save YOURSELVES!" Frankenstein hissed again.

"And you said you wanted to exist?!" Sora demanded.

As soon as Frankenstein was out of sight, Goofy scratched his head.

"Uh, wait a sec…Why would Dracula need a cure?" Asked the captain.

Van Helsing turned his attention to Igor.

"Why does he need a cure?!: Demanded the hunter.

"Who cares?!" Riku asked, annoyed at this.

"Carl and I do!" Replied Donald.

"Why?" Sora asked.

Carl's eyes had widened at the sudden realization; either that or it had been stuck like that for a long time.

"Because the only thing that can kill Dracula is a werewolf!" Carl exclaimed.

"But what about that wolfman?" Kairi asked "He was following Dracula's orders, wasn't he?"

Kairi's question was answered in an instant, not by Carl, but by Donald.

"Yes, but if it had the will to kill him, he'd need a cure to change it into a man before it bit him!"

Goofy put his fist into his palm, the same thing he always did when he had sudden realization.

"So, THAT'S what that there painting meant!" Goofy said.

Van Helsing once again turned his attention to Igor, not to interrogate him, but to order him.

"You're going to lead them to the cure!"

"No, I'm not." Igor replied, stubbornly.

Van Helsing emitted a VERY wolf-like snarl, then threw the hunchback onto the ground so violently that the hunchback buckled and immediately changed his mind.

"Yes, I am."

"Good boy." Riku complimented.

Van Helsing got out a lethal-looking metal instrument that looked like miniature boltcutters.

"If they even SUSPECT that you're misleading them…" Van Helsing growled, clicking the object in a threatening manner, then handed it to Kairi, who took it "Clip off one of his fingers!"

"I'll clip off something!" Growled Kairi.

Riku glanced at Kairi, slightly impressed at what she had said about the little lackey.

"You know, Kairi," Riku commented "You can really threatening when you want to."

"I'll go with ya, Van Helsing!" Sora said to Van Helsing "If what Carl says is right, two werewolves will mean we'll double the chances of killing Dracula!"

"But werewolves are solitary creatures, Sora, that means they live alone." Carl replied "Van Helsing would probably want to KILL you rather than help you."

"But there's always a chance that he'd try and kill Dracula first." Replied Sora "It's a risk I'm willing to take."

Van Helsing then took out a strange, silver rod of sorts from his jacket and turned to Carl.

"If we're not cured by the twelfth stroke of midnight…" Van Helsing explained, but decided to end it with the flip of a small switch, the silver stump sprung into a long, lethal spilke and they didn't need any more explaining.

"I couldn't!" Carl whimpered.

"You've gotta do it, Carl!" Donald replied "Better dead than a monster!"

"No worries, guys!" Goofy said "We'll go to make sure Igor behaves!"

"Same here. With my fist, we probably won't need to clip off any fingers." Riku replied, looking at his diamond hand "Kairi's coming, too."

Sora and Van Helsing were just about to walk away when Kairi stopped Sora.

"What?" Sora asked.

"We might not see each other again." Kairi explained "Be careful."

Kairi gave Sora one last hug before she turned away and walked off with Riku and the rest. Sora just stood there, watching her

"I'd hate to ruin the magical moment of romance, but we have a job to do!" The hunter growled.

Sora shook the thoughts out of his head, then headed off with Van Helsing. They still had a seven-foot tall man, err…thing, to save first.


	33. Death of Dracula

Chapter 33: Death of Dracula

Laboratory…

Dracula went over to Frankenstein, who was strapped to a steel table like Riku was back at Castle Frankenstein. Dracula grinned as he took his hand and stroked the leather belt while Frankenstein gritted his teeth in rage as though forced to walk a gauntlet of pain.

"Time to fulfill your purpose." Dracula stated as he placed his hands of Frankenstein as if he were some priceless treasure. Dracula turned his attention from Frankenstein to the Heartless and barked a single order "BEGIN THE PROCESS NOW!"

Several Ghoul Heartless tinkered with the machinery and as the electrical energy coursed through metallic orbs, the slab began to slowly rise up to the tower's top. Frankenstein's so-called purpose was about to begin...

Sora and Van Helsing arrived on the scene to see Frankenstein way at the top of the tower. Sora hadn't even wondered how they would get up there when Van Helsing seized him by the collar and leapt to a nearby pillar. He clambered up the stone pillar like a monkey and slid down to jump to another. Suddenly, a Ghoul Heartless took quick notice of them and took out a chain whip. It thrashed it at Sora, but he blocked it with his Keyblade only to have it jerked out of his hands by the Heartless, who cackled madly. That is…until Sora summoned it back to his hand and bashed it across the face. The Heartless' dinosaur-like helmet shattered on contact with the Keyblade to reveal a Heartless head. It had yellow eyes, a mouthful of teeth, but looked a little more…skeletal as it clacked its teeth together menacingly. At that time, Van Helsing took the liberty to throw it out a nearby window for it to meet a messy end a good thousand feet below.

"That was gross." Sora stated.

"I've seen far worse than that." Van Helsing replied before shouting "Now, let's move!"

The two clambered as high as they could, until the roof was in the way, then they seized the rope and climbed up it. The only problem was that Sora hated the rope climb as much as Kairi, though he could do it relatively well. They got to the top of the tower and found Frankenstein strapped to the slab, in a similar position Riku was in earlier.

"What are you doing?! You must find the cure!" Frankenstein shouted.

As Sora fumbled with a leather strap on Frankenstein's leg, he gave Frankenstein a very reassuring comment.

"Our friends are getting it for us!" was Sora's response.

"Friends…" muttered Frankenstein.

"Yeah, friends." Replied Van Helsing before asking "You want one?"

The two struggled with the strap across Frankenstein's chest, but couldn't get them out.

"Gabriel, we can't get them out!" Sora shouted over the storm. This was the first time Sora used Van Helsing's first name, nor, the monster hunter guessed, would it be the last.

"We'll need to wrench them out." Van Helsing explained to Frankensteing "This could hurt."

"I am accustomed to pain!" Frankenstein replied, making his voice sound pretty tough.

Without another word, Van Helsing ripped out a bolt, causing blood to spurt out of Frankenstein's body, with a scream in pain that echoed through the castle coming from Frankenstein. Suddenly, a burst of lightning struck the slab and sent a wave of emerald green electricity throughout the building, not to mention knocking Sora and Van Helsing back a few steps. Deep down in the basement, thousands of egg sacs started to inflate slightly. There wasn't much time.

Meanwhile, with the others, Igor was leading them down a corridor. Kairi looked suspicious and clicked the instrument Van Helsing gave her at him. The hunchback flinched and stayed in a cringed position until Kairi sheathed it.

"What was that all about?" Riku asked.

"Just wanted to let him know who's in charge." Replied Kairi.

Back with Sora and Van Helsing, the duo were still unstrapping Frankenstein. Unfortunately, Dracula noticed what they were doing below and was soon consumed by swirls of darkmatter as he began his own transformation. When the change finished, his eyes were now no more than yellow slants and his teeth became as prominent as a skull's. He had pitch-dark skin with the Heartless emblem on his chest, wild black hair, and a pair of ENORMOUS bat wings on his back. The wings were GIGANTIC: at least fifteen feet from wingtip to wingtip. He let loose a noise between a roar and a screech and flew out the window, shattering the glass that made it up.

Back outside, the snow had turned to freezing rain, but it didn't make the job any easier for Sora or Van Helsing. Suddenly, with an ear-piercing shriek, Dracula flew from nowhere and delivered a sharp blow to both of them with his hands outstretched. In mid-fall, Van Helsing seized Sora and maneuvered it so that HE would take the fall instead of him. He landed in the center of the wrecked lab below with a CRASH and a shower of sparks.

Back with Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Carl, and Igor, they had come to a strange room at the farthest part of the castle. THIS had to be the room with Van Helsing's cure. The hunchback made to go first, but Riku stopped him with his diamond blade.

"I'LL go first!" Riku growled.

Riku went in and found a serringe with red liquid inside it encased in a crystal ball that seemed to be filled with clear liquid. He was followed by Kairi, Donald, and Goofy. Suddenly, Igor gave Carl a good kick, causing the friar to stumble forward.

"Carl!" Goofy shouted, running over to Carl with the rest. When they got close to the kicked friar/scientist, Igor pulled a lever, which brought down an iron-barred gate. Apparently, the little troll had tricked and trapped them all in the same room, laughing at his success.

"You think you got Igor! Igor get you!"

The hunchback walked away, cackling like crazy as he went off, happy as Larry.

Back on the top of the tower, Frankenstein tried walking away, but a single chain attached to his leg held him to the slab of metal and he was struck by ANOTHER lightning bolt. As green energy coursed through the castle, the Vampire Bat Heartless hatched in their thousands and were immediately looking for suitable prey for their first meal.

In the laboratory Sora rolled out from the place he and Van Helsing landed. Van Helsing took the brunt of the blow, but as he would be turning into a werewolf, he survived the impact. Then, with a single flap of wings, Dracula landed and changed back into his human form in dark smoke.

"You are too late, Gabriel and Sora!" Dracula growled with every hint of satisfaction "My children LIVE!"

Both Sora and Van Helsing were breathing heavily, from both exhaustion and a will to finally end this.

"Then the only way to kill them…is to kill you!" Sora snarled, pointing at Dracula.

Dracula shrugged, as though it was pointless to ignore them.

"Correct." Replied the vampire lord.

"So be it!" Growled Van Helsing.

Outside, the clock tower reached twelve o'clock, midnight, and a giant note filled the air.

"ONE!" Both Sora and Van Helsing growled.

The two warriors growled in pain and got to their knees as the transformation began. Dracula could only stare in slight fright and surprise as the two began their transformations.

"NO!" Gasped Dracula, had they REALLY found out his one weakness? "This cannot be!"

Van Helsing and Sora's skins seemed to split down his back to make way for the sudden change. Eventually his skin was replaced by fur that was the same shade of color as his hair. His face and nose elongated into a large, doglike snout and his muscle mass had expanded beyond what it used to be. When the transformation was complete, Van Helsing's werewolf form was black and had a mane of fur around his neck. His massive hands terminated in two-inch claws and his jaws housed lethal fangs. Sora was like Van Helsing, only the fur on the top of his head was spiky, his fur was tawny-colored, he kept his necklace, and was a good bit smaller than his larger counterpart. But the two were still a good bit larger than their original selves.

"We are playing the same game, you two!" Dracula explained, quickly and desperately "You wouldn't want to find yourself on the opposite side of the board!"

Van Helsing and Sora simply snarled at each other. The two then roared at each other, Van Helsing winning this contest. However, he then noticed Dracula and he turned to face him along with Sora. Sora was the first werewolf to try his luck. He sprung at Dracula with a roar and Dracula barely managed to divert the bite, but Sora did managed to slash at Dracula. The attack created a gash in the vampire's chest, but this one didn't heal over. In rage, Dracula turned into his Heartless mode just as Van Helsing let loose a loud ROAR while Van Helsing decided that it was HIS turn to fight. The vampire and the werewolves charged and the battle for Land of Horrors began.

Back with Kairi and the others, they simply stared at at the serringe in the container. It looked a little TOO easy to get, but it proved a little more complicated when Kairi dared Carl to do something.

"Go on..." Kairi egged "Reach in and grab it."

Carl turned in disbelief.

"You reach in and grab it." Carl replied "If there's one thing I've learned, it's never to be the first to stick your hand in a fiscous material."

An earsplitting screech filled the air and Aleera appeared just behind the group, sending Goofy and Donald into a panic. She paused as though questioning something.

"Did I scare you?"

There was a bit of an awkward silence until Carl HAD to say the wrong answer.

"No."

"Then maybe I should try a little harder…"

Riku, acting on instinct, took the pillar holding up the container and gave it a good shove. The pillar toppled over and, once it made contact with the ground, the container shattered and a liquid burst from it and splashed onto Aleera. The liquid had caught her full in the face and seemed to be burning her alive judging by her screams. The serringe rolled across the stone floor with Donald and Goofy chasing after it, Carl close behind them.

"Fiscous material!" Shouted Carl, gesturing at Aleera "What did I tell you?!"

"Let's go!" Kairi shouted in turn. While Aleera was shrieking in pain, Kairi took a shard of the container and threw the remaining contents at the bars, which instantly disintegrated. This liquid seemed to be a form of acid. She then shouted to the others as she saw the serringe rolling away "The cure!"

Donald had tried to pick the cure up, but juggled it in his hands because it was still SCORCHING HOT. He tossed it to Goofy, but the chief knight didn't juggle said cure because he was wearing gloves. Carl, Donald, and Goofy ran through the cleared gate, but when Kairi tried to leave, Aleera seized her shoulder. When Kairi got a good look at her, she saw that Aleera's face was hideously burned and patches of skin were now charbroiled.

"You can't go until I say you can go!" She snarled.

"Go, guys!" Shouted Kairi.

"Now who says that you can have all the attention?!" Riku shouted as he ran into the room, then turned to the remaining three. Riku then shouted to the others "Carl! Donald! Goofy! Go get the cure to Van Helsing!"

The three ran off as Aleera's skin healed over and revealed her looking REALLY ticked off. "I'll say you can go when you're DEAD!"

"Not on my watch you evil hag!" Snarled Riku as he threw his diamond fist at Aleeyra, which struck her on the jaw. There was a horrible crunching noise and they knew that that blow broke her jaw. She yelped at the sudden pain, but simply got up, put her jaw back into place, and smiled a fanged grin.

"Oh, I like a challenge!" Chirped Aleera.

Back with the battle, Van Helsing and Sora forgot about trying to kill each other completely and engaged Dracula in a two-on-one battle, but the two were trying their luck in turn. The two were leaping around like crazy, trying to rip the vampire to shreds. Dracula took flight just as Van Helsing took a swing. However, Van Helsing simply jumped after him in a single bound and seized his leg. Dracula smacked the werewolf off, but soon Sora was there to meet him with a strike of his claws across the face. This was enough for Van Helsing to seize Dracula by the legs, dragging said vampire down until they crashed into a wall. Van Helsing was now on his back and crashed him into a pillar. Then, with a sickening CRUNCH, Van Helsing twisted his wing until it broke, sending both to the ground with a crash. He pounced, but the vampire kicked him off and leapt away only to get caught in an electrical current in the lab. He had reached a catwalk and had reverted back to human form. Van Helsing glared up at Dracula, took his claws, and sharpened them on a hunk of machinery. He showed them off as though saying, "You wanna piece of me?" and they sparkled like polished steel.

Kairi and Riku glowered at Aleera, the room blanketed in eerie silence. Both were waiting, along with Aleera, to see who would make the first move. The vampiress converted to her Heartless form, then spun like a miniature tornado, blowing out the torches one by one. She then noticed that they still had one torch and blew it out like you would a birthday candle.

"That hardly seems fair." Muttered Riku.

Aleera smiled, and in a flash of lightning, vanished as soon as it had passed. THIS was going to be difficult.

Donald, Goofy, and Carl were crossing a great, stone bridge, but hadn't even gotten halfway across when lightning struck the structure. The force of it blew up a chunk of the middle and sent it to the abyss below.

"Whoa!" Shouted Goofy.

"Time for another way across…" Murmured Donald.

Before Donald and Goofy could even try to find a way across when they heard a sparking noise. It was Igor, who was laughing maniacally and brandishing an electric prod at them.

"Wak!" Qwacked Donald.

"Uh-oh!" Gasped Goofy.

"Not good!" Carl shouted as the three of them ran, having no intent to be electrified. Goofy saw the bruise Riku had from the prod. He did NOT want one himself.

_(I bet you thought I forgot about Frankenstein, did ya? Well, I didn't!)_

After the second lightning bolt hit, Frankenstein suddenly flew forward as the chain attached to his leg snapped like string. He tried to cling to the ledge, but the now-pouring rain had made its surface extremely slippery. When he fell, he reached out, blindly, and caught a chord used to bring the Vampire Bat Heartless to life, but his weight caused one end of it to snap. However, Frankenstein held on tight and was swinging around on the wire like Tarzan. He let go at the peak of his swing and caught another near the bridge. This one came at such a steep angle that it crossed the stone bridge. The wire was sliding around until it came to Carl, Donald, and Goofy, who were being chased by Igor.

"LOOK OUT!" was the shout that came out of Carl's mouth.

On hearing those two words, all three ducked, but Igor was half a second too slow. The chord caught him in the midsection and threw him off the bridge and he fell, screaming, into the abyss. The three saw the multi-part man dangling for his life and slipping on the rope.

"Help me!" Screamed Frankenstein.

"But you're supposed to die!" Carl replied, but Frankenstein already had an answer.

"I want to live!"

This probably changed the three's mind about Frankenstein, because Goofy shouted at him…

"Alright, Frankenstein! We'll swing ya loose!"

Back with the climatic showdown, Dracula evaded Van Helsing's attack and the pounce missed by inches. The result was that he landed in a heap on the ground. But by evading Dracula, Sora was there to meet him. He swung his claws again and again at Dracula, causing all kinds of massive wounds on him. That is until Dracula smacked Sora aside with the back of his hand, sending him smashing into the wall.

"You are being used, Sora and Gabriel!" Roared Dracula "So was I! But I escaped! So can you!"

By this time, Van Helsing had regained consciousness and advanced towards Dracula. Sora leaped out of the wall and roared in rage and began advancing on the vampire lord, too. If Dracula was afraid, he was terrified NOW.

Back with Kairi and Riku, the two were searching, cautiously, about. Riku, ready to punch anything that came too close, Kairi with Flowering Strength in her hands. Then, out of the shadows, Aleera knocked Riku aside with a single swing of her fist. Kairi heard the impact and turned, bringing her face within punching range. Aleera did so with her other fist, and Kairi crashed against the wall. Aleera picked her up by the neck, though not enough to strangle.

"Dracula doesn't need you anymore…" Aleera hissed as she changed into her Heartless form and spoke again, only in a more feral version of her voice "So I shall feast upon your blood!"

Kairi barely had any energy as Aleera licked a trickle of blood that was going down her face. The very touch of the vampiress' tongue on her face was enough to make her cringe inside.

With Carl, Donald, and Goofy, they just thought of a way to get Frankenstein to safety. The chord that Frankenstein was holding onto had lodged itself on one of the lanterns that dotted the bridge's side. Should one of them move, it would free him.

"READY?!" Donald asked over the storm.

The trio gave the lantern a good push and it toppled into the chasm below, swinging Frankenstein loose and he continued traveling like Tarzan. At the peak of possibly the largest swing arc he had done thus far, Frankenstein let go of the chord and into the tower where Aleera was about to kill Kairi. Frankenstein gave the vampiress a flying kick that sent her tumbling backward just as Riku got up to a fallen Kairi.

"You alright?" Riku asked.

Kairi stood up, shakily, but surely. She could only nod. With an ear-piercing shriek, Dracula's last servant tried to get Kairi, but she had something pulling her back by her feet: Frankenstein.

"Go!" Shouted Frankenstein "Help your friends!"

"I'll stay with you, Frankenstein!" was Riku's reply.

"Thanks." was Kairi's.

She and Frankenstein looked at each other until she ran for it. Riku and Frankenstein were at the ready just as Aleera got back up and flew forward like a falcon. She landed, feet-first on Frankenstein's front only to meet Riku's diamond Keyblade in her back. She shrieked in pain and lurched backward, but that was the wrong thing to do. Frankenstein seized her face and threw her away to land in a heap. Riku turned to Frankenstein and nodded.

"Frankenstein!" Riku shouted, activating a Limit Break. Frankenstein roared as he seized the oncoming vampiress by the sides of her face. Green electricity coursed from the sparking orb implanted his head and down his arms, right to Aleera's body. She shrieked in pain and did so even more as Riku stuck his diamond arm into the electricity. His arm sparkled the color of an emerald, then he brought his charged fist into her several times until his arm stopped glowing. If she didn't have a healing factor, Aleera would've died because of several broken ribs, a shattered jaw, a punctured lung, and third-degree burns. "Frankenstein!" Riku shouted again. Frankenstein nodded, then grabbed Aleeera and threw her through the window. Riku followed after her, but he suddenly realized the danger of this maneuver. This had to be exactly as he planned it, otherwise, he'd die on impact with the ground who-knows how many miles below. He planted a foot on her and they then made impact with the bridge, creating a rather large crater in its center.

Back with the monsters, Sora, being the more agile wolf, was forcing Dracula to back away as he advanced.

"Listen, we could be friends!" Dracula begged, desperately "Partners!" He screeched, but the Key-bearer wolfman didn't seem fazed by this at all. "Brothers in arms!"

Dracula quickly transformed and tried to fly away, but Sora caught him by the foot. Dracula turned to try and backhand him, but the wolfman ducked and seized him by the neck. That would have been the end of Dracula, if Sora hadn't suddenly changed into human form, clad in nothing but his shorts (1). Sora quickly released Dracula and jumped down to meet Van Helsing, who was less confused than Sora was.

"What's happened?" Sora asked.

"The moon." was Van Helsing's simple response.

Clouds had covered the full moon and without its light, Van Helsing and Sora were human again. Dracula smiled at them, remaining in his Heartless form.

"Perfect." He sighed to himself, grinning evilly.

Back with Riku, he was suddenly kicked off by Aleera and the vampiress took flight after Kairi like a bird of prey. Riku got back up, but then felt something under his human hand. He picked it up and saw a summon charm with a cactus on it.

"This might come in handy." Riku groaned as he stood up, gingerly. He knew about these summon charms from Donald and Goofy and pocketed it.

Meanwhile, on the farthest side of the castle, Kairi was running at breakneck speed through the rain and across the bridge. She was going to try a trick Sora told her about when Aleera grabbed Kairi and threw her so hard that she smashed into the bridge on the other side.

_Well, at least I'm on the other side…_ Kairi thought to herself. Boy was she wrong.

She had barely gotten onto her back when the red-haired vampiress was approaching her. She was still in her Heartless form and about a good foot taller. She was also licking her chops like a predator with a carcass.

"Kairi, it is YOUR blood that will keep me beautiful FOREVER!" Cackled the vampiress "What do you think of THAT?"

Aleera cackled, but suddenly noticed that Kairi was SMILING. Before she even knew what hit her, the Princess of Heart stuck her Flowering Keyblade through Aleera's heart. A sharp exhaling scream escaped her lungs as the Keyblade stuck out of her back with a purple essence staining it.

"I think if you're going to kill someone, kill them! Don't stand around talking about it!" Kairi replied as she withdrew her Keyblade and Aleera stood there, her mouth agape. Then, with a long, drawn-out scream, she faded away, a pink heart floating into the sky. "We won't be seeing her again..."

Riku had caught up to her by now as well as Donald, Goofy, and Carl. While Riku had crossed the gap with a wall jump or two, the other three had edged their way across from a narrow ledge.

"Good riddance." Riku said. Kairi glanced around for any sign of Frankenstein, but didn't see him. Riku grinned at this as he replied "Don't worry about Frankenstein, he'll be here soon. Right now we have to get the cure to Sora and Van Helsing!"

The five nodded, then headed through the tower to reach their friends. It was do or die time. If they failed, they would lose a powerful ally, if not, TWO.

Dracula approached Sora and Van Helsing, all three of them gasping for breath. Dracula had several large gashes across his face, one across his chest, and a battered arm. Though he was still alive, these wounds clearly had a toll on him, because he looked relatively malicious.

"Did I mention that it was YOU, Gabriel, who murdered me?" Dracula asked. The two looked dumbstruck at this piece of information "It must be such a burden, such a curse to be the left hand of God!" Dracula took another step toward them as the two took another step back. "All I want is the survival of my kind. And perhaps, the return of my ring!" He held up his ring finger, but it was bent down where a ring used to be. He then opened his arms, almost welcoming, and smiled another smile "You two needn't be afraid. I will restore your memories!"

Sora simply shook his head as the clouds began shifting away.

"No." Replied the Key-bearer "I don't know how you know something called 'Castle Oblivion', but I think that some things are better left forgotten!"

The clouds parted, showing the full moon, and Van Helsing and Sora literally pounced out of their skins, but Sora was a few seconds late, so Van Helsing pounced onto Dracula and caught the vampire by surprise. Before either the Heartless or Keyblade master knew what was going on, Van Helsing delivered the bite to Dracula's shoulder.

Dracula writhed around and, after coughing up black gunk, began to claw at his chest as though trying to tear his own heart out. Unfortunately, he didn't have to claw it out, for it just floated out. He made to grab at it, but his hand ghosted right through it.

"NNNNNOOOOOOO!!" As Dracula roared his last word, black smoke began to envelop him. When it cleared, a stone-gray skeleton crumbled to the ground and turned to dust. The lord of all vampires had finally been defeated.

All over the castle, all the Vampire Bat Heartless were exploding in puffs of smoke. It seemed that anyone bitten by Dracula in the past or anything created by him would die when he did.

At that time, Kairi and the others appeared just in time to see what had happened.

"Sora!" Shouted Kairi, big mistake. Sora turned to Kairi, but snarled. Kairi hurled the serringe into Sora's arm and removed it when it was half gone. Sora roared as he changed back to human.

"Thanks." Sora thanked "Remind me NEVER to dress up as a werewolf for Halloween again."

There was a snarl and Van Helsing lunged at him on all fours. Freed from Dracula's control, whether he had any or not was undecided, and advanced on Sora next. He made to bite Sora, but he held his Keyblade horizontally and Van Helsing's fangs locked onto the steel blade. Kairi, suddenly seizing her opportunity, aimed the serringe just like you would a dart and threw it into Van Helsing's back. He then changed back and removed the serringe, which had been emptied completely.

"Whew! THAT was too close for comfort!" Sora sighed "Thanks again, Kairi."

Van Helsing suddenly looked himself over and asked one question.

"Have you seen my coat?"

Carl rushed over to a nearby machine and made to pick up the black coat on the floor. He had just picked it up when there was a flash of light so bright that it nearly blinded them. When the light dulled, a small purple heart the color of an amethyst shot out of Dracula's machine and flew into Sora's hand.

"So, Dracula had this world's Pure Heart all along?" Sora asked in complete surprise.

"Must've found it a while ago." Replied the hunter.

Van Helsing had slipped his jacket on and suddenly looked outside.

"Well, I guess that since Dracula's gone and you have this Pure Heart, you'll be leaving?" Asked Van Helsing.

"Looks like it." Replied Riku "But first, let's get out of this nightmare of a fortress."

After going back to get Frankenstein, and an insane amount of luck to find the mirror worked backward now, they found themselves back at the old mansion of the Land of Horrors.

"Don't worry, Gabriel." Sora said, grinning at the man he both feared and respected "If you have another monster problem, give us a call."

Van Helsing put a hand on Sora's shoulder and, for the first time in a while, he smiled a slightly humorous smile.

"Call me 'Van Helsing'." Van Helsing simply stated "Everyone does. And don't worry, I probably won't need your help next time. Here." Van Helsing stood, then tossed Sora something. It was a Summon Charm; one with the symbol of his ring on it. "If you ever need me, use this and I'll be with you in a heartbeat."

"Alright." Sora thanked before turning to the rest of his group "C'mon, guys, the next destination awaits!"

The group returned to their Gummi Ship and took off into space. While in there, Kairi smiled at Sora.

"So, what was it like being a werewolf?" Kairi asked.

"Not good." Replied Sora "The tail and reflexes I could live with, but the fleas were terrible and I can't get rid of this craving for raw meat I have..." Sora asked a question that was bugging him for a while, but just wanted to get off this subject "How's Sakuzy doing?"

"Knowing him, he's fine." Riku answered.

The World That Never Was…

In the main headquarters of the fortress, Hades and a few others were watching the group in the magic that Maleficent often used to spy on others.

"Heh, looks like the ol' Batman couldn't handle the little twerps." Hades chuckled, "Like we didn't see THAT comin'!"

Mozenrath watched the part where Van Helsing was whispering something to Kairi, then smiled coolly at the picture. "And the Heartless had the nerve to disobey Maleficent. He did that and look where it got him."

Randall snorted. "Heh. It got him nothing but the most horrible way to die."

At that time, a green-clad hand seized Randall by the neck and lifted him clean off the ground. Randall gagged as he tried to draw breath, but this man's grip was tough.

"BOGGS! YOU SLIME!!" Goblin roared, "You don't want Maleficent to hear you say THAT, now would you? Lesson learned?"

Randall's voice was choked as his skin seemed to change colors on a regular basis. "YES! PAINFULLY, TOO!"

Green Goblin dropped Randall to the ground, the lizard landing with a dull "thud", then walked over to Hades. "Any more bright ideas, Hades?" he asekd.

Hades pondered the thought for a while, then a light bulb appeared over his head. "ONE idea." he answered to Goblin, "Just one problem, he's not with us or against us. He might take them off our hands, but it'd have to be a chance meeting."

All the members of Maleficent's group gave the God of the Dead a hard look. Hades then grinned as he put his hands up and said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy. I'm sure that with the combined efforts of my Underworld voodoo and Mozenrath's necromancy, we should be able to…" Hades' toothy smile increased in width as he continued. "CONVINCE him, shall we say?"

_(1) For you Sora fangirls who wanna see him without a shirt._

_That was Frankenstein's Power Surge and Reanimated Toss._

_Happy Halloween to all, and to all a good FRIGHT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_

Above, two aliens watched from a flying saucer. They looked like green octopuses with a single, Cyclops-esque eye in their foreheads, drooling mouths filled with sharp teeth, and pointed ears. Their names were Kang and Kodos.

"Pathetic human." Kang said, looking at the computer he was reading on, "Why did he write a Halloween part IN NOVEMBER?!"

"Who was talking about Halloween THEN?" Kodos asked, "We had our Christmas decorations up by THAT time!"

The flying saucer then flew away into the vast reaches of space.

Kang and Kodos

Two space aliens from a certain nearby ringed planet, whose name they'd prefer not to mention. They have tried several times to take over the planet Earth, but sometimes their plans go awry. They first appeared on _The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror _1991.

_If you're wondering about Kang and Kodos' comment, it's because I started writing this LONG before I joined this community (true story)._

_In the next world, Sora-Kairi-4-Ever's Crystalli, named Pearl, appears. Not in the next chapter, but in the next world. Also, two new OCs appear, they may seem normal at first, but wait for later chapters to find out how they're different._


	34. Camp Greenlake

Chapter 34: Camp Greenlake

Sakuzy and Joyex landed in the middle of a dry, dry desert. It seemed easily as large, and hot, as the Sahara Desert: just a hunk of barren rock that roasted in the sun.

"MAN! What's with this place?!" Sakuzy shouted to the heavens, "It's not green and there's no lake!"

"Don't blame me. Blame the guy who's writing this stupid fanfic!" Joyex told his friend.

Sakuzy quickly covered his friend's mouth and quickly said, "He's only kidding!"

_There was the sound of a shovel digging into hard earth and the words "Camp Greenlake" appeared in a burst of dirt. The words then turned to dust and blew off into a gust of wind._

Sakuzy and Joyex had walked for what felt like hours through the vast desert. Oddly enough, most of the area was full of holes dug into the ground. THAT was a weird sight, seeing as they were pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

Suddenly, Joyex started crawling around on all fours like he was traveling in the Sahara for a day. "Water!" He cried out in a raspy voice, "I need water!"

Sakuzy turned to see his overly-dramatic partner, then scowled in slight disbelief. "Joyex, we've only been walkin' for five minutes and you're already begging for water to no one in particular." He said, indifferently.

Joyex casually got back on his feet, then shrugged. "So?"

"So, we're not gonna die of thirst out here!" Sakuzy said, poking his friend in the rib.

Joyex looked around, then said, "Really? Well that buffalo skeleton says you're wrong." Joyex pointed to show that there was, indeed, a buffalo skeleton on the ground just a few meters away.

Sakuzy seemed very disturbed at this and quickly said, "Let's hurry up before we end up as part of the landscape!"

"Good idea…Huh? What's that?" The quarter-hearted Nobody pointed to the distance and it turned out there was a town of sorts not far from where they were.

The place looked dusty, abandoned, but then they noticed a truck of sorts just outside its borders.

"Fifty munny says that's a mirage." Sakuzy said, nonchalantly.

"Whatever!" Joyex said as he darted off, Sakuzy hot on his heels.

The two ran to the town and soon found that it wasn't a mirage, but some sort of settlement.

"Well," Sakuzy said, "Guess this isn't a mirage."

Sakuzy suddenly realized what he said, then turned to see Joyex holding out his hand. He sighed as he reached into his pocket, then handed Joyex fifty munny. As Joyex counted to make sure it was enough, Sakuzy looked the place over to see several boys with orange convict suits all over the place.

"What's with this place?" asked Sakuzy.

Sakuzy had no sooner finished that sentence when a voice suddenly boomed from an unseen intercom. "All new inmates report to the cabin!"

Joyex flinched and Sakuzy suddenly realized that this must have been some sort of juvenile hall...in the middle of a desert. "'Inmates'?! We're not criminals!" The Nobody said, trying to defend himself.

"Unless you count all those tags you ripped off mattresses." Sakuzy pointed out.

Joyex quickly hissed something to Sakuzy out of the corner of his mouth. "Quiet, Sakuzy..."

Still, the two decided that it would be better to just blend in for the moment. Wherever their targets were, they had to be here. So, they walked towards the nearest cabin.

A thought sprang to Sakuzy's head as he asked, "Uh…Joyex?"

"What?"

"I think I know why we've been sent here."

"Why?"

Sakuzy turned and answered, simply, "We were trespassing."

Joyex rolled his eyes. "Oh that's REAL clever…"

The two walked into a cabin where they saw a man with red hair, a cowboy hat, and a gun strapped to his belt. He was also munching on sunflower seeds and giving them a suspicious look.

"Ya called?" He asked.

The man spoke. His voice had a southern accent and sounded a bit on the grouchy side. "Yes I did, smarty." He said, answering Sakuzy, "My name is Mr. Sir. When you address me, you will call me by my name."

Joyex and Sakuzy chuckled at this. They had met a couple of "Mr. Sir"s before and they only wanted people to call them that because they had very embarrassing names. When "Mr. Sir" turned around, they stopped immediately.

"The name's Sakuzy." Sakuzy introduced. When Mr. Sir gave him an odd look, Sakuzy quickly answered, "Yes, Sakuzy. Hey, it's what my parents named me!"

Mr. Sir rolled his eyes, then eyed Joyex with the same look. "Oh, my turn?" He asked, then made up for it, "I'm Joyex. Don't ask me why."

Mr. Sir nodded in slight understanding, then spat out a sunflower seed's shell, handed the two some folded laundry and turned his back on them. "Get in those outfits." He ordered.

After a quick check to make sure, no one was looking, the two partners in crime slipped into their Camp Greenlake suits, which were orange convict suits and black boots.

"You will have two pairs of the same uniform. One for work, the other for relaxation." Mr. Sir explained, "After three days, your work clothes will need to be washed and your relaxation clothes will become your work clothes."

Sakuzy and Joyex exchanged confused looks, but went along with it as Mr. Sir continued. "You are to dig ONE hole each day; five feet deep and five feet wide. Your shovel is your measuring stick."

The current trio was walking around with Mr. Sir when they saw a warning sign. Sakuzy tore it down and got a good look at it, an uneasy look crossing his face. "Apparently we've gotta look out for things like yellow-spotted lizards and rattlesnakes."

Joyex gave Sakuzy an uneasy look, then asked, "Rattlesnakes?"

Sakuzy put the poster back up, then said, "Ah, don't worry, buddy. If you get bitten by a rattler, you won't die…if you get the proper treatment."

"What about these lizards?" Joyex asked, still a bit uneasy.

Sakuzy scratched his head, then shook his his head. "I'm stumped." He admitted, "I haven't seen a creature like this before..."

"Sakuzy! Joyex!" Someone called.

The two turned around to meet a shorter man than Mr. Sir, who was wearing a sun hat and a beard/mustache combo. On his nose was a very prominent case of sunscreen. "I'm Dr. Pendanski and I'll be your manager." He greeted, "Now, you may have made bad choices, but that does NOT make you bad kids."

Joyex shrugged with a grin as he said, "Well, that's nice to know."

"C'mon, and I'll give you the grand tour." Pendanski said, walking off with the two right behind him. The self-proclaimed "doctor" led them around the camp, pointing out different places and what they were for. "You two will be in D Tent. 'D' stands for diligence! That's the shower room. One knob, because there's one temperature--cold." Pendanski pointed over at at a nearby house surrounded by lush, green plants and a flashy sports car. "And THAT'S the warden's tent. That's the number one rule at Camp Greenlake--Do NOT upset the warden."

Joyex scoffed, then said, "Oh, c'mon, he seemed like a complete idiot!"

Pendanski rounded on Joyex. "Who?Mr. Sir?" Pendanski shook his head. "He's not the warden. He's just been in a bad mood since he quit smoking."

At that moment, three people walked towards them: Two had dark skin and the other light. One was short and stocky, the other was tall with a pair of sunglasses and a white cloth tied around his head like a headband, and the last one left most of his Greenlake jacket off, revealing a yellow shirt. He had blond hair and, like the one before him, had white cloth tied around his head, but more like a turban of sorts.

"Yo, Mom, who're the Neanderthals?" The kid with glasses asked.

"THESE are Joyex and Sakuzy." Pendanski answered, "Oh, these are your tent-fellows. Sakuzy, Joyex, these are Rex," Pendanski pointed over to the glasses-clad kid, then pointed to the white and large kid in that order. "Alan, and Theodore."

Apparently, Rex and his crew had a correction for Pendanski. For, he corrected the name in order they had been called. "Yo, my name is X-Ray. That's Squid and that's Armpit."

The boy known as "Squid" gestured to Pendanski. "Him? He's Mom."

"They all have their little nicknames." Pendanski explained to Joyex and Sakuzy, "Time to show you guys your tent."

The small troop walked into the "D" Tent to find someone on a mattress, snoring like a sleeping bear. They couldn't see his face, via an Aussie hat covering it to keep out the sun.

Pendanski thought it an opportune moment to explain. "That's Scott. He spends most of the morning asleep for some reason."

Three people then walked in: One had tanned skin and short black hair hidden under a bandana, the other was tall and had wild, blonde hair, and the last one matched the description of Ryan Syrus: small, youngest of the bunch, and blonde hair.

"Hey." The bandana-clad boy greeted. He had a California accent. "I'm Magnet, that's ZigZag, and that's Solar."

Pendanski, on the other hand, said their ACTUAL names again. "These are Jose, Ricky, and Ryan. Though they prefer their nicknames, I prefer to use the name their parents gave them--the names that society will remember them by."

Scott seemed to wake up enough to hear what Pendanski said, because he lifted his hat enough to show a single, hazel eye. When he spoke, he showed a very prominent Australian accent. "Ah, scrap society. Can't a guy get some sleep?"

Scott lowered his hat as he started snoozing again, but Pendanski grabbed a pair of boots next to his mattress and dropped them on Scott's midsection.

THAT seemed to get him up and he didn't seem to be too happy about that, as the impact forced the air from his lungs. "OW! Can't a guy get some sleep without some lousy son of a bludger wakin' him up?!"

Joyex cocked an eye at the expression "bludger", then scratched his mess of black hair. "What's a 'bludger'?" He asked.

Sakuzy knew the expression anywhere. "It's an Australian term for someone lazy. So, he says that Pendanski's the son of a lazy guy."

It was then that the blonde kid, Solar, spoke up. He was surprisingly energetic and possibly one of the youngest members here. "Yeah, give it to 'im, Squall!"

"Squall?" Sakuzy asked.

Scott got up and off his bed and took off his hat to reveal messy, brown hair. Scott ran a hand through his hair, combing out beads of sweat, then put his hat back on. "Me nickname." He explained, "I chose that, because it reminds me of some guy called Leon that I met in Traverse Town. How about I give yeh the rest of the intros?"

Scott then led them over to two boys, which met the description of Stanley Yelnats IV and Hector Zeroni that they found in Petross' report. "Mates, these are Caveman and Zero."

"I'm Sakuzy, that's Joyex."

While Zero didn't really say anything, Caveman seemed nicer than the other guys, because, while the other guys simply disregarded them, he waved a little. "Hey, new guys." He said to them.

Joyex seemed to think for a while, then turned to face Caveman. "Wait, why do we sound so similar?" He asked. Caveman, as well as Sakuzy and Squall, simply shrugged.

After the intros, the two went to lunch and found that the cafeteria served nothing but chili and various beans. The only different item was banana Jell-O. Well, Joyex didn't complain, he liked chili. After getting their lunch, the two sat down with the rest of their tent.

"Heard you didn't dig today, so..." X-Ray reached across the table, then took Sakuzy's bread right off his tray. "You wouldn't mind giving up your bread to someone who did, now would ya?"

Sakuzy groaned slightly. Chili and beans were two of his not-so-favorite foods in the world.

"Lay off 'em, X-Ray." Squall said, putting a spoonful of chili in his mouth. Squall suddenly noticed Joyex eating his chili with the hunger of a bear, then thought he'd joke around a bit. "Y'know what they use to make that?" He asked.

Joyex chewed for a little while longer before answering, "I don't really know..."

Sakuzy pushed away his chili along with Solar, but Squall, strangely enough, laughed at this.

"Beans, ground beef, and a bit of onion. I only say that to terrify the new guys." Squall said with a chuckle, then noticed that Ryan's tray was a good two feet away from him. "Why'd you push YOURS away, Solar?" He asked.

Solar shuddered a bit, then answered, "Because it growled at me."

After lunch, Sakuzy noticed that his water container was a bit low and noticed his group walking by.

"Hey, Theodore!" He called out, catching Armpit's attention, "Know where I can get some water?"

Armpit, on being addressed by THAT particular name, suddenly grabbed the Keyblader in a headlock.

"Dude, I know you smell that." Ryan said, cringing slightly.

Armpit slowly said, "Yo, my name is NOT Theodore." Armpit, with one movement of his arm, pushed Sakuzy to the hot, desert floor, then went over to him in a heartbeat. "It's Armpit! And there's a water spigot over there." He quickly added before looking over in a particular direction.

As Sakuzy picked himself up, then walked over to a nearby fountain, Squall turned to Armpit. "Armpit, why'd you have ta be so rough on 'im?" The Aussie asked.

Armpit shrugged. "Dude, I ain't rough, I'm their mentor. Ain't that what I'm supposed to do?"

Sakuzy went over to the fountain and started to fill it up with water. It was then that he decided to kind of make things up to his fellow inmate. "Thanks, Armpit!"

After a long, hot day, the two slumped onto their beds. Since it was their first day, Sakuzy and Joyex didn't really have to dig holes like their fellows.

Sakuzy sighed as he lay down on his bed, then asked in his head, _Which memory will I visit THIS time around?_

_(You know what to do! Just hum a nostalgic tune or somethin'.)_

_Enter Flashback..._

_Sakuzy, Joey, and Maya seemed to be MUCH younger. They were scribbling on the walls of the secret place, just like Sora and Kairi did when they were young. Sakuzy seemed to think for a while, then he took an eagle feather out of his pocket, smiled, and started scribbling. When they moved away, each had a different Keyblade on it._

_"Mine's gonna be called Chain Thrasher! It'll beat any other Keyblade out there!" Joey boasted, then moved back to reveal a Keyblade with a chain link in between the blade and the handle._

_Maya seemed a little impressed, then showed off her doodle which had a bird wing on each side and looked like it was crafted by angels. "Mine's the Two Winged Angel. Just like the One Winged Angel, only twice as strong."_

_Joey turned to Sakuzy, who had his back to his and was leaning against the wall, blocking their vision of it. "What about yours, Sakuzy?" Joey asked._

_Sakuzy shook his head, then said, "I don't think I'll be a Keyblader..."_

_Joey and Maya both stared at Sakuzy in surprise, then emitted the same word. "WHAAT?!"_

_"Sakuzy, what're you talking about?!" Joey seemed VERY surprised at what his friend said._

_"Your great-grandfather, great-grandmother, grandpa, grandma, dad, and mom are all Keybladers, so why do ya think YOU won't?" Maya asked._

_"Well, your father and grandfather were Keybladers, Maya." Joey said with a casual shrug._

_"And YOU'RE the first person in your family to be one!" Maya quickly countered._

_Joey puffed his chest out slightly and took a mock-pride voice. "I know and it's a fact I'm very proud of."_

_Sakuzy laughed slightly, then gave in to their peer pressure. "Oh, okay. Mine's gonna be called the Eagle Feather."_

_Sakuzy got up away from the wall he leaned up against to show his scribble, which was nearly identical to his eventual Keyblade._

_End Flashback..._

Back in reality, a fanfare suddenly woke up Sakuzy with a jolt and bumped his head against a support. After furiously massaging his head, Sakuzy saw that Joyex was a bit dazed by this; in fact, the Nobody had fallen out of his bed completely.

"Oh, this just keeps getting better..." Sakuzy grumbled.

Scott "Squall" Highflier

An Australian-speaking, fun-loving guy. He somehow ended up at Camp Greenlake, along with his friend Ryan Syrus. He spends most of the morning asleep for some reason and hates Pendanski because he's annoying and always wakes him up when he doesn't want to. He's called Squall because the name reminds him of Leon (Squall Leonhart). Despite the fact that he's in Camp Greenlake, he's a nice guy who often gets his tent fellows to lay off newbies.

Ryan "Solar" Syrus

A hyperactive thirteen-year-old. He somehow ended up at Camp Greenlake, along with his friend Scott Highflier. Scott often has more patience with him than most, even with the kid's nonstop antics, unfailing talent to mock his accent, and just because he's too darn hyper for his own good. He's called Solar because he seems to have the energy of a solar panel.

"X-Ray"

A serious troublemaker at Camp Greenlake. He often takes credit for what others have done and usually lets others take the blame for him, though he has been known to be a good leader at times. He first appeared in _Holes_ 2003.

"Armpit"

One of several misfits at Camp Greenlake. He can be rough 'n tough at times, but claims to do it to teach others the "law of the land". Ryan calls his armpits "weapons of mass destruction". He first appeared in _Holes_ 2003.

Stanley "Caveman" Yelnats IV

A timid teenager who ended up in Camp Greenlake because he apparently stole a pair of shoes. He claims that the men of his family are under a curse that has lasted over a hundred years and shows no sign of stopping. He first appeared in _Holes_ 2003.

Hector "Zero" Zeroni

A kid in Camp Greenlake who keeps quiet. He doesn't talk because he doesn't like answering stupid questions, though Pendanski says it's because he IS stupid. He's illiterate, but is a loyal friend to Stanley. He first appeared in _Holes_ 2003.

"Magnet"

Another one of the misfits in Camp Greenlake. He's called that because he has sticky fingers. He likes animals and tried taking a puppy. He would've made it out of the pet store if his pocket didn't start barking. He first appeared in _Holes_ 2003.

"ZigZag"

Another one of the misfits in Camp Greenlake. At times he can be an okay guy, but he can often be a big bully and would rather solve arguments by fighting than by peaceful negotiation. He first appeared in _Holes_ 2003.

"Squid"

Another one of the misfits in Camp Greenlake. He keeps quiet most of the time, but often has good advice in digging holes and the way things work at the camp. He first appeared in _Holes_ 2003.

Dr. Pendanski

A self-proclaimed doctor in Camp Greenlake. Scott hates him because he's downright annoying and wakes him up through various means. He thinks Zero is stupid and often gives very bad advice to others just for his own pleasure. He first appeared in _Holes_ 2003

Mr. Sir

A bad tempered manager of Camp Greenlake, though not the warden. He quit smoking, so he got an addiction to sunflower seeds. He keeps a gun, but that's only for Yellow Spotted Lizards. He's somewhat crazy and has another name, which he's too ashamed to admit. He first appeared in _Holes_ 2003.

_We won't be seeing the Spider-Man arc in a while. Sorry, Mrfipp. By the by, Ryan or "Solar" as he's call in Camp Greenlake, is voiced by one of the Sprouse brothers from the Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Scott, or "Squall", is going to be voiced by Eric Bana._


	35. Gotta Go Dig Those Holes

Chapter 35: Gotta Go Dig Those Holes

The group walked out of D-Tent to see it was still dark out, possibly five in the morning. The rest of the inmates seemed as normal as possible, though, albeit slightly drowsy. Maybe it was because they had done this before.

"Mornin', Caveman." Sakuzy greeted with a groggy wave.

"Good morning, Sakuzy." Caveman replied.

Mr. Sir walked over to a supply cabin that had a sign, which read "Library". When he opened the door, Sakuzy found that it was filled to the brim of shovels. Squall and Solar came out later than most and soon, it became obvious why. Squall was dragging Solar across the dusty ground and the younger of the two seemed more interested in laying down.

"C'mon, Ryan!" Squall strained, "The sun'll be rising in about half an hour!"

Solar seemed more drained than the whole lot of them, and it seemed more prominent from his answer. "Not making me feel better, Scott..."

Meanwhile, Dr. Pendanski was ignoring the complaints of some of the newer inmates and speaking loud enough to not need a megaphone. "Let's go, let's go! The early-rising mole digs the deepest hole!"

Squall gave a disheartened groan as he said, "Crikey, I hate that sayin'. It gets old…FAST, too."

Squall just walked past the shovels completely, catching a few second glances from Sakuzy and Joyex.

"Squall never takes a shovel, though he always ends up finishing second, right behind Zero." explained Magnet.

Sakuzy got a reasonably large shovel and started walking off to the desert. Suddenly, something caught his leg and he tripped, and he got up to see X-Ray making off with his shovel. Sakuzy picked himself back up and picked up the shovel that was nearest to him.

"Picked up X-Ray's shovel, buddy." Solar pointed out, "It's shorter than the rest of them."

Before Solar walked away and Sakuzy did a quick measure. It WAS shorter by a good six inches. Squid came up to explain. "Smaller shovel, smaller hole." He said.

Sakuzy stared at the shovel and realized there and then that he'd been suckered, then saw Joyex walking by with a rather large shovel. A devious smile crossed his face, then asked, "Hey, Joyex? Wanna trade?"

Joyex looked over at Sakuzy to study the shovel, then turned to walk away. "No thanks. I choose progress..."

Sakuzy reached out with the shovel's handle and tripped Joyex, sending him to the desert ground with a CRASH. As Joyex lay there in a crumpled heap, Sakuzy exchanged their shovels. "Thanks for obliging." He said as he walked away.

Joyex was clearly dazed, judging by his next statement. "Glad to be of service..."

(Insert "Down in the Valley" here)

The group of misfits went into the desert, all with shovels in hand except Squall.

Sakuzy caught up with the Australian. "How come you didn't take a shovel, Squall?" He asked.

Squall shrugged, then answered, "Ya get raised in the outback, ya learn things."

Upon finding a nice spot, the D-Tent group started digging. Squall didn't immediately start digging like the rest of them, but when Sakuzy turned back to look at Squall's progress, the guy's hole was already at a good start.

"How DOES he do that?" Sakuzy asked in shock.

"Don't ask me." Joyex replied with an equally shocked expression.

After a while, the truck came by and Squall saw it as he was digging his hole. "Oh, look. The water truck. Now then, where was I?"

Squall returned to the depths of his hole, while everyone else went for rehydration. As Joyex looked over at Squall, Magnet decided to explain to him. "Another interesting thing about Squall--never takes any water, either."

Solar nodded, then added, "Yeah. He finds his OWN water. Like he said, 'you get raised in the Outback, you learn things'."

Squall then seemed to notice something and he started digging, eagerly, with his hands. It earned him a glance from Sakuzy and Joyex.

"What is it?" The future Keyblader asked.

Squall's reply was with a word that they had never heard before. "Wohta."

Sakuzy cocked a brow, then scratched his head. "Wohta?"

"Yeah, wohta." Squall said, as though it were the simplest thing in the world.

"What's wohta?" asked Joyex.

Squall sighed, then explained in a slightly frustrated tone. "Wohta. H2O. Two hydrogen atoms plus one oxygen atom! Moisture! Melted ice!"

Suddenly, it dawned on Sakuzy as to what Squall was talking about. "Oh, you mean WATER! Why didn't you say so?"

Squall returned to digging, then answered with his back turned. "Comes with the accent, mate."

After a few seconds, Squall brought out a wet fist and got out a container. He put a bit of his shirt from under his Greenlake uniform on top of it. He then got out a washcloth and soaked it up. He then wrung it dry over a canteen and got pure water.

Squall smiled, then said, "Crystal clear, mate."

At that time, Zero got out of his hole, his shovel slung over his shoulder. His hole was done, alright. Five feet wide and five feet deep, EVERYTHING. Everyone else, on the other hand, was still digging in the hot desert sun.

"Zero always finishes first." Solar explained.

"I think he's a mole." Squid pointed out, "I think he EATS the dirt."

"Look, Squiddy, I've told ya about my vastly superior zoological mind a million times AND that moles do NOT eat dirt!" Scott said, then corrected in a calm voice, "That's earthworms. By the by, I'm finished."

Upon further study, Sakuzy and Joyex noticed that Squall's hole was done as well. The Aussie hopped out of his hole, then started running in the same direction as Zero.

Joyex smacked himself in the face, then rolled his eyes. "We're gonna be here for a while."

Sakuzy, however, dug his shovel into the ground as though he was shoving his Keyblade into a Crystalli Soldier's chest. "Who cares? As long as the worlds are gonna be safe, I'm fine!"

Armpit chuckled at Sakuzy's comment and dug a little more before glancing over at him. "What are ya, some sorta Power Ranger?" He asked.

Sakuzy simply said, "Don't push it, Pit!"

Armpit shrugged, then returned to his business of digging. "Whatever, Ranger."

Sakuzy's eyes suddenly widened, then he placed his face in his hand and shook his head. "Something tells me I just earned my nickname…"

Sakuzy and Joyex had taken a long time, because they hadn't exactly dug holes before. By the time they were finished, night had fallen as they went back to camp. It was dark when they got back to the town. Suddenly, Mr. Sir walked up the street and cocked his gun. He appeared to be aiming at them with one eye closed for aim. "Don't move!" He barked.

Sakuzy, or Ranger as we'll start calling him, and Joyex looked scared at this and raised their hands. Mr. Sir fired, but not at them, hitting one of the metal poles instead. The two turned to see a lizard with two rows of yellow spots down its back crawling up said pole. Sakuzy's eyes widened in fright while Joyex cooed.

"Aw, ain't she cute?" The Nobody cooed.

Joyex started walking over to the lizard and "Ranger" seemed to think he was crazy or something. "Joyex!" Ranger hissed, "'she' is a highly dangerous reptile!"

"Oh, c'mon, Sakuzy." Joyex said in disbelief, "Here, she's harmless." Joyex picked up the lizard…which had its head blown off by Mr. Sir's gun. All that was left of its head was the bloody stump that was its neck. Joyex's eyes widened as he shouted, "You've got to be kidding me!"

Mr. Sir stood just behind the two, a smoking gun in hand. "You two should get back to your tent!" He ordered.

Ranger and Joyex didn't waste any time in leaving the scene, because Mr. Sir looked ready to shoot again, checking for more lizards. The two went back to D-Tent and told their story.

"How many spots were there?" asked ZigZag.

"Don't ask me. I only had it for five seconds before that idiot blew her head off." Joyex huffed.

"Did you know that each one's got exactly eight spots?" Squid informed.

"But if you ever get close enough to count them…" Zigzag drew his index and middle finger across his throat and made a mock-slicing noise.

Squall fingered his chin, then pointed out, "Actually, I got a hold of a few and counted their spots. One had nine, but the one with the most spots had eleven."

"They're gettin' so numerous cuz we're diggin' their homes." Armpit pointed out.

"But that ain't what Mr. Sir says, man." Magnet corrected with a chuckle, "We ain't diggin' no homes, we're buildin' character."

Ranger got back into his bed, wanting to avoid lizard talk, and decided to try and get SOME sleep. "I think I've had enough death-talk for one day today..." Ranger had no sooner said that, for he fell asleep three minutes later, slipping into dreamland.

_(You know what! Another DIFFERENT nostalgic tune, if you please.)_

_Enter Flashback..._

_Sakuzy was hanging around his house when a man who looked a lot like him came bursting in, looking like the end of the world was upon them. "Dad? What's up?" Sakuzy asked, urgently._

_He didn't have to answer, because a Crystalli Soldier burst through the door. Sakuzy drew his Keyblade and sliced right through it._

_"What are these things?!" Sakuzy asked in surprise._

_"I don't know. Stay back!" His dad responded._

_Sakuzy's dad had summoned a Keyblade of his own, but had only managed to hack a few down when a jagged piece of crystal shot him in the back of the head. Before Sakuzy could even comprehend what happened, more Crystalli Soldiers arrived on the scene and began to blow him to pieces._

_"NO!!"_

_End Flashback..._

The fanfare was unneeded, because the nightmare woke Sakuzy up in an instant. As he adjusted to the real world, he groaned at the annoying noise that the fanfare was currently making.

"That gets more annoying by the day and I've only been here three days." He said to himself.

Ranger got up, got his shovel with the other inmates, and went out to dig his hole. When Ranger got there, he found Joyex looking awful worried, the Nobody's legs crossed. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Joyex didn't answer, instead he asked the group an unusual question. "Where does a guy go to the bathroom around here?"

"Pick a hole, any hole!" Solar said, quickly.

"Thanks!"

Joyex raced over, then jumped into a random hole only to get thrown out by Armpit. "Not THIS hole!" He scolded the Nobody.

Joyex searched around, frantically, then jumped into an empty hole. The whole D-Tent heard what sounded like a zipping noise and Joyex sighing with relief.

After a while, Armpit seemed to notice something as he looked in the sky. "Look, a cloud…"

The whole group looked up to see one cloud in the big, blue sky, floating alone in the abyss.

"It's a little one."

"C'mon, cloud, just give us a LITTLE shade!"

Caveman shook his head, then pointed out, "The warden owns the shade, man."

As Ranger listened in on them, he cocked an eyebrow in slight disgust. "Man, this warden's got them all under his thumb."

Back in the conversation...

"Maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe it'll rain." Squid said, hopefully.

Squall smiled a gently-humorous smile, then decided to play along. "And it'll rain for forty days and forty nights, then we'll have to repopulate the earth and take two of every animal."

X-Ray grinned, then decided to play along as well. "Yeah, that'll be pleasant. Two scorpions, two rattlesnakes, and two Yellow Spotted Lizards."

A few hours later, the group was talking to Pendanski and it was Squall's time to talk.

"So, Scott, what do YOU like?" asked Pendanski.

"I like animals." Squall answered, "Fought most things that can kill a person--alligator, bear, wolf, and even a great white shark once. Took zoology in sixth grade. Liked it so much, I took it again for kicks. Got through school easily and signed meself up for somethin'. Caveman and Zero know the rest and it's why Ryan and I are here in the first place."

Pendanski suddenly cocked an eye to Ranger and asked, "So, Sakuzy, you're "Ranger" now?" He then directed his gaze to Joyex and asked, "What about your friend? He got a nickname now?"

Joyex gulped as he scratched his head, nervously. "I'm…uh…" Joyex thought quickly for a name that would describe him and went for the first word that came to his mind. "Nobody."

"And it pretty much describes ya, 'Nobody'." Pendanski approved, "You've steered clear from everybody except your pal, Ranger."

Joyex, or Nobody as he was going to be called for a while, leaned back. "I know."

Ranger turned to Caveman, just to strike up something a little more interesting than nicknames. "So, Caveman, why're you here?"

After a little pause, Caveman answered something that had obviously been told before. "Because of my no-good, dirty-rotten, pig-stealing great-great-grandfather. That's why."

All members of the D-tent sniggered at this comment, then quieted down as Pendanski raised a hand to silence them. "What about you, Ryan? What do you like?" He asked.

Solar's answer was VERY immediate. "I love sunlight! Makes me feel happy, but a bit hyper, too..."

Squall decided to explain to everyone, but there was something about it that struck a nerve of uneasiness in both Ranger and Nobody. "Misses his friends and family, mate."

"What about you, Zero?" Pendanski asked amidst the talking.

For a while, Zero remained silent until Squall whispered something to Ranger. "Zero doesn't talk to ANYONE, except Caveman."

Ranger nodded in understanding, but ZigZag decided to speak up and explain to Pendanski. "Zero only talks to Caveman."

Pendanski turned to Zero, a slightly evil twinkle in his eye. "Why do you always keep quiet, Zero? Do you think you're better than us?"

Zero seemed to stare Pendanski right through his soul, then spoke for the first time in a while, though it was only four words. "I like diggin' holes." He said.

Pendanski's evil twinkle suddenly went into a somewhat mirthless grin. "Well, you've come to the right place, buddy-boy." He said to him, savoring the moment.

That night, Ranger went back to D-Tent and fell asleep within a minute's time. But before a memory could compose itself in his head, Ranger heard someone snort and a familiar voice ring through the air.

"Get up, ya lousy bludger!"

"Alright, no need to get a foul mouth, buddy!" That voice belonged to Solar.

Ranger quietly turned in his bed and saw Squall waking up Solar, or at least trying to. The Aussie got Ryan out of his bed, then tiptoed over to Caveman and Zero. When they spoke, it was usually in no more than a hoarse whisper.

"Stanley, Hector! No one's watching us! Let's get going!"

Caveman slowly stirred, then smiled at Scott. "Alright, Scott. C'mon, Hector..."

After a bit of coaxing from Caveman, Zero got up out of his bunk and the four silently snuck out the door. When he was sure they were gone, Ranger got up and started shaking Nobody awake.

"Joyex! Wake up!" Ranger hissed.

Nobody was apparently still asleep from his next reaction. "I don't want to go to school, just five more hours..."

"Relax, Joyex, this ISN'T school!" Ranger said as he reached behind his fellow inmate and gave Nobody's ponytail a good jerk.

After a small yelp in pain, Nobody got up with a stifled yawn and massaged the back of his head. "Aw, for cryin' out loud!" He complained, "Can't a guy get some sleep?!"

Ranger quickly shushed his friend, then pulled his friend's head closer and hissed in his ear. "QUIET! We've got some recon duty!"

Ranger released Nobody, then made for the door, Nobody's eyes wide. "Oh no…" Nobody said with a sigh.

After Ranger seized Nobody by the collar and coaxed him out the door, the two started running in the direction that Squall, Solar, Caveman, and Zero were moving. After quietly sneaking around Camp Greenlake, they found the Aussie, hyper kid, Neanderthal, and voluntary mute digging through the garbage outside the warden's cabin.

"Find anything?" Squall asked, quietly.

Caveman paused, then cheered as silently as he could. "Yes!"

Caveman was holding something and anyone too close gathered 'round. "Ooh…good piece. That's good to know." Solar said, taking in its appearance.

By now, Ranger and Nobody had slunk up so quietly that they could reach out and touch them. The four that had gotten the Gummi Piece hadn't even noticed him sneaking up on them.

"What's good to know?" The four froze in place and didn't even turn around when Ranger spoke again. "Relax. It's us--Ranger and Nobody!"

The group turned around, a little more calmly than they originally were. After making sure no one else was with them, Squall got so close to them that they might have shaken hands and spoke in a hushed voice. "What're you two doin' here?!"

Nobody shrugged, indifferently. "Could ask the same for you guys."

Squall made a quick check to make sure that no one was watching, then answered as quietly as possible, "Would you believe me if I said we were rebuilding a Gummi Ship?"

Ranger blinked twice, then answered, "No. Why?"

"Well, that's what we're doin', mate."

Nobody's eyes widened in surprise. "Rebuilding a Gummi Ship? You don't have a Gummi Ship."

Squall smiled a very coolish smile as he adjusted his Aussie hat a bit. "THAT'S where you're wrong, mate." He said, coolly.

Caveman decided to take over explaining for Squall. "We've been taking the Gummi pieces that the warden's been throwing away recently. We're almost done."

"You're planning a jail break, Squall?" asked Ranger.

Squall nodded, then added, "Yeah. You can also call me by me other name--Scott, Scott Highflier."

Ranger held out his hand and Squall took it and shook vigorously. "Well, Scott, that's where you lucked out." He said, "We've been sent to break you out."

Squall's face shone like the sun as the joy of freedom hit him like a bullet. "Really?" He asked, hardly believing what he had just heard.

Nobody nodded. "Yeah. And your buddies, Ryan, Stanley, and Hector are invited to the party, too."

"Well, isn't that noice?" Squall said with pure satisfaction.

On noticing Nobody's strange look, Ranger explained out of the corner of his mouth. "Australian accent."

Solar asked, "So, who sent ya to bail us out?"

"A man from Radiant Garden named Petross." Ranger explained, "Big guy, dark skin, and looks like he could toss ya to the moon."

Squall seemed a little surprised, but then smiled as he realized someone was trying to rescue him. "That bloke who taught me health class? Yeah, I was a favorite student, though I never showed much enthusiasm in it."

"Well, where's this Gummi Ship?" Nobody asked, curious as to where they could have hidden a whole spaceship.

Squall squinted, letting his eyes adjust to the night as well as everyone else, then pointed to a mountain in the distance. "On the top o' God's Thumb."

Ranger

Sakuzy's nickname in Camp Greenlake. He was given it because he showed a lot of valor and a sense of justice. Armpit compared this to a Power Ranger.

Nobody

Joyex's nickname in Camp Greenlake. He gave it to himself when he was searching for a word that described him.

_Review Scott/Squall and Ryan/Solar. Anyone who wants to do fanart of this fic has my okay to do so._


	36. Rattlesnake Venom

Chapter 36: Rattlesnake Venom

Ranger looked over at where Scott was pointing and saw what he knew Squall was aiming for. "So, that's what that mountain's called?" He asked. Ranger went out on a limb, then made a thumb's up and compared it to the mountain, which looked exactly like the gesture he made.

"Yeah." Scott answered, "The ship's been up there for a while, but we can't get there yet."

Ranger got out of his thumbs' up gesture, then turned and asked, "Why?"

Squall sighed, then explained. "These guys here have got the only water supply for a hundred miles." He gestured back at the mountain. "The only other source's on top of that mountain."

"Otherwise, those vultures would have you picked clean by day three." Ryan said, mimicking a bird's wings with his hands.

It was there and then that Nobody realized that there were no watchmen, no electric fences, or any form of search team at Camp Greenlake. "Well, THAT kinda explains the lack of security here." He said as it came to him.

Ranger then decided to track the group's progress. "So how far are you guys?" He asked.

"Well, we only need a few more Gummi pieces and the ship's gonna be finished." Caveman answered, "If we're lucky, we'll only need one more trip and we'll be outta here!"

That morning, Ranger and Joyex were going to the activity room, but found Solar guarding it, earning a few odd glances.

"What's up, Solar?" asked Ranger.

"I wouldn't recommend going in there." Solar warned, waggling his finger at them, "Some guy got on the wrong side of Squall and he's giving him a bit of a lecture of what it means to be a man."

Suddenly, with a heaved grunt, someone flew out of the door with a scream and landed on the ground outside the wreck room with a thud.

"You mean he's beating the tar out of him?" asked Nobody.

Solar shrugged, then answered, "Naturally. He only gets three sentences into the speech when they start trying to kill him."

The two went in to see Squall duking it out with some guy that looked a lot stronger than he was, yet the Aussie was holding his own against him. Suddenly, for one brief moment, Squall's physique seemed normal, but the next he seemed to have bigger muscles. Ranger blinked a couple times, then focused on the fight at hand. After a couple exchanges, Squall had the big guy down on the ground and hog-tied by his own t-shirt.

Squall noticed his hat was askew and straightened it out, then noticed the whole room was staring at him. "There is nothing more to see here." He said, as though he was never in a slugfest to bein with, "So, until next time, g'day mates."

The Aussie then walked, calmly, out of the room and dusted himself off.

Later that day, the whole D-Tent went to their daily business of digging holes in the desert. Ranger, Nobody, Squall, Solar, Caveman, and Zero were digging near the same area. Mr. Sir arrived with the water truck and they mainly stayed away from the water truck.

"Y'know I prefer woota I dig out rather than the water that bludger brings out." Squall said, gesturing towards it with his thumb and earning a few nods.

Squall started moving around, checking for something, but eventually sighed in defeat and went to the water truck. Ranger folded his arms, his own water jug in hand, then asked, "What happened to getting your own water?"

Squall turned to Ranger, then shrugged. "No wohta. I can smell wohta after bein' in the outback, mate, but now I can't smell a thing. Crikey, if it don't rain soon, we'll be havin' a problem on our hands."

At that time, Nobody noticed that Magnet seemed a bit too interested in the truck and when it left, he held out a sack. "Hey, anyone want sunflower seeds?" He asked.

"Aw, Magnet, you got sticky fingers!" Squid pointed it out.

Magnet tossed the bag to X-Ray, who took a handful and started chowing down on them. However, their triumph was short-lived, because the water truck instantly turned around.

Solar suddenly seemed particularly frightened from his wide eyes to his trembling knees. "WE'RE in trouble..."

"Yeah, if Mr. Sir finds out about this, we're all gonna hang." Squall agreed.

"It's not THAT!" Solar quickly said, "My…uh…THING'S acting up."

Squall turned around, obviously taking in the sudden change. No one else saw it, but Ryan was giving off a faint glow that was getting brighter by the second.

"Oh boy, that IS trouble!" Squall said, his eyes widening in fright.

"Well, how do we do this without anyone watching?" Caveman, referring to the inmates that were having their share of sunflower seeds.

Squall smirked as he eyed part of the ground around him. "Simple, ain't it?" Squall looked off somewhere else and pointed at a random area of the sky. "Look! Another cloud!" He called.

Just as the inmates' backs were turned, Squall pushed Solar into the hole, so they didn't realize the flash of bright light in the hole's depths. When the flash ended, Squall reached in and pulled his buddy out of the hole by the collar of his suit. "Whew! That was too close!" the Aussie said with relief.

Ranger turned to look at Squall's reply, then asked, "What happened? And why does Solar look like he's about to collapse?"

Solar did look very pale and he was barely standing, as though he had just caught a sudden case of the flu. Squall got a good look at him, then shrugged. "Just not feelin' too good at the moment, mate. I'll take him back for a rest."

Squall then picked up Solar and hauled him off to the tents. He came back a minute or two later, then got very close to Ranger and hissed in his ear. "The little guy's looking for some more Gummi pieces as we speak."

THAT was the wrong time to get Ranger's attention, because Mr. Sir was almost there and Magnet threw the bags between Ranger and Caveman. Both reached for the bag in surprise, but the sac slipped between their hands and scattered the seeds everywhere on impact with the ground.

"Ranger! Caveman! You both got butterfingers!" ZigZag said in a groan.

Ranger scowled at this. He was not only caught off-guard, but he hated these kinds of things; repeat, HATED them. Sports were for muscle-bound morons who couldn't back up their mind in his opinion. He and Caveman quickly buried the seeds just when Mr. Sir arrived.

"Anyone seen my sunflower seeds?!" Mr. Sir asked, grouchily.

Ranger decided to come clean and held up the empty bag of sunflower seeds. Mr. Sir didn't say anything, but took Ranger and Caveman away in his truck to whatever fate awaited them.

The pair went back to the camp and towards a cabin that made the others pale in comparison. Compared to the rest of Camp Greenlake, it was lush…probably because people watered it regularly. Mr. Sir banged on the door and the warden was surely going to come. Ranger expected a large man with a bad attitude and tattoos, but he was quite surprised to see a woman with red hair of all places.

"THAT'S the warden." Caveman whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

Ranger stared a bit, surprised by what he had seen, then said only three words with equal silence, "Well, THAT'S new…"

"What is it?" The Warden asked, her voice having a very prominent Southern accent, "What did ya find? Come in, you're lettin' the cool out!"

When they walked in, Ranger found that it felt like being back on his Gummi Ship. It had air conditioning, a luxurious inner working, and even a good amount of food and water. He and Caveman sat down on a couch as the Warden took a seat opposite them. "What did ya find?" she repeated.

Ranger paused, then came clean. "Well, when Mr. Sir was refilling our canteens, we…"

Caveman finished for him. "Stole his sunflower seeds."

The Warden didn't seem too mad. Rather, she simply pointed somewhere in the corner. "Ranger, would you get my nail polish?" she asked, "It's in the brass case over there."

Ranger was a bit confused by the fact that the warden knew his nickname, but went over to a cabinet all the same. He found it and saw a lot of old fashioned Wanted posters with the same woman on it. The caption said 'Kissing Kate Barlow'. He was confused at the deed he was given, but gave it to the warden anyway. She instantly took out one filled with some pink liquid.

"You see this?" the Warden asked, shaking the container to emphasize what she was talking about, "This is my FAVORITE nail polish. I make it myself. You know what the secret ingredient is?" The two shook their heads as she took the polish and slowly began to apply it to her nails. "Rattlesnake venom. I just love what it does to the color. Don't worry, it's perfectly harmless…" The warden brought her hand, whose nails were covered in the polish, and brushed Caveman's face ever so lightly, yet it chilled him to the bone. "When it dries."

She took her hand off Caveman's face, then returned her attention to Mr. Sir. "So, you think THEY took your sunflower seeds?" she asked.

"No, I think they're covering for someone like Squall or X-Ray." Mr. Sir answered, then pointed out, "It was a five-pound sack and Ranger claims to have eaten it all."

Ranger scratched his head, then explained, "Well, it was only half full when I found it."

"And you could check in my hole for any evidence." added Caveman.

Mr. Sir seemed to be really malicious, because it was starting to show in his voice that he would sooner throttle them than search for further evidence. "Really? Well, we'll see…"

Mr. Sir never finished his sentence, because the warden brought her still-wet nails cutting through his face with one swipe. Mr. Sir fell to the ground, writhing in pain and whimpering, too. "Get back to your holes." She said, quickly. On hearing THAT command, Ranger and Caveman left the cabin without question and without another word. The Warden spoke to Mr. Sir in possibly the coldest voice she had ever used thus far. "I liked you better when you smoked."

Caveman and Ranger returned to their holes and the other boys got a look at them, questions buzzing in their heads.

"So, what did YOU say?" asked ZigZag.

Caveman shrugged, then answered, "Nothing."

"What did SHE say?" Armpit asked.

That time, it was Ranger's turn to answer. "Nothin'."

"What did she DO?" asked Squid.

Caveman and Ranger, at that moment, snapped and answered to every boy within twenty feet of them. "NOTHING!"

Ranger got to his hole and stuck his shovel in it for measuring and found that it was five feet deep. He used it to check the width, too--five feet. Apparently Caveman found the same thing, because he said, "Thanks, guys!"

"Don't thank US, thank your buddies Nobody and Zero." corrected Squid, "They dug your holes while you were gone."

Ranger went over to Nobody and gave him a smile. "Thanks, pal."

Nobody clapped his friend on the shoulder. "No problem. Zero helped, though. Guy's a real miner."

Ranger turned to the little guy, then ruffled his wild hair, making Zero smile for the first time he'd ever seen him do it. "Thanks, little man. I owe you one."

That night, the escapees returned to their tent and went to their bed, but never truly went to sleep. As soon as they were sure everyone in the camp was asleep, Squall woke up Caveman, Zero, Ranger, and Nobody. His actions were a bit unnecessary, though, for they were either already awake or just half-asleep.

"We've gotta get to Solar!" Squall hissed, "He's probably got enough Gummi Pieces to finish our ship!"

The group got up, a few trying to adjust to the world of the awakened, and snuck out of the tent to find Solar wearing gloves and clutching them in pain.

"What happened to YOU, mate?" asked Squall.

"Got on the wrong side of Pendanski." Solar answered, still massaging his sore hands, "I'd rather not talk about what he did..." Solar touched one of his gloved hands for emphasis, then winced in pain with an "ow".

Squall growled, then slammed his fist into his palm. "What I wouldn't give to hit that bludger across the face!"

Ranger there and then decided to change the subject. "Easy, Squall." he then turned to Solar, "How many Gummi Pieces do you have?"

Solar reached into the pocket of his convict suit and pulled something out. They were pieces of a Gummi Ship, unmistakably. "Exactly three."

Squall took the pieces, then racked his memory for what they had so far. "Should be enough, mates. Tomorrow, I say we make a break for it!"

"So, what do we do?" asked Ranger.

"Well, I say we…" Squall whispered his plan to them and they knew what they had to do in order to get out. It would be risky, but if it went according to plan, it just might work.

The Warden

The head of Camp Greenlake who's, surprisingly, a woman. She is anything BUT predictable and can go from as sweet as sugar to as fierce as a wolf in seconds. She has all these misfits in the camp to dig holes and get something, which we can't really figure out. She first appeared in _Holes_ 2003.

_Review Squall and Solar._


	37. God's Thumb

Chapter 37: God's Thumb

The next day, the group was digging their holes. Squall didn't bring any water today and Nobody seemed tired of this, no surprises in THAT since he was up most of the night. And the fact that Pendanski woke everyone up at five in the morning didn't help any. Squall DID, however, bring a backpack of sorts which he kept outside his hole.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" Nobody asked, "I'm dyin' out here!"

Squall gave Nobody a scolding look, then answered, "As soon as you quit complainin', mate."

The water truck came driving by with a couple refreshments and Squall was the first up there with his backpack on his shoulder and, surprisingly, a shovel in hand. He got a few refreshments, namely Graham crackers and a full gallon of water. Pendanski gave Squall a good lookover, then grinned a mirthless grin. "Goin' somewhere, buddy? What have you got planned today, Scott?"

Squall looked Pendanski in the eye with what could only be described as casual indifference. "Well, first I'm gonna get me buddies some refreshments." The Aussie took a few more snacks and jammed them into his backpack. "And then, I'm gonna do THIS!"

Scott took his shovel in both hands, then belted Pendanski across the face with it. He looked at what he did before saying, "Crikey, I've been waitin' to do that."

Squall turned to the others, then asked, "Now, guys, how about we do what happens when a rhino charges?"

Nobody scratched his mess of black hair, then suggested, weakly, "Take their credit card? "

Squall gave Nobody a flat look, then answered in a calm demeanor. "Wasn't makin' a joke."

"Well, what do you suggest?" asked Ranger.

"Don't look back and RUN LIKE CRAZY!"

Nobody blinked twice, then said, "I could've thought of that…"

Without even turning to look back, Squall started sprinting away like there was no tomorrow, Ranger and Nobody hot on his heels. Upon spotting the three running away, Caveman and Zero hopped out of their holes and followed suit. Squall plucked Solar out of his hole like he was nothing and the six kept running into the desert. Squall leapt over holes like they were hurdles in a race and actually jumped clean over someone who was still digging their hole. "G'day!" He greeted, earning a strange look from the guy.

There was running, running, and even more running until they couldn't run anymore. When they stopped, the town was probably a good ways away, a mile or two maybe. Nobody collapsed and started trying to catch his breath. "Whew! Never had to run like THAT in a while!" He gasped.

Squall got out his backpack and dug in its depths before he pulled out a green, glass bottle. "Ale-8?" He asked, holding it out.

"Sure."

Nobody took the bottle of soda, opened it, then started chugging it down. He stopped, then let the drink settle in his stomach and cool him from the inside out.

"Sure, I'll take some." Solar said as he made to grab a bottle, but Squall pulled it back and shook his finger at him.

"Oh no you don't! The last thing YOU need is caffeine! Here, have some wohta." Squall reached into his pack again, then tossed Solar a canteen of water.

Solar looked at it for a while, then sighed in defeat. "Man, I NEVER get soda." he groaned, then decided it was better than nothing and took a swig of it.

Squall threw Caveman, Zero, and Ranger Ale-8 bottles. Ranger took a little swig, then looked at Squall, a little impressed with the Aussie. "Talk about prepared." he said, impressed.

Squall scoffed, then said, "Never leave home with a couple cases of Ale-8 1's. But, I've only got enough to last us a few days."

Ranger studied the contents of his bottle, then looked up at the distance to God's Thumb. "They could last us to the top." he figured.

Squall smiled, then said, "That be the case, then we're outta here for good!"

Caveman, for reasons unknown, pointed out a random fact about his family line. "Y'know, my great-grandfather almost died out here."

"Really?" asked Nobody.

Sarcasm rang in Zero's voice as he rolled his eyes. "That's real comforting."

The group of six soon started on their way through the desert and towards "God's Thumb". They were soon at the foot of the mountain and looked up at how high it was.

"So, your Gummi's at the top of this?" Ranger asked.

"You'd better believe it." Solar said, nodding.

"Guess we'd better get this over with. I miss the luxury of my Gummi Ship already." Nobody said to himself.

Then, with a great heave of courage, the group started climbing. Their climb lasted the entire day and into the night, because it was that tall.

The next day, while they were still climbing, Ranger lost his footing while climbing and was barely hanging on by his hand. Nobody was too far up with Caveman and Zero, so there wasn't anything he could do. Squall, however, was a lot closer and had other plans.

"Not on MY watch, you ain't!" He called out.

Squall jumped down and caught Ranger by the wrist before he lost his grip, using his other hand to get a hold on a rock. However, upon further inspection, Ranger noticed that the Aussie's arms seemed longer.

"What the heck…?!"

Squall's voice was so strained that he almost sounded like he was growling. "Don't…let…go!"

Ranger dangled from the mountainside as he asked, "Why are your arms…"

"I'll explain as soon as we're out of this mess!" Squall strained.

With a strenuous heave, Squall tossed Ranger back onto the mountain's ledge and heaved himself back up. The length of his arms then, slowly, returned to their normal length.

Ranger lay on his back, still a bit affected by the experience. "THAT was way too close!" He said, "Now, Squall, care to explain how you did that…thing back there?"

Scott took a deep breath through his nose, then sighed through his mouth. He wasn't quite sure how to explain this, but decided to do it as he went along. "Okay. Remember that thing Ryan and I signed up for?" the Aussie asked.

Nobody probed his memories, then remembered it as clear as a bell. "Yeah, but you didn't really explain what it was."

"I'm afraid I couldn't. Otherwise, the warden would've thrown us into the desert again." Squall explained, "That thing we signed up for was a human experiment. When they finished with me, the experiment gave me the ability to change my anatomical structure at will. In other words, I can change various forms of me body."

Squall then made himself more muscular than he used to be. THAT was the same build that he used in that fight.

"Well, THAT explains how you hog-tied that jerk at the wreck room." Nobody said, realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.

"What about Ryan? And why'd you throw him into that hole that one time?" Ranger asked.

Squall sighed again, hoping to avoid more than what he deemed "necessary". "Better get comfy for this." Squall told them. Ranger and Nobody got comfortable and into more comfortable positions. Then, Squall sat down and relayed the story to them. "A few weeks after Ryan got his powers, a couple other kids found him using his powers—he skinned his knee when he fell off a bike and it healed over.

"They cornered him and…he was still new to his powers, he couldn't control them…but they tried to make him do it again. When he couldn't, they went a bit overboard trying to 'keep the freak from doing it again' and ever since then, his powers have never been the same. His healing factor was lost forever and he was left with the abilities of super speed, flight, and energy projection.

"However, it only works if he's in contact with sunlight. The power of the sun, stored up in a hyperactive kid. If he's away from sunlight for more than three days, he will slip into a coma and eventually die."

Solar nodded, then said, "And I don't really enjoy dying. I know a LOT of people are dying these days, but I'm just not one of those people."

"It was a lot easier when there were three of us." He said, glancing up into the sky.

Ranger cocked an eyebrow. A third one? "'Three of us'?" he asked, "Who was the third?"

Squall turned to face Ranger, then answered, "I'll only tell you that the people at Camp Greenlake dubbed him 'Survivor'. You might meet him someday."

Solar however, shook his fist as though he were holding a Heartless' throat in it. "HE'S THE MOST COWARDLY PERSON I EVER MET!" the kid said through gritted teeth, "HE ESCAPED WITHOUT US!"

"Zip it, Solar!" Squall said, "After all, he claimed there was nothing that could hold him for more than a week."

Ranger, deciding to avoid conversation about this person, decided to ask another question. "I take it that Caveman and Zero knew about this?"

Squall and Solar looked up from the little rant about the third person, then Squall answered Ranger. "Yes. We told them the instant we arrived." Squall stood up and looked up at the mountain. "Better get going. And with our powers known to you guys, it'll be a heck of a lot easier!"

Squall stretched out his arms as he growled in what appeared to be semi-constant pain. The Aussie's fingers extended to become longer and thinner with large flap skin between each of them. He had grown large, bat-like wings and everything needed for flight: large lungs, a massive heart, and lightweight bones.

Nobody stared at Squall, eyes wide in surprise and slight nausea. "Whoa. THAT will take a bit of getting used to." He said, slightly disgusted.

"All aboard!" Squall said, then grabbed Ranger in his feet, which had become like an eagle's talons and then proceeded to fly up the mountain. Ryan started climbing, because as Scott said, the little guy couldn't fly due to lack of sunlight. Caveman was carrying Zero and Nobody was climbing behind Solar.

As Caveman climbed, he could have sworn he heard an old woman's voice whisper through the wind. _Then you must take Madame Zeroni up the mountain and sing while I drink so I can get strong, too._

The group finally made it to the top and were whooping for joy. Squall then noticed something and took a look down. "Strewth! What a view." He said.

"Squall, I know it's a nice view, but what's the truth about it again?" Solar asked.

"Uh, Ryan?" Ranger pointed out, "I think that was an Australian term for 'Holy Cow!'"

"Oh."

The distance between the runaways and the ground was monstrous: possibly fifteen or more stories above the ground. Caveman put a semi-conscious Zero down by a river and pulled at a leafy plant in the ground. When the roots exited the ground, it turned out to be a wild onion.

Ranger got a good look at the onion, then said, "Well, I'll be darned. A fresh water supply AND food!"

The group all got some onions and were chowing down on them when Zero regained consciousness. Caveman tossed Zero an onion and the little guy caught it, staring at it curiously. "What's that?" he asked.

Caveman answered, "A hot fudge sundae, eat it!"

Zero, without any form of hesitation, took a big bite of the onion and began chowing down with the others. He stopped eating a bit, then nodded as he looked at the onion. "Best onion I've ever had."

Caveman, much to their surprise, slumped down and began to chant something in a soft, yet audible rhythm. "'_If only, if only' The woodpecker sighs, 'the bark on the tree was as soft as the sky.' While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely, he cries to the moon, 'if only, if only.'"_

Nobody had finished his first onion and was looking for his second, when he found something...a little more valuable, shall we say? It was a Summon Charm with several fiery lines that formed the Roman numerals for thirteen on it or XIII. THIS was one of the charms he left behind and he instantly pocketed it. They then laid themselves down for sleep. It was the only place they could sleep...for the moment.


	38. Crystalli Invasion

Chapter 38: Crystalli Invasion

Meanwhile, in Camp Greenlake, the warden was talking to someone in a pale pink robe, female by the way her robe clung to her body. "So, if that Sakuzy boy comes back, you want me to warn these Crystalli things?" She asked, trying to clear things up.

The Crystalli host nodded, then spoke in a quiet, but strong, voice. "Yes, but don't kill him. My superiors want him alive."

The host snapped her fingers and several crystals, which were probably the size of a wide-screen television, planted themselves around the warden's cabin and vanished in a flash of pink light. The warden started, then scratched her head of red hair and then shrugged at her visitor's sudden disappearance.

Back on God's Thumb, Squall had led the group around a corner and found their Gummi Ship, now fully repaired and readied the ship for takeoff. But before the engines could even start, Caveman suggested something. "Hey, before we go, how about we dig one more hole?"

Squall got out of the Gummi Ship and turned to face Caveman with both a cocked eyebrow and a slight grin. "Feelin' lucky?" asked the Aussie.

Caveman could only return the expression. "You know it." he answered.

The others were soon quick to join them with positive looks on their faces.

"I'm up to it." Ranger said.

Zero joined in with, "Me too."

Nobody looked himself over, then said, "Sure. Why not? Besides, there has to be ONE part of my body that isn't blistered."

"I'll set the Gummi Ship to beam us down at the Camp." Squall said, then he hopped into the Gummi, quickly followed by the others. The Aussie then kicked the ship into action and flew towards the Camp.

The Gummi quickly deposited them into the area where they dug holes. Caveman ran through the field of holes, then hopped into a hole with a rock just to its side.

"You sure it's THIS hole, Stanley?" asked Zero.

"Yep. But it'll take too long to do by hand unless Squall does his thing." Caveman replied.

Squall looked around, then said, "I'll go get the shovels! C'mon, Ryan!"

"Right behind ya!"

Squall and Solar darted off to the camp grounds and snuck through the place to where Mr. Sir kept the shovels. They saw Pendanski and Mr. Sir arguing about something. They didn't know what it was, but he did notice Mr. Sir threw his gun at Pendanski.

"Ow! Don't you throw nothin' at me, you Neanderthal!" Pendanski shouted.

When Squall spoke, he made sure that he was inaudible to anyone except Solar. Solar did the same. "Heheh...He's got a good measure of the bludger."

"Who cares? Let's just get the shovels!" Ryan said, just about ready to dart off if Squall wasn't holding him by the collar.

After a bit of calming down from Ryan, the two slunk around for a while and saw the supply cabin labeled 'Library'. They were about to leave when they saw the shadows of the Warden and the girl in the pink robe talking to each other. They quickly ducked out of sight as they walked past them.

"Don't ask why, but Sakuzy and his friends are alive and back!" The pink-robed girl informed, "If you don't use these Crystalli, you'll face dire consequences."

The warden smiled, then said, "Don't you worry, sister. I'll make ABSOLUTELY sure that I'll use 'em, hon."

As soon as the warden and pink-robe were out of sight and earshot, Squall stared after them. Judging by the way they were talking, they weren't exactly friends with their fellow inmate.

"Uh-oh, I smell trouble…We'd better make this fast." Squall whispered, urgently.

The two grabbed a couple shovels and ran out of the camp as quietly as they could. Within seconds, the pair finally got back to the rest. It was easy to see what progress they made with just their hands.

"Talk about fast diggins. Here!" Squall said, then tossed them shovels and jumped into the hole with them. With the sound of molding bones, Scott's hands turned into something like mole's forelimbs and then he started shoveling away.

Ranger eyed Squall, then thought to himself, _So THAT was how he dug so good with just his hands._

Squall dug for a little bit, then turned to Ranger with a curious look in his eye. "By the by, Sakuzy, do you know anyone who's partial to pink robes?" he asked.

Ranger thought this over, then shrugged. "No. Why?"

Squall got very close to Sakuzy and began to whisper in his ear. "Ryan and I overheard someone in a pink robe talkin' to the warden." He told him, "She knew your name."

Ranger's eyes widened in slight surprise, but shrugged again. "I still don't know who it is, but she can't be good. As far as I know, anyone who wears that is an enemy." Ranger turned to the progress of the hole, which was pretty much going nowhere. "Anyway, I don't think the hole could get any deeper…"

"I think that we shouldn't make it deeper." Caveman pointed out, "We should make it wider."

The group changed plans and began to dig outward until Caveman's shovel hit something. There was then a clunking noise when Caveman stuck his shovel into a hunk of earth. He then tried it again and got the same result. He grabbed the thing and pulled it out—it was a treasure chest! He whooped as he pulled it out, and Zero did too.

Ranger's eyes widened in surprise as he said, "Whoa, didn't see THAT coming!"

Nobody, however, stared at the chest in total awe and shouted, "We're rich! RICH! I TELL YA!"

Suddenly, out of the hole left by the treasure chest, several Yellow Spotted Lizards jumped out and landed on them, though they didn't seem to bite them. They hissed, but usually did no more than that. Everyone else was scared stiff, because one bite from the lizards would kill them in minutes.

Nobody, however, wasn't scared of them at all. "Aw, they're beauties, aren't they? Come here, girl." He reached for a lizard, which hissed at him and bared its fangs at him. "None of that, sweetie." Nobody scolded, then he reached out and grabbed said lizard, which did nothing other than squirm around. "Now that's better. I think I'll call her…Fluffy."

Squall's eyes were wide with fright, especially with one of the lizards crawling just behind his neck. "Why would you name a reptile more deadly than a rattler THAT?!" the Aussie hissed.

Nobody simply "shrugged" as best he could, then answered, "Because I want to."

Suddenly, the sound of a cocking gun filled the air and Ranger immediately went as stiff as a board. "Do I dare look up?" He asked. In the end, Ranger did dare and saw several Crystalli Soldiers with their gun arms pointed right at them.

Squall looked up and backed away in fright, ignoring the lizards around him, which simply squirmed away at the sudden movement. "FLIPPIN' HECK! What are these things?!" He asked in surprise.

"Crystalli!" It was a bit confusing as to whether Ranger was simply saying his traditional line or if he was answering Squall's question.

The warden and the girl in the pink robes appeared at the hole's edge, peering down on them with every hint of satisfaction. "Hello, Sakuzy." the girl in pink asked, "How are you?"

Ranger paused and appeared to back away before regaining his posture and staring back up at her. "Who are you? And how do you know my name?" he asked.

"I'll answer your second question later, because you'll find out soon enough." the girl answered, "As for your first question, my name is Pearl."

Ranger stared. He had seen most of the hosts, but this one was a new face in the crowd. "A new Crystalli?!" he asked in surprise.

Everyone's attention suddenly went from the Crystalli to the warden, looking down at them with ill content. "Thought you'd break back into MY camp?!" asked the Warden, then looked over at Caveman, who was still keeping a good hold on the chest. "Thanks, Stanley, for findin' my treasure. My granddaddy owned the lake, then it dried up. He dug himself crazy looking for it. Made ME do it, too, even on Christmas."

Squall let out a VERY audible snort in disbelief. "Well, ain't that a tear jerkuh?" He asked, sarcastically.

"Too bad we're not so sympathetic!" Ryan pointed out.

Without another word, both Ranger and Nobody leapt out of the hole, scattering the lizards all over the place. The Crystalli Soldiers, seeing that their targets were escaping, opened fire. Crystal ammo pelted the desert landscape and narrowly missed everyone else. Sakuzy landed on the desert floor, then jammed his Eagle Feather Keyblade right into the "head" of the first Soldier and jerked it out, causing said Soldier to fall forward with a CRASH.

Joyex on the other hand, reached into his convict suit and took his chain whip with surprising speed. He had wrapped it around his midsection like a belt and used his suit to kind of hide it. The Nobody threw his whip out and used it to jerk a Crystalli Soldier right off its feet. As the soldier fired, Joyex jerked the chain around so that it ended up shooting down its fellow soldiers by mistake.

However, there were more soldiers than they thought they could handle. Ranger looked at Squall, who nodded.

"Scott!"

Squall leapt into the air and back on the ground before he got into a karate pose. "G'day!" He shouted. The Aussie rushed forward and proceeded to stick his boot through a Crystalli Soldier's head and shattered another one with a quick karate chop. He then clasped his hands together and forced Ranger into the air, sending him into a backflip in midair. Ranger then took his Keyblade and stuck it right through a soldier's head, and repeated the process for a second one.

There were still a few more Soldiers to deal with, but then Ranger got another idea. He turned to Solar, who gave the thumbs' up.

"Ryan!"

"Alright!" Solar shot from nowhere and began to pummel a soldier with multiple punches that were so fast that they were pretty much a blur to the naked eye. When Ryan was finished, he did a vaulting horse over Sakuzy's shoulders and landed on one's back. He then proceeded to stomp repeatedly on it, sending it to the ground with a huge crack in its back.

Ranger noticed that Caveman and Zero were trying to get away, but they only narrowly escaped getting shot. "Stanley! Hector! Stay in the hole and guard the treasure! We'll take care of these guys!"

Caveman turned, then heeded Ranger's words, taking Zero back into the hole they were digging in.

Just when all the Soldiers were down for the count, things got worse. More crystals fell from the skies and landed with a CRASH. The crystalline meteors shifted parts and had eventually changed into things that rolled like wheels. The crystalline wheels rolled around for a while, then stopped and unfurled to reveal creatures that stood horizontally like a beast on four spider-like legs and guns where hands should have been. Their scarlet eyes were on a pair of antenna-esque eyestalks with two in the middle that were longer than the others.

"Sakuzy! Rollers!" Nobody warned, alerting them to their presence.

The Crystalli Rollers open fired, not with the ammo the Soldiers used, but with blasts of pink energy. Sakuzy reflected the blasts back at them, batting them back with his Eagle Feather, but when the blasts hit, they only reverberated into the sky or into the ground.

"Well, this is useless! They've got shields that'll block projectiles AND Keyblades!" Nobody said, dodging and deflecting any blasts that came for him.

On seeing the two deflecting and dodging the Rollers' fire, Pearl had actually smiled. _At last, Sakuzy can finally be a Crystalli. At last, we can be united…_

Pearl's thought was short lived, because Sakuzy pointed his Keyblade at one of the Rollers.

"Stop!"

One of the Rollers froze in time and in place. The shield apparently only applied when time was still moving, because Ranger got out his Eagle Feather Keyblade and chopped it multiple times before removing the spell. When the spell lifted, the Crystalli Roller shattered like glass.

Ranger then turned to Pearl, who took a step back. She quickly regained her composure, then held out her hands. In a flash of pink light, a blade-ended, three-piece nunchuk materialized in her hands.

"Some wimp dependent on a Keyblade?" She asked, "I'm terrified."

Ranger jumped her and aimed the Keyblade to go through her chest. She simply maneuvered it out of the way with her nunchuk and tried to hack at him with her own blades. For someone abnormally timid, she certainly was a good fighter…

Back with the clash with Crystalli, Nobody was having a hard time dealing with a few Rollers. He glanced at the shields, then at a rock that Caveman had taken out of his hole. Nobody heaved the heavy stone up, and with a grunt, he chucked it at the Roller. The rock came into contact with the shield and the field of energy crackled as it held the rock back. Suddenly, there was an electrical explosion and the foul smell of smoke filled the air. It seemed that if the Rollers' shields came into contact with something heavy, it would continue to ramp up power until it eventually exploded.

"Scott!" Nobody called.

Squall nodded and, with a convulsion or two, caused his muscle mass to grow and brought his fists through a Crystalli. The fist exited out the creature's back and he repeated the process with several more. "And Bob's yer uncle, we seem to be winnin'!"

Nobody repeated the process of taking the Crystalli out by heaving a rock at each Roller and overloaded each one's generator. By the time he was finished, the air around them smelled strongly of smoke

"Ryan!" Nobody called.

For a while, Solar paused, then Nobody looked at him. The blonde kid shook his head in what could only be an apologetic manner. "Sorry, but I can't do that without sunlight."

Squall chuckled, then reached into the pack he brought with him. "Not to worry, mate. Never go on a butt whoopin' without a sun lamp for Ryan." He assured them.

Squall took his hand out of the pack to show them a sun lamp (a lamp that emits energy similar to sunlight) and strapped it to Ryan's shoulder. When he turned it on, the sun lamp's energy flowed through him and he felt completely recharged.

"Alright! I'm feeling PUMPED!!" Solar said, looking like he had gotten off an awesome thrill ride.

"Now where were we?" Nobody asked, "Ryan!"

"Time to party!" Solar charged up a ball of sunlight in his palm and shot it through five Crystalli. The burst of light was so concentrated that it burned right through their armor like someone burning something with a magnifying glass, only ten times more powerful.

Ranger took notice of the several Rollers around them, then got out the Dog Charm. He thought he might as well use it anyway. "Dodger!"

In a burst of light appeared a white dog with a brown mask of fur, a red bandana where a collar should be, and a pair of shades. The dog known as Dodger began to howl a tune of sorts, each of the louder ones creating a wave of sound. The shockwave seemed to wipe out all Crystalli that were too close, each one crumbling under the sonic attack.

"Catch ya later!" Dodger said, lowering his shades to raise an eyebrow at Ranger. The dog turned on his heel(s), then took off on a sprint, then vanished into his own world.

The only Crystalli left now was Pearl, who was fingering her nunchuk and facing Ranger. Though her hood was still up, Ranger could feel her gaze pierce his very soul. "Well, Pearl, it's just you and me now!"

"I know that." Pearl pointed out, "I'm not as simple as you think!"

"Really? How 'bout I show you why THIS Keyblade chose me?" Ranger asked. Ranger took Eagle Feather Keyblade in hand, then started to spin his Keyblade around in his hand like a helicopter blade. "WIND!"

The Keyblade actually concentrated a funnel of swirling air, which bombarded Pearl full in the front. The blast of wind blew Pearl off the ground and sent her flying through the air. She landed on her feet, her nunchuk still in hand, but the sheer force of the blast of air did blow off her hood. Ranger noticed that she had shoulder-length, platinum blonde hair and light gray eyes. Though Ranger hadn't seen this Crystalli before, she did seem familiar to him and he lowered his Keyblade to get a better look at her.

"Have we met?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Pearl didn't answer his question, rather she spat a crude answer at him. "Proves all YOU know. I think I've caused enough mayhem for you."

Before Ranger could get a better look at her, Pearl vanished in a flash of pink light and time seemed to slow down.

Nobody walked over and asked, in disbelief, "Why did you let her get away?!"

Ranger suddenly came back to the current universe, then looked at the ground and shook his head. "I...I don't know." He said, with some form of shock.

Squall had gotten out of his super-muscle state and had heaved Caveman, Zero, and the treasure chest out of the hole. Apparently, the Warden had hit the road to try and get out of the battle. "Anyway, mates, let's see what's in that there chest of Stanley's."

The whole group tried opening it, but couldn't get past the lock that held the chest shut. Squall cleared his throat and everyone took that as a hint to stand aside, then caused his fingernails to turn into a long, thin claw to pick the lock. The lock clicked open and then the Aussie pried the chest open. Caveman, Nobody, and Zero's eyes widened as they saw that the chest was filled gold, silver, various dollar bills and checks, and…

"A Pure Heart!"

It was true. Amidst the treasure was a bright-orange heart was in the chest and it slowly hovered into the air and nestled itself in Ranger's oustretched hand. Ranger pocketed the heart as Squall suddenly noticed that the sun was rising again.

"Man, that was one heck of a battle." Ranger pointed out, barely stifling a yawn, "We've been up for almost three days."

"I wonder if we're still allowed in the tent?" asked Squall.

Solar acted up almost immediately, "One way to find out!"

The group made their way back to the camp, but then Scott paused as they were about halfway to their tent. "One moment please..." Squall reached into one of the suit's pockets, then placed a present in a place where Pendanski would find it. "When Pendanski finds that, he's in for a surprise!"

When all six returned to D-Tent, their tent fellows were there to meet them with cheers, handshakes, and group hugs. When it all came down to leaving, the little bunch of ingrates cared about them after all.

"Where you been, man?" Magnet asked, hardly believing what they saw.

"We heard you croaked in the desert!" X-Ray added, equally surprised.

"NOW y'know why this band of misfits are me mates." Squall pointed out, clapping Ranger on the shoulder..

That night, Sakuzy and the others laid down for a rest. After all, in the short span of a few days, they had crossed a desert, climbed a mountain, and had a life-or-death struggle against poisonous lizards and Crystalli.

_(For a change of pace, instead of Dearly Beloved, play Treasured Memories.)_

_Enter Flashback..._

_Sakuzy was in a classroom with Joey and Maya. Adrian was taking over intellectual teaching and Sakuzy soon fell asleep on his desk. He was then poked sharply in the ribs by Adrian, who looked VERY ticked off. As Sakuzy got back up, massaging his side, Adrian asked, "What are YOU doing?!"_

_Sakuzy winced as he touched the spot where Adrian had prodded him, then answered in what seemed to be a slightly joking manner. "Sleeping."_

_Joey stifled a laugh behind him, but Maya didn't seem very amused about the joke Sakuzy made. Adrian seemed to be giving her the cold shoulder, as though he didn't really want to look at her. Sakuzy straightened up, then decided to put it simple to Adrian. "Didn't get much sleep, you see?"_

_Adrian's expression looked like it could have been carved from stone, as was his fist. "No, I don't. You'd better pay attention or else!" He said, sternly._

_"Or else what?" asked Sakuzy._

_Now he got him, because Adrian obviously didn't have anything to throw back at him. Instead, he just growled and stormed off._

_Joey turned in his seat, then raised a questioning hand to Maya. "Maya, I still can't see why you went out with that jerk in the first place." He pointed out._

_Maya scoffed, then replied, "Heh. Don't let HIM hear you say that."_

_All three laughed out loud and Sakuzy barely ducked under a Dark Firaga, which came from Adrian's Keyblade. said wielder's Keyblade looked like Riku's, only more dark looking. Its keychain resembled a fiery orange eye and its blade looked like a black sword mixed with a silver bat wing._

_Joey looked back at a disgruntled Adrian, who returned to the front of the class, then asked, "What's HIS problem?"_

_"Maybe he's just jealous." Sakuzy suggested._

_Maya barely stifled a laugh and nodded. "Yeah, I'd say that just about covers it."_

_End Flashback..._

Sakuzy woke up the next morning and began packing in an instant. He had a universe to save after all.

Pearl

A new Crystalli whoe is someone like Emerald. She told the warden about what happened to the runaway inmates, but didn't want her to kill Sakuzy. Sakuzy says he never met her, but has a bit of deja vu with her anyway. She wields a dual-bladed, three-piece nunchuk, which is enough to match Sakuzy's Keyblade in an instant.

Dodger

A spunky street dog who appears whenever Sakuzy calls. He'll use super-powerful sound waves to crush any enemies that are in the immediate area. He first appeared in _Oliver and Company_ 1988.

Crystalli Roller

A new kind of Crystalli that can curl into wheels and roll around for swifter transportation. They don't shoot Crystalli Shells, but blasts of energy and can create energy shields that can refract most energy attacks. They're one of the hardest Crystalli to destroy, for you have to take something heavy and make the shield overload.

_That would be Scott's Bone Smasher and Bone Morph and Ryan's Hyper Fist and Solar Orb. There's also Dodger's Worry-Free._

_I have settled on a voice for Scott: Eric Bana. He played the Hammerhead shark on Finding Nemo, so I settle for that._


	39. Leaving Camp Greenlake

Chapter 39: Leaving Camp Greenlake

The group was ready to go and went to the Gummi Ship. Fortunately, their tent fellows were there to see them off. Scott and Ryan had changed wardrobes, seeing as they were leaving, as did Sakuzy and Joyex. Scott now had a white shirt with a black leather jacket and a pair of jeans, but still had his Aussie hat and crocodile-skin boots. Whereas Ryan now had a red hoody with a star on the pouch, sneakers in place of boots, and a pair of brand new jeans. Scott, Ryan, Stanley, and Hector got onto their Gummi Ship, but not without saying their goodbyes. Sakuzy and Joyex were ready to leave when Armpit stopped them.

"What is it, Armpit?" asked Sakuzy.

"If you're ever in Twilight Town, find my mom." Armpit said, holding a clipboard, then added, "Tell her I'm sorry. Tell her 'Theodore says he's sorry'."

"You can count on me, buddy!" Sakuzy said, clapping Pit on the shoulder.

Sakuzy hugged his fellow inmate, then headed off to the outskirts of the desert world. The pair got onto their ship and took off into the skies. In the Gummi Ship, Sakuzy pressed a few buttons and Petross' virtual head appeared on the ship's communicator.

"What is it?" Petross asked.

"I just wanted to tell you that Stanley Yelnats, Hector Zeroni, Scott Highflier, and Ryan Syrus are out of Camp Greenlake and on their way to Freedom. Didn't really need our help, though."

Petross grinned a toothy grin. "Good job, Sakuzy. I'll be telling Stanley and Hector's families as soon as I can."

Joyex quickly butted in as he said, "Oh, and you might want to tell them that they're filthy-stinkin' rich! Stanley found his old family treasure at the camp."

Petross started in surprise, then asked, "He found it? That treasure's been lost for over a century! Again, I thank you for the news. Petross out." Petross' virtual head winked out of existence in a flash of white light.

Joyex was tossing the orange Pure Heart up and down like a ball, just hanging out in the corner. "So, where to next, buddy?" he asked.

Sakuzy looked out the viewport of their ship, then answered, "Where our hearts tell us!"

The Gummi Ship, with a bit of help from Sakuzy, wheeled around and went in the direction he chose.

Suddenly, a virtual form of Scott's face appeared on the holo-reader. "G'day, mates!" the Aussie greeted.

Sakuzy looked at the communicator, then smiled. "Hey, Scott!"

Joyex was quick to join Sakuzy, then asked, "How's life been treatin' ya?"

Scott's virtual face signaled that his eyes darted back and forth and laughed slightly. "Uh…it's only been an hour after we left the camp."

"I know. So, why'd you call?" Sakuzy asked.

"Well, I did a bit of research about these Pure Hearts. I'm sending ya what I found." Scott answered.

Paper printed out of a fax machine of sorts on the dashboard and Sakuzy quickly read the information. When he was finished, he and placed it back in the machine. He dialed another number and sent it, figuring that Sora would need it as well. "Well, is that all?" asked Sakuzy.

"No, I'm here to tell ya that Stanley and Hector are now in Twilight Town and we're headed for Radiant Garden." Scott quickly added, "Oh and Ryan says 'hi'. That's all! Thanks for understandin' our differences."

Sakuzy nodded in agreement with the Aussie, then said, "No problem."

Scott's head vanished in a flash of light and the ship continued to its currently-unknown destination.

The World That Never Was…

In a dark part of the castle, Hades and Mozenrath were interrogating a strange man. Though he was hidden, one could make out long, blonde hair.

Hades chuckled as he started to try and strike up a deal with the man.

"Alright, here's the deal, buddy." Hades said, trying to strike up a deal, "You lure Sora and his little shipmates into YOUR world and all for one reward: the expansion of your little funhouse to parts unknown."

The man simply smiled as he shot back at him. "And if I don't WANT TO?"

Mozenrath's gauntlet-clad hand started to glow a deep violet as he pointed it at the man. The same glow started to envelop the man and it seemed VERY painful. Mozenrath then clenched his fist and the glowing stopped in both gauntlet and the man. "Then you can expect to see that A LOT." he replied.

"Yeah. And if you don't WANT to work with us, then we'll just fire you on a permanent basis." Hades suggested, summoning a small fireball in his hand and fiddling around with it.

Mozenrath's lips suddenly curved into a smile as he added one last thing. "What if I told you that an old…'friend' of yours was on that Gummi Ship?"

THIS suddenly caught the man's attention as he got back to his feet. He also smiled as he stepped into more visible light to show that he was wearing a scarlet robe and boots that pointed upward. "You've got yourself a deal." he said, "If it means getting rid of that lunatic, then I'll gladly take it!"

_WARNING: The next world is made up of 80 Crescent humor. If you're wondering why…just wait and see!_

_Anyway, here's original world no. 1!_


	40. Carnival of Chaos

Chapter 40: Carnival of Chaos

Sora's ship was cruising through the multi-verse. Though it was good to have Kairi along, it did get somewhat dull fast. Suddenly, a couple pieces of paper appeared from a slot on the dashboard. Riku went over and studied it, trying to figure out what it was. "Who's this from?" he asked.

Sora took the paper, then checked the number. "I think it's from Sakuzy." he answered. Sora took out the notes and read them over a few times. After a few minutes, he put them down, looking dumbfounded.

"What is it, Sora?" Kairi asked.

"Turns out we have a problem." Sora told them, "Apparently, if we use the Pure Hearts for others, they'll be useless without someone with the title of 'Prince of Heart'."

Riku turned to Donald and Goofy, a questioning look in his eye. "Do you guys know anything about this?" the Prince of Darkness asked.

Goofy shrugged in an apologetic sort of way. "Nope. Sorry."

Donald shook his head and both his hands. "Not a thing."

The ship suddenly jerked in place, eerily similar to the time when they had been sent to Skull Island and soon found that they were headed towards a world that looked like a creepy carnival.

"What happened? And what world is that?" he asked.

Sora's question was answered when a familiar voice rang through the air, one that they had heard back at Radiant Garden. "It's the Carnival of Chaos!" it said.

Everyone virtually leapt out of their skins when they heard the response and Sora turned around to see Crescent standing in the doorway without a care in the world. "Crescent?! How'd YOU get in here?!" Sora asked in disbelief.

Crescent gestured to a place in the Gummi with his thumb. "I snuck in through the back door." he then pointed ou, "You really should get better security here, 'cuz I broke in easily!"

Donald scowled at Crescent, then rubbed his "chin" with his feathery finger. "Exactly how LONG have you been in here, Crescent?!" he quacked.

"Since you left the Radiant Garden." Crescent answered the duck with a shrug.

"WHAT?!" Sora asked, "That was weeks ago!"

"I know. I tried your food and nearly barfed up my appendix. Then I had to keep myself alive on a diet of marshmallow puffs and toothpaste!" Upon saying that, Crescent pulled out some toothpaste from the bathroom and squeezed the tube until a steady stream of the stuff flowed into his mouth. After swallowing it, he threw it over his shoulder. "I'll give up as soon as we get back to Radiant Garden, I swear."

Sighing in exasperation, Sora turned back to the carnival that was starting to get closer and closer by the second. "So...do we land?" he asked.

Crescent squinted over at the world, then shook his head. "Not if you value your life." he answered.

Sora got into the pilot's seat, then got a good hold on the controls. "Okay, if you put it THAT way…" Sora tried to turn away, but the Gummi Ship kept going TOWARDS the carnival. Sora made to do a U-turn, but the Gummi slowed, but didn't stop going towards the world.

"What's going on?" Kairi asked, close to panic.

Sora jerked the yoke of the ship, almost violently, as he tried to get away, but nothing worked. "I dunno! I can't change direction!"

Crescent scratched the back of his head. "Uh…I don't know if this helps anything, but this world has a magnetic field, so your ship's gonna land…one way or another!" he pointed out, showing a slight sign of insanity.

Sora sighed as he stared at the oncoming world. "Not a good sign."

When the Gummi Ship deposited the group into the world, they fell out and landed with a CRASH. As Sora got up and inspected his surroundings, he saw big top tents and Ferris Wheels, but the place didn't look too inviting. It was dark, ghastly, and…downright creepy, as though it was a nighttime haunted fair.

Crescent, however, got to his feet and raised his hands into the air in what appeared to be joy. "SO GOOD TO BE BACK!" he cheered.

"Uh, you've been here before?" asked Goofy.

"Well, more times than I'm accustomed to." Crescent answered, "I don't wanna alarm you guys, but unless we take out the source, we'll be trapped here."

_A scarlet mist formed into the world "Carnival of Chaos" as an ominous face with white makeup loomed overhead. The title then dissipated into mist as an evil laugh broke the silence._

Carnival of Chaos...

As the group walked through the Chaos, everyone was surprisingly on edge. Any unknown movement seemed to be recognized as a threat and they responded to anything that moved.

"Ah, it's good to be back!" Crescent said out loud to no one in particular.

Kairi gave Crescent an odd look. "Uh, you said that before." she pointed out.

Crescent turned to them, all the while back-tracking to keep the group moving. "I know. Why else would I say it?" he asked.

Sora gave Crescent a weird look, then asked, "You've been here before?"

Crescent pointed at Sora. "You said that before, too. So, I think I'll answer anyway." he said, "Yeah. Kefka hates me for some reason! I don't know why, but he finds me EXTREMELY irritating! "

Riku rolled his sea-green eyes. This guy was getting ridiculous. "Well, you don't have to be a genius to know THAT."

"Right…So, anyone want cotton candy?" Crescent asked.

Suddenly, Goofy asked a question someone should have asked Crescent a long time before this happened. "Uh…, well, Crescent, why do you talk like you're crazy?"

Crescent stopped and turned to look Goofy right in the eye. "Look, Dopey…"

"That's Goofy." the knight corrected.

"Oh yeah, Dopey Goofy. Y'know that some people talk crazy because they ARE crazy?" Crescent asked.

Sora nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, I TALK crazy to keep myself from GOING crazy!" the ninja filled in.

This was still a bit much for Goofy to understand, so he scratched his head in his usual curious way. "Well, how does that work?" he asked.

"It means, if I didn't put the words out my MOUTH, they'd go to my HEAD. And we wouldn't want THAT, now would we?" Crescent explained.

The very thought of Crescent going TOO insane chilled a certain duck mage to the core. "Not really."

The group, as they wandered around in the carnival, there appeared to be no one around: a ghost town. There were cages that were originally holding animals, but upon closer inspection, they saw human skeletons inside. Kairi winced.

"Be careful." Crescent warned, "This carnival lures people away by various means, so do NOT get deceived. It'll also try tricking you! Fortunately, I know all the tricks of the trade for this carnival." Crescent, however, accidentally stepped on a tripwire and a Heartless that had a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth, a black and blue clown suit, and as tall as Sora appeared just in front of them. "Well, THAT'S new! A Dark Clown Heartless!" Crescent said with mild interest.

"We don't have time for you!" Sora growled.

Sora made to slash at one, but it simply jumped to the left and evaded the attack. It let out a evil giggle, then took out several bombs, their fuses sparkling. Oddly enough, the clown started to juggle them, dancing away from spells, blades, and shields in this case. Then, it tossed one at Kairi, who dodged the explosion, but got pushed by the blast front. It gave her a very hot, very strong push and she landed on her front, skidding on contact with the ground.

Just as the clown finished juggling bombs, it gave a giggle, which was a bit of a mistake. Sora hacked right through it with his Keyblade, ending the clown's laughter in an instant.

"So, WHY are we here again?!" Sora asked, trying to straighten out the facts.

Crescent cocked an eyebrow, then scratched his spiky, white-haired head. "Didn't I mention it?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact, no." answered Riku.

Crescent finally remembered and said, "Oh, I forgot to mention if we take down Kefka, we'll be able to leave!"

"Well, why didn't ya say so?" asked Goofy.

Crescent simply answered, "I forgot."

Kairi was about to go off to another part of the carnival, but she suddenly stepped on something and fell down a trap door with a scream.

"Careful! There's a trap door…" Crescent turned, then suddenly realized that Kairi was gone and slowed down a bit. "There. Whoops."

The door sealed itself up just as Sora made to jump in after Kairi. He missed his only chance and began to claw at the door to no avail: solid steel was under the dirt and grass. "Kairi!" he called out.

"Relax, kid. It could be worse." Crescent said, pointing something out, "They used to have this GIANT hammer thingy…" Crescent looked up and his face fell for the first time Sora could remember. There was a HUGE hammer "thingy" coming towards them from a pendulum at what could only be described as near-terminal velocity. Apparently, Sora walked right through a laser tripwire while trying to save Kairi. "Oh, they still have it."

Crescent ducked and Sora jumped away, but Donald and Goofy got hit with tremendous force and were sent into the sky. When they flew, screaming, into the sky, Crescent stood back up and stuck his thumbs in his ears and waggled his fingers. "NYA-NYA! Ya missed me!" the ninja with a mouth teased.

"Yeah, but you didn't count on a return trip." Sora pointed out.

Crescent turned to Sora and failed to notice the hammer coming back on said return trip. "You're right! I didn't!" The hammer smacked Crescent, sending the crazy ninja flying. Oddly enough, Crescent was actually enjoying it. "Look at me! I'm flying!" he cheered.

Crescent's joy was short lived because he smacked into a wall like a fly on a windshield. He peeled off, then tumbled down a Ferris Wheel with several repeated clangs. He finally banged up against a spin ride and fell down with his limbs and back bent out of shape. Sora ran over to him only to find him splattered on the landscape. Suddenly, to his surprise, Crescent snapped his neck into place, then swung an arm back into place.

"If I didn't…" Crescent cracked his other arm into shape, sickening Sora more than he wanted to. "Have…" Crescent placed his right leg back into place. "An accelerated healing factor…" Crescent cracked his left leg into place. "I'd be REALLY…" Crescent stood up and put his vertebrae into shape with SEVERAL crunching noises. "Grumpy!"

Sora was still looking a little grossed out from the whole process. Crescent had just survived an otherwise fatal fall and, after a long process, didn't even have a scratch on him. "That's gross." he said.

"Oh, you're welcome."

"You're not listening." Sora pointed, not getting the reaction he was hoping for.

"I NEVER DO!"

Sora suddenly noticed something and pointed it out to Crescent. "You missed a spot."

Crescent looked at his chest and saw a piece of bone protruding from it. It was obviously a crushed rib. "Oh, sorry." he apologized. Crescent pushed the piece of rib back into his chest and fixed it back into place.

All that while, Riku could only stare at Crescent as he put his limbs and bones back into place. "Okay, that was a bit weird. Now let's find the others before this place, or Crescent, gets into my head."

The trio had barely started walking when they reached a fun house with mirrors when suddenly, someone in the shadows grabbed Riku and pulled him into one of the semi-hypnotic mirrors.

"Hey!"

Sora turned on Riku's exclamation and suddenly noticed his friend was gone. "Riku? RIKU?!" He called out.

"Well, Sora, looks like it's just you and ME now. Let's get them!" Crescent didn't see Sora. He looked here and there, but didn't see any sign of Sora. "Let me rephrase that…"

"I'm not gone, Crescent!"

Crescent turned around and seemed pretty surprised to see Sora right behind him. "WHOA! You disappeared! How DO you do that?" Crescent asked in surprise.

"I didn't disappear." Sora corrected, "You didn't see me because you're amazingly self-centered."

"Huh? Sorry, I wasn't listening. I was busy checking out my reflection in this funny mirror!" Crescent said in a humorous voice. For the moment, Crescent was looking in a mirror that made him look fat. "Looking good, though you're a bit overweight. A diet won't kill ya."

"CRESCENT! Will you stop getting distracted?!" Sora asked, getting a little frustrated. Sora turned to leave, then saw a mirror that made him look like a muscle-man and just couldn't help but play along. "Wow. I've been working out." Sora said, making poses with his "muscles".

Crescent scoffed. "You wish."

Crescent and Sora continued through the mirror house, each pausing to look in a mirror in case it wasn't a mirror. They saw some that made them wide, thin, and even FAT. The fun ended when they found themselves in a maze of mirrors.

"Okay, Crescent, we're gonna go this way." Crescent didn't listen, because he went the other way. By the time Sora realized this, the ninja was gone. "Crescent? Crescent?!" Sora called, trying to find him. He then asked himself, "Where would a crazy, ninja-like guy go? Besides the funny farm?"

Sora then came across a mirror that showed Crescent's reflection. Meanwhile, on the other side, Crescent came across a mirror that showed Sora's reflection. Both stared at each other and thought the same thing. _I think this mirror's broken._

The two then made a series of movements at the same time, by pure coincidence. Sora then put his finger in a place where Crescent put his and moved them around. Suddenly, Crescent spoke in a very irritated voice. "MAN! There's this smudge here that won't come off!"

Sora jumped in surprise, then clutched his hammering heart as he tried to calm himself. "Crescent! Don't startle me like that!"

Crescent looked around, then shrugged as he asked, "Well, what else am I supposed to do?"

When they got back into the maze, they came across a soul mirror in a vast empty space. In a shimmer, like water when you throw something in it, an image of a man appeared. The man had blonde hair, was wearing a red robe, and had what appeared to be clown makeup on his face. His lips were surprisingly prominent and had red…well, lipstick on it and he smiled, making himself look amazingly insane.

Crescent didn't seem too worried. Instead, he just waved as though greeting a friend of his. "Hello, Kefka!" He said, "How are you?"

Kefka chuckled, then greeted, "Hello, Crescent. How long has it been?"

"Chapter Six, Chase Scene." Crescent responded, "How've you been, clownie?"

Kefka answered, all the while remaining surprisingly calm. "Perfectly fine…" his tone suddenly changed to one of malice, "Unlike you in a few seconds!"

"Yeah, well that's too bad." Crescent gestured to himself, then continued, "I like feeling fine. It makes me feel, well, FINE."

"Well, then you'd better enjoy it while it lasts." Kefka said, fingering what appeared to be a knife between his fingers.

Sora noticed the conversation between them, then pointed something out to Crescent. "Uh, Crescent? I think this guy's crazier than you."

Crescent responded in a casual manner. "I know. We've been rivals since who-knows-when and we probably won't stop for a while."

A chuckle escaped Kefka's mouth as he smiled a very malicious grin. "I'd like to kill you myself, but how about you fight these clowns instead?!"

The image of Kefka snapped its fingers and two rather stupid-looking clowns appeared. They were wearing yellow suspenders, party hats, and bright red shirts and spotted bowties. Both had circular, white heads and red makeup to show off their mouths. The first was taller than the second one whereas the other had its mouth open with its tongue hanging out.

Crescent didn't seem too worried. Instead, he took out his sword and motioned with his head. "Come 'n get some!" he challenged, "I love beating your pitiful clowns senseless!"

"Don't count on this, my fine friend." one of the clowns pointed out in a stupid-sounding voice.

Sora summoned the Keyblade and came back with his own remark. "You're no friend of mine after what you did." he said, referring to what Kefka did to Crescent.

Kefka simply grinned as his image shimmered out of existence. He would have LOVED to stick around for the show, but he had...preparations to tend to.

Sora and Crescent charged at the clowns with a war cry, Crescent with his sword and Sora with his Keyblade. Sora took a swing with his Keyblade and the second clown, the one sticking its tongue out, simply did a cartwheel and dodged it. It let out a stupid-sounding guffaw, then pointed at Sora. "Missed me! Missed me! Now you gotta kiss me!" it teased.

"What do you take him for, clown?!" Crescent responded to the clown.

Crescent then turned his attention to the tall clown and swung his sword several times at it. The clown simply ducked here and hopped there to avoid most of the swings, all the while, laughing in a way that would make a baby throw up. It pointed at Crescent, who sheathed his blade and began an astonishing array of martial art moves only to have the clown giggle madly as it stumbled away like a drunk. The clowns suddenly reached into their trousers and both took out a different item. The tall one took out a chainsaw and revved it up with a mad laugh while the shorter one took out a series of bombs.

The chainsaw wielder went after Crescent while the bomber went after Sora, who groaned at the sight, reminded of the Dark Clown Heartless. "Not THIS again!" Sora leapt to the side to avoid an explosion of fire that torched the ground where he was seconds ago.

"WHEE!" the clown cheered, "I LOVE EXPLOSIVE BATTLES!"

Sora narrowly evaded another burst of exploding gunpowder as he said, "Bad joke, buddy!"

Sora, not wanting to get too close to this thing, simply threw his Keyblade in a Strike Raid that clunked the clown right on the head, making it drop its bombs. The black orbs exploded in his face and sent him flying several feet backward.

Meanwhile, with Crescent, the ninja was leaning backward like a limbo dancer to avoid getting ripped in two by the tall clown's chainsaw. He ducked to the left and right and even jumped it. Finally, the clown caught him off-guard and cut right through Crescent's left arm. The arm fell to the ground as Crescent simply flipped back and inspected his stump.

"HEY! MY ARM! I ONLY GOT TWO OF THOSE!!" he complained.

Crescent whipped out his sword and parried the chainsaw with it. He pushed back at the clown with surprising strength and forced the chainsaw upward. He followed up with a backflip that doubled up as a kick to the clown's chin. He quickly sheathed his sword and picked up his severed arm. He put it to the stump and the flesh immediately healed over until it was fully functional.

"Finally. I needed a hand anyway." he joked. There was an awkward silence as Crescent suddenly realized that his joke was surprisingly obvious. "Alright, I'm getting to the battle again."

Crescent was true to his word as he leapt into the air in a tight flip. He landed behind the first clown and tapped it on the shoulder. When it turned around, Crescent kicked the chainsaw out of its hand and landed next to Sora as the two clowns started to close in. Sora got a good look at Crescent, then hoped that his next tactic would work.

"Crescent!"

"Okie-doke!" Crescent leapt into the air and started throwing his shuriken at the clowns. The shuriken missed, but returned to Crescent like boomerangs, who kept throwing them and keeping the clowns busy. THIS maneuver stalled the goofballs long enough for Sora to get them with his Keyblade. He hit one in the stomach and it instantly crumpled to the ground, then whacked the other one on the back of its circular head.

"COOL! Do I get a new car, too?" Crescent asked.

Sora scratched the back of his head and answered the best way he could. "Uh…No."

From an unknown source, Kefka's laugh echoed through the room as a door opened up in front of them. "Well, you certainly did better than I expected, boy." he said, slightly impressed by the sound of his voice.

Sora was now starting to hate Kefka more and more. He gripped his Keyblade so hard that his knuckles were white. "WHERE ARE RIKU AND KAIRI?!" he shouted, hoping Kefka could hear him.

Kefka simply laughed; he had heard him alright.

"Ah, he won't give ya' a straight answer." Crescent explained, "Kefka likes to annoy those he keeps at his carnival, LIKE ME, ONLY A LOT MORE SINISTER!"

Kefka finished his laugh and clicked his tongue, ignoring Crescent. "Don't worry, Keyblader, I haven't touched your friends…YET." That last word made Sora's blood boil. "I've still got PLENTY in store for you, Sora and Crescent!"

Kefka's voice started to fade into a distant echo. When the echo disappeared completely, Sora brought his Keyblade slamming into the ground with an angry grunt.

"I know, this stuff drives ME crazy, too!" Crescent said.

Kefka

The master of the Carnival of Chaos, which traps people into doing incredibly stupid, and DANGEROUS acts. He hates Crescent and is always threatening to kill him. Despite all this, he's a LOT stronger than he lets on and finds ways to rip his opponents apart from the inside out. He first appeared in _Final Fantasy VI_

Dark Clown Heartless

A species of Heartless designed to annoy their enemies. They're surprisingly agile and throw bombs at their enemies. It's a good idea to hit them from a distance as they're too agile for close-range moves.

Kefka Klowns

Clowns who work in Kefka's Carnival of Chaos. Their main job is to kill the guests AND drive them nuts. Crescent says he just loves beating them senseless, despite the fact that they use chainsaws and bombs.

_That would be Crescent's Moon Slicer. By the by, I have NEVER played Final Fantasy VI, so don't blame me if I made any mistakes about Kefka._


	41. Circus Performers

Chapter 41: Circus Performers

Sora realized, right now, that he hated this carnival more than any world he had ever been in. The only other exception was the World that Never Was with Organization XIII. "Oh, let's just find the others before this carnival drives me off the deep end!" Sora said, getting to his feet.

When Crescent wasn't coming, Sora decided to see what he was up to. Crescent obviously wasn't paying attention because he was checking on the unconscious Kefka Klowns. He tapped their heads, then stood up. "Hey, THESE aren't their heads!"

Sora cocked his brow, then asked, "What?"

"These aren't their heads!" he repeated, "They're circular masks that're surrounding their ACTUAL heads! Watch!" Crescent whipped out his sword, then brought said sword down on one's head three times and it produced three distinct tunes. "See?"

"Well, how 'bout we see who's under these masks?" Sora suggested, "They might know something."

"Good point! I'll get 'em out NOW!" Crescent said. Before Sora could even comprehend what Crescent was doing, the ninja took his sword and chopped off the tops of the two clown heads. The tops fell off, revealing the heads of an unconscious Donald and Goofy.

"Donald?" Sora said, surprised by the fact, "Goofy?"

Goofy stirred, then woke up with a yawn. He looked around him, then asked, "Gee, what'd we miss?"

"Well, for starters, you guys tried attacking us!" Sora answered.

Donald started and screwed up his face, trying to remember something. "We did?" he asked, "The last thing I remember is that Kefka guy catching us after that hammer hit us…"

"Well, I reckon that this Kefka guy messed with our heads to turn us into those clowns." Goofy concluded.

"Yeah, that's the thing Kefka likes doing—brainwashing people he captures into doing completely stupid and embarrassing acts!" Crescent explained in his insane babble.

"So, you guys were brainwashed?" Sora asked, then looked into the carnival's darker depths. "In THAT case, we've gotta find Riku and Kairi! Who KNOWS what Kefka will do to them?!"

Crescent shrugged. "I don't really know. He caught this one sucker and made him a fire-eater. Poor guy burned himself to cinders."

Donald gave Crescent a flat look, knowing it wouldn't affect the ninja one bit. "VERY comforting."

Donald and Goofy, who were still in their clown suits, got up and followed Sora and Crescent further into the maze. After, possibly the most confusing maze run they had in a while, the group finally got out and found themselves at a circus top.

"Ya think Riku or Kairi are in there?" asked Goofy.

"Only one way to find out!" Crescent answered. Before anyone could even complain, the ninja whipped out his sword and rushed at the tent.

Sora chased after him, but not after saying something, "Crescent! THINK ABOUT THIS!"

"Never do!"

With a single swing of his blade, Crescent slashed right through the top's wall. Then, Sora almost burst out laughing when he saw Riku in a clown suit, trying to stay balanced on a ball, and he seemed to have an expression between exasperation and fear. He was one of many people trying to keep their balance.

Sora recovered from his near-laugh experience long enough to ask Crescent a question. "Is HE brainwashed?" he asked, fighting back laughter.

Crescent inspected the desperate-looking Riku, then answered, "Nah, you'd know if he was."

Crescent ran up to Riku, who tipped slightly and quickly regained his balance. "Could you give me a hand?!" he asked.

"Boy you sure look stupid! Give me ten munny and I won't tell your friends about this!" Crescent said, holding out a welcoming hand.

"What?! Are you crazy?!" Riku asked.

"Good point. Make it a hundred munny. My shuriken don't come cheap." Crescent held up one of his crescent-moon shuriken for emphasis.

Riku couldn't believe this. Every second, this was getting more and more ridiculous. "But YOU'RE part of the Restoration Committee! You do this stuff for free!" he pointed out.

"I charge stupid people. And you in a clown suit qualifies! By the by, my price is up to two hundred."

"Alright, I'll pay whatever you want! Just get me off here without causing this ball to explode!" Riku warned.

"Ooh, I don't like explosions. My price is up to five hundred."

"ALRIGHT! Just don't jostle this thing! If you do, we'll all get blown up!" Riku said, trying to get the message to Crescent and failing.

"Just a warning, if I die, my price's up to a thousand munny."

"Never mind. Sora got me off." Riku said from behind Crescent.

Crescent looked dumbfounded as he looked between Sora and Riku. At least Riku was off the blasted ball and out of the clown suit. He still had his clothes under that suit.

"Oh. Now, what was it you were saying about exploding balls?" Crescent said as he leaned against a nearby ball and accidentally tipped someone off with a shriek. The ball exploded like a bomb, burning off most of Crescent's skin and revealing bone. He looked at himself and moved his fingers. "Well, THAT'S interesting..." Crescent's skin grew back surprisingly quick, making it look like someone had soaked him in some strange paint from the front.

Riku, who hadn't really seen any form of healing like THAT, winced. "THAT'S gross." he said.

"And you know what? It feels nicer than it actually looks." Crescent pointed out, sounding surprisingly like a random fact.

Sora suddenly remembered something. "Uh, Riku, have you seen Kairi anywhere?" He asked, hoping for a positive answer.

Riku shook his head, much to Sora's dismay. "Not really." he answered, "I only stayed for a while, but I did hear that Kefka said he had plans for her. She's in another area."

"Well, what're we standing here for?! Hi-ho, Silver, away!" Crescent jumped in the air, then landed on an invisible horse, which trotted out the door with VERY realistic sound effects and attracted odd stares from all four people with him.

"That guy scares me." Riku said, wide-eyed.

"He scares everyone, Riku." Sora said, freaked out, "He scares EVERYONE."

_If you like Crescent humor, read the short story I've written with one of Mrfipp's OC's, Tom Marcinek…with his permission, of course. It's called Crescent Meets Tom. By the way, Scott Highflier/Ryan Syrus fans, they WILL be appearing later, along with a new character, who is an anti-hero. Stay tuned!_


	42. Kefka

Chapter 42: Kefka

Sora hoped that Kairi was in the next room as he followed Crescent. They followed him to the big top, where he stood at the entrance. "This HAS to be where Kefka is." the ninja with a mouth said, "Every time I've faced him, he's been in this place."

Crescent and Sora ran through the hallway, but steel spikes sprung up, separating Riku, Donald, and Goofy from the Keyblade Master and the crazy ninja. Sora heard the noise and, in slight panic, rushed over to the bars and gripped them. "Guys!"

Crescent groaned, then asked, "Isn't THAT predictable?!" Sora tried forcing down the spikes, but, obviously, it didn't work. Crescent shoved him aside, then gently pushed. "Nope. It's not goin' anywhere, Sora."

"Of course that won't work." a familiar voice said, "Those spikes are WAY too powerful for your pitiful body strength!"

Both Sora and Crescent wheeled around to see Kefka in the flesh. It was the same face they saw back at the hall of mirrors, only now he was wearing a floor-length red cape and ornate-looking clothes.

"Kefka! Where's Kairi?!" Sora barked.

Crescent quickly joined Sora against Kefka, then said, "Yeah, where's Kairi? You see, he REALLY wants his girlfriend back!"

Sora turned on Crescent on the sudden reference to Kairi, slightly offended. "She's NOT my girlfriend!" he said, defensively.

Crescent stared at Sora, then shrugged at him. "Well, what would YOU call her?" he asked.

Sora couldn't answer this. He simply opened and shut his mouth like a fish.

Riku stared at Sora with a stunned look, then said to Donald and Goofy, "You have to admit, he's acting like a complete idiot." Both nodded.

Sora seemed to gather about his wits and pride, abandoning the subject completely. "That's beside the point! Where's Kairi?!" he asked again.

Kefka smiled as he asked, "You mean the tightrope walker?" Kefka pointed upwards with a mirthless grin and Sora followed the finger's trajectory to see Kairi looking ready to walk across a tightrope barely wider than Sora's arm.

"Kairi!"

Kairi didn't answer. She seemed to have an unusually large amount of concentration on this, though, and her eyes had a glazed look in them.

"That won't work, buddy! She's been brainwashed!" Crescent pointed out, then tried to get a good look at the other side. His eyes widened. "And I don't think that this'll help anything, but there's a chasm of spikes below and a bomb strapped to the platform she's supposed to be walking to."

Sora got a good look, then saw Crescent was right. "Not helping."

"I warned ya."

Kefka snorted at the two. "Well, for once, Crescent, you make a smart remark."

Crescent gave a shocked look. "I did?" he asked, "In THAT case, somebody take a picture!"

Kefka growled as he gathered what appeared to be acid-green flames in his hands. "He's EXTREMELY irritating. I'll just kill him to shut him up! THIS WILL BE THE FINAL PERFORMANCE!!"

Crescent simply took out his blade and readied himself in a ninja position. "I may seemingly like everything, but is everything a show for you, Kefka?"

Kefka ignored Crescent, addressing the Keyblade Master instead. "And, Sora, you might want to try and take me out soon." Kefka snapped his fingers and Kairi spread her arms out like wings as she began to walk the tightrope. She had never done it before, but she was doing good so far.

On seeing that Kefka ready Kairi for slaughter, Sora could only throw the best insult he could at him. "You blood-crazed psycho!"

Kefka emitted a low, echoing chuckle, then shook his head at Sora. "Flattery will get you nowhere." he said, clicking his tongue.

In an instant, Kefka raced over to Crescent with blinding speed and knocked him aside with a sweep of his hand. What was odd was that Kefka didn't seem to make physical contact. Crescent flew back several yards and soared right through a flaming hoop only to meet a big, white tiger. "I should've known..."

The tiger pounced and Sora took his turn with Kefka. He swung the Keyblade wildly at the savage clown, but his opponent merely ducked and dodged, all the while keeping a calm face. "Well, for a Keyblade master, you certainly disappoint me." Sora swung again only for Kefka to agilely evade three times until he reached up and parried with some form of energy. The energy then changed into an emerald-green sword that was parrying Sora's blade. "Surely you can do better…" the clown challenged.

Sora swung again and again only to meet the green blade with a shower of sparks and clanging metal. Kefka then took his chance and hacked at Sora's legs only to have Sora jump over the blow and attempt a strike at the clown's head. However, Kefka vanished in a puff of pitch-dark smoke and reappeared behind Sora. He swung and Sora ducked to the left, only to have Kefka's blade graze his shoulder. Kefka laughed as Sora looked at the injury, but kept going anyway. Both showed no sign of stopping as Sora swung hard and Kefka simply angled his blows in other directions.

"You've got spunk, boy. But I think it's time I took things into my own hands…" Kefka chuckled, then snapped his fingers and several pieces of wood shot from the empty bleachers and built themselves into a rough box. Within seconds, Sora was strapped into the box and in a burst of emerald flame, Kefka produced a whirring buzz saw. "I find it only fair to warn you…I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Hey, you forgot someone, buddy!"

Kefka had barely recognized whose voice that was when he suddenly felt a piercing pain in his back as a familiar moon-shaped shuriken pelted him right in the back. Crescent was standing right behind him with several slash wounds on his chest and face, a mangled shoulder, and a broken neck. Said ninja's scars healed, his neck snapped back into place, and he shoved his shoulder back to its original position. Then Crescent raised a hand and brought it chopping into the box of boards, snapping it down the center and freeing Sora.

"Hey, Kefka!" Crescent pointed out, "That tiger's pretty tame once you stick a sword through its gut. AND you forgot about my accelerated healing factor again!"

"Actually, I didn't forget about that nerve-wracking factor of yours." Kefka said, waggling his finger at Crescent, "I cast a certain spell in this area that will drain your energy whenever you heal over. The more you heal, the sooner I'll win."

Crescent inspected himself and saw that he was beginning to emit a dull red glow. "Well, THAT STINKS!"

Sora looked up at the tightrope; Kairi was already making her way across the tightrope. "Well, if it's gonna save Kairi, looks like we've gotta fight you!" Sora said, regaining his fighting spirit.

"Exactly. But if you don't beat me when she gets to the other side, the bomb will explode, taking you, the princess of heart, your friends, AND this crazy man into a fiery fate!" Kefka informed again, "I, on the other hand, can walk out unscathed. And I know for a fact that Crescent's healing factor doesn't work on a pile of ashes!" the crazed clown pointed out as well.

"He's got a point." Crescent said to Sora.

Sora looked up and saw that Kairi was already halfway across the rope, then brandished his Keyblade. "Better beat him fast!"

The two couldn't afford to wast time; they charged into battle. Crescent charged and hacked at Kefka with his moon-symbol sword only to meet the clown's emerald blade. Kefka quickly dodged to the side just in time to plant his leather boot into Sora's midsection. It knocked the wind out of him and Kefka turned on his heel in time to impale Crescent on his sword, dying the green blade with scarlet blood. The wound healed over and Crescent suddenly noticed that the red aura around him was beginning to become a bit more prominent. "Taking its toll yet, Crescent?" asked Kefka, "Let me know when it is…"

Kefka turned to Sora, who raised himself up, using his Keyblade as a crutch. Kefka was about to slice Sora like an onion when the boy maneuvered to the side and caught him on the shoulder. Kefka grunted in surprise and was quite surprised when Sora did it again. When Sora finished the two-hit combo, he ended it by hacking him in the back. Kefka growled in anger as he pointed a finger at Sora and the ground exploded right where Sora was about to put his foot.

"Hey, Bozo! I thought I told you, I don't like getting blown up!" Crescent shouted.

Crescent leapt between Kefka and Sora and forgot his sword completely. Rather, he began to throw a flurry of punches and kicks at tremendous speed. What was even more amazing was that Kefka was evading them and throwing his own punches and kicks at almost the same speed. Each of their attacks were either blocked or evaded, each one a streak of either red or purple. Crescent performed a wheel kick that Kefka blocked with his forearm and countered by seizing Crescent's foot and throwing him backward. Crescent simply righted himself and launched himself at Kefka at the same time as Sora. However, Kefka ducked under Crescent and sidestepped Sora.

"Time for my little…magic trick, shall we say?" Kefka said with his evil grin growing by the second.

Kefka raised a hand and an orb of glowing, orange energy flowed through his palm. The orb was pulsating and growing with each pulsation until it was the size of a wrecking ball. Then, with a cackle, Kefka heaved the ball at both of them. Sora quickly ran out of the orb's range, but Crescent wasn't so lucky. The blast caught him full in the face and he was sent flying along with Sora and he wasn't even caught in the blast. Crescent had several third-degree burns all over his body from the blast, but his body healed over and the red aura only grew brighter.

When he finished healing, Crescent could barely stand, and Sora noticed that Kairi was getting ever closer to the platform.

"Dude, I need help…and a pony!" Crescent said, somewhat weakly.

Sora had one trick left, one that wouldn't work twice. But it was a good trick, a VERY good one. "I'll give you one!"

Sora quickly placed his hand on Crescent's shoulder and shouted one word.

"Drive!"

Crescent suddenly turned into a ball of silver light and went into Sora. Strangely, the ball was talking as it entered Sora's spirit.

"Hey, what's going on here?! What're you doin?! Wait, wait, something's shocking me! Hey, what's with all this energy pulsating through my body?!" it said.

"Can it, will ya?!" Sora said through gritted teeth.

After THAT fiasco, a flash of light blinded Kefka. When it cleared, Sora's clothes were black with silver outlines and the symbols on his shorts had changed into crescent moons. Sora summoned his Ultima Weapon Keyblade in one hand and a new one in his other. It looked a bit like Crescent's sword, but it had a handle with two adjacent crescent moons on it. Its handle was purple and the Keyblade's teeth consisted of a horizontal outcropping of the sword and a crescent moon. _Lunar Slicer _rang through Sora's head.

Strangely, Sora's eyes turned to the same shade of purple as Crescent's. Then, he spoke, only it was Crescent who was doing the talking. "Cool! I'm one with the Keyblader!"

Sora's eyes returned to normal as did his state of mind. "Yeah, you wish." he said, sarcastically.

"Can I check out your mind?" asked Crescent, "I've ALWAYS wanted to mind probe someone, JUST LIKE IN THE MOVIES!"

"NO!"

"Oh, come on! It's fun to mess with people's brains!" Crescent pleaded.

"Get out!" Sora hit himself on the head with his Keyblade just as his eyes changed into Crescent's.

"OW! No need to get touchy!" Crescent said, massaging the place where Sora had hit. There was a slight pause as Crescent's crazy smile spread across Sora's face. "Oh, so THAT'S why you blush around Kairi! And all this time I thought you were shy…"

Sora came back to his senses, then got off-subject, for his sake and Crescent's. "Let's just take care of this clown!"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Crescent said, coolly.

Sora got back in his own state of mind, then charged back into battle and there was a clash of metal. Neither Sora nor Kefka were showing any sign of giving up. Sora hammered away at Kefka's emerald blade with his twin Keyblades, each strike was so hard that the impact created sparks. Suddenly, Kefka's sword shattered on contact with Lunar Slicer and an oncoming Ultima Weapon smashed into his face, sending him flying several feet backward.

Kefka landed on his knees and was clearly enraged that he had been suckered so easily. "Wha?! HOW CAN YOU HAVE THIS POWER?!" asked Kefka, incredulously.

"It's because we're working together." Sora answered, "No matter how much you may try to separate me, we'll always be one!"

When Crescent took over, a look of awe had come across Sora's face. "Wow! I never woulda thought of that!" said the ninja.

Kefka roared in rage as he flew at Sora with amazing speed before taking a swing at him with fists set ablaze with magic fire. Sora leaned back like a limbo dancer to evade the attack. Kefka tried a sweep kick, which Sora hopped over and swung with Lunar Striker. Kefka evaded this and brought his boot right into the point of Sora's chin. Sora flew in the air, but performed an amazing flip in midair and landed on his hands before flipping like an Olympic gymnast to land back on his feet.

When Sora landed, he was quite impressed on how easy this trick became. "Wow." he said.

Suddenly, Crescent's eyes flashed in place of Sora's and said ninja sounded a bit nagging. "Ahem. I believe you owe me something…"

"Oh." Sora said, uneasily, "Um…Thanks."

Kefka raised his hand to perform a spell, but he hadn't even said a word when Sora was right in front of him. Sora was a good thirty yards away and had crossed the distance between them in almost the blink of an eye. Kefka hadn't even registered this when both blades caught him across the chest. He flew back again and charged forward just as Sora swung his Lunar Striker Keyblade on pure instinct. A shuriken of pure white energy shot out of the Keyblade's arc and pelted Kefka right in the chest. Kefka muttered something under his breath and then raised a hand as though saying "stop". A spear of pure energy fired from his palm and impaled Sora right through his stomach.

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy both shouted. Riku, on the other hand, was at a loss for words.

When Kefka withdrew the spear, Sora looked at the place where it struck with a confused look: The kind of look that said 'how come I'm not dying?'. The gaping hole in his midsection started to repair itself by regenerating organ tissue, skin, and bone alike, healing even the burns on the side of the mountain. It felt oddly comforting, so now Sora knew how Crescent felt when he healed.

"You're welcome." Crescent nagged.

Sora inspected himself and noticed that the aura that surrounded Crescent wasn't working on him. In fact, it never appeared at all. With a smile, he said, "I guess Kefka's little spell won't work if it's coming from me."

Sora's sharp eyes suddenly saw that Kairi was nearing the other side. In just a few paces, the bomb on the other side would go off and blow them higher than a volcanic eruption.

"Kairi!" Sora said, panic in his voice.

"Not if I have anything to say about it! You'll never leave this world alive!!"

From the tone in his voice, Kefka was obviously fuming that his spell had failed him. He was about to charge when Sora knew just what to do: he let Crescent take the wheel. Sora's eyes changed to purple and he swung the Lunar Striker in a small arc. The moon-shaped Keyblade, rather than throw an energy shuriken, threw a small orb at Kefka and it exploded in a blast of light. Kefka and Sora were both blinded, but Crescent's healing factor acted up and repaired the damage to Sora's eyes. It seemed to have had a more subtle effect on Kefka.

"Glad that's taken care of." Crescent said, unfazed by the light, "Now, how do we want to save her? Oh yes!"

Crescent raised Lunar Striker and tossed an energy shuriken at the rope, Sora greatly protesting against the action. Crescent ignored Sora and the shuriken spun through the air at the rope Kairi was on, which snapped like string, sending her into a free fall.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Sora almost screamed.

"Saving her life." Crescent answered, simply. Sora, with Crescent in charge, ran as fast as he could toward the tightrope. At top speed, he jumped at Kairi with an impressive leap and flip and caught her in midair. When he placed Kairi on her feet, however, she immediately started walking like a zombie again. Crescent scratched his shared body's chin, then said, "Looks like the only thing Kefka put in her head was to keep walking…"

Sora shrugged. She may have been acting like a zombie, but at least she was still alive and well. "Well, at least she's safe." Sora quickly turned to the others. "Could you guys keep an eye on her?"

"Better idea! Stop!" Donald pointed his staff at Kairi through the spikes keeping them out and a beam of light shot out of its tip. Kairi suddenly froze in place, her arms still spread out like wings.

Sora shrugged. "That works, too."

Sora's eyes changed color again and Crescent said, "Uh…this may seem like a bad time, but that bomb only has a few minutes till it goes off."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah. Kefka always has a backup plan. That bomb was a time bomb, so it didn't really matter if your girl stepped on it or not."

The Keyblader and the ninja split in a flash of light, though both looked about ready to throw up.

"Thank goodness! I felt like I was you, Crescent!" Sora said, feeling nauseous.

"Thank goodness! I felt like I was you, Sora!" Crescent seemed to echo.

Sora shook off the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and then said, "Let's just get Kairi and get out of here before that bomb goes off!"

Sora picked up a still-frozen Kairi, slinging her over his shoulder, then the two made for the exit…until they got to the spikes. Suddenly, Sora's eyes misted somewhat as he pointed his Keyblade at the spikes.

"Blastaga!"

This new spell summoned a small, blue ball, which was fired at the bars at high speeds. Sora, his eyes still misted, quickly said seven words to the others. "You'd better get out of the way!"

Riku, Donald, and Goofy quickly got out of the way just as the ball hit the bars. On contact, the orb exploded like a bomb and Sora's eyes returned to normal. Everyone ran for it, leaving Kefka to face the explosion that followed. After a strenuous hurry, the group, Crescent included, got through the carnival, onto the Gummi Ship, and took off.

Gummi Ship...

Sora looked out a viewport and saw the Carnival of Chaos burst into flame. Crescent also saw the now ablaze carnival, then wiped sweat from his forehead.

"WHEW! THAT was too close for comfort." The ninja sighed.

"At least it's gone now." Sora said, still eyeing the inferno.

"PFFBTH! Wishful thinking." Crescent said, rolling his violet eyes, "I've blown that nightmare up who-knows-how-many times and it ALWAYS comes back like a boomerang."

At that time, the Stop spell deactivated and Kairi continued walking around the Gummi Ship like a zombie. Sora stifled a laugh when she came to a wall and continued trying to walk. He stopped after a while, then asked, "How DO we remove that brainwash from Kairi?"

Donald scratched his head as he watched Kairi's fruitless attempts to walk through the wall. "This'll need a bit of research." Donald quickly went through his books and found something that would work. He quickly waved his wand and Kairi stopped in her tracks. Then, she was about to fall, but Sora caught her. He then gently laid her on her back and found that she was fast asleep. "This spell will keep her asleep until the brainwash wears off, so no harm done!"

"Uh…This may be a bad time, but LOOK!" Riku pulled up his right sleeve to show his arm was completely diamond. With extreme difficulty, he also pulled off part of his shirt to show that it was COMPLETELY diamond, even part of his chest succumbed to it.

"Uh-oh." Sora said, realizing the danger of this situation, "Time's running out. We'd better get the Pure Hearts for ya, Riku! FAST!"

"But what about this Prince of Heart?" asked Donald.

"We'll just have to let Riku use them for himself, OK?" Sora answered, "Sakuzy said that a person could use them for himself with ease. It's using it for others that's the problem."

"Alright."

Crescent popped into the immediate area, seemingly from nowhere and held up a finger. "And I'll fill in while Riku's out of action!"

Sora gave Crescent a flat look. "NO! Donald, Goofy, and I will go find the Pure Hearts. YOU stay here and watch after Kairi and Riku."

Crescent rolled his eyes as he spoke in a VERY sarcastic tone. "Great. This morning I'm a brother in arms, NOW I'm a nanny." he complained. Crescent turned away, grumbling something inaudible to the ears of others.

Sora stared after Crescent, then scratched his head and shrugged. "Well, guys, where to now?" he asked.

Donald looked into the ship's scanner and answered with just one word. "Marshlands."

_Glad that's over. At least that kook's out of the picture._

_That would be Crescent's Stealth Drive. With it, Sora can move at high speeds, shares Crescent's ninja reflexes and healing factor, and uses the Lunar Strike Keyblade, which can throw out shuriken and flashbombs._


	43. Marshlands

Chapter 43: Marshlands

Marshlands...

The Gummi Ship came in for a bumpy landing in a very wet, muddy, and slimy swamp. The mixture of greenish-brown swamp water splattered up against the viewport.

"EWW!" Donald exclaimed.

As the three tumbled out of the Gummi, Goofy got a good look around them. "Whoa. Things sure are big around here…" Goofy pointed out.

It was true; the cattails of the Marshlands were easily as tall as flagpoles and the grasses were large enough to make giant sunflowers looke tiny. Sora suddenly came to the sensible conclusion of what had happened. "I don't think that everything's gotten bigger." he said, "I think that we've gotten smaller…"

When Donald and Goofy got a better look at themselves, they instantly noticed that it had to one of the worlds that you had to change in in order to fit in. Everyone seemed to have been turned into some form of swamp life, except Sora. The Keyblade Master had turned into a brown mouse with the same spiky hairdo, and his jacket was small enough to fit a finger puppet. Donald had turned into a small, white songbird (probably a sparrow) with his head and sailor hat and Goofy had turned into a water turtle, predictably.

Sora inspected himself from tugging at his big, round ears to gently swinging his long, thin tail. "Well, THIS is unexpected. Sure hope Kairi never sees me like this..." Sora said this, because Kairi, unlike other girls, was fond of small mammals like mice.

"But not as much a radical change as the Pride Lands." Goofy pointed out, checking out his flat shell and webbed feet.

Sora shrugged. Goofy had a point there. "Point taken."

Donald tried to adjust to his new form, then ruffled his feathers. "Well, the sooner we find the Pure Heart, the sooner we get outta this slime hole."

When Sora agreed on these terms, the group began to make their way through the bog.

_There was a loud, bubbling noise and the words 'Marsh' appeared in slimy, green water. An alligator swam by and spat out the words 'lands'. "Marshlands", they spelled together until the alligator swam through, and the letters floated away._

Upon entering the swamp, the team of mouse, bird, and turtle had to hop around lily pads like frogs or cross natural bridges of both rock and log.

One time, Donald accidentally got dunked into the swamp water and came out green and smelly. "Eww…"

Sora had an expression eerily similar to the duck mage's as he said, "You got that right. I better watch my step, because I just showered this morning."

Sora stopped and listened hard as a male voice spoke from beyond some tall water grass. "You sure that she's around here?"

Another voice spoke from the same place as the male voice, only it was female and had a distinct Hungarian accent. "Of course she's here! This is where the Society tracked her, so Penny must be here."

Goofy scratched his head, then poked his head into the grass. Donald seemed a bit more cautious than Goofy, though, and spoke in a very hushed tone. "What are you doing?!"

Sora got a hold of Donald's tailfeathers, then said, "Hold on, Donald. We don't know who it is…"

Sora and Donald peeked through the grass and saw who was talking. The voices happened to come from two mice similar to Sora in appearance. The first one speaking was male and gray, was wearing a red sweater, and had a brown cap on his head. The other was female and white; she held herself with pride, and had a purple scarf with a matching hat. The gray mouse held up a map, then sighed in frustration. Suddenly, Goofy shifted and rustled the grass, and soon took everyone tumbling with him out of the grass.

Sora only said two words as he felt, and saw, what was coming. "Uh-oh…"

The gray mouse turned and saw what appeared to be a dog pile that consisted of a bird, a turtle, and a mouse. He took off his hat, then scratched his gray, furry head. "Funny. Never thought they'd send in backup…"

Sora managed to heave Goofy off him and shrugged at the gray mouse. "What're you talking about?"

The gray mouse gave Sora a curious look, then asked, "You ARE part of the Rescue Aid Society, right?"

Donald helped Goofy off his back and Goofy also got back on his feet. "Rescue Aid Society?" asked the knight.

"What's that?" Donald asked.

The white mouse shook her head. "Well, Bernard, looks like they're not part of the Rescue Aid Society." she turned to Sora and asked, "May I kindly ask who you are?"

"Well, I'm Sora."

"Donald!"

"Goofy!"

The gray mouse shook Sora's hand and said, "I'm Bernard and this is Bianca."

"Glad to meet you guys." Sora said with a smile. He released Bernard's hand and asked, "So, why you two are out here?"

"We're on a mission." answered Bianca.

"What kind of mission?" asked Donald.

"We're on a Rescue mission." Bernard said, fidgeting with his hat.

Goofy stood up, then scratched his head. "Well, for who?" he asked.

Bianca explored the swamp a bit, then explained. "We're trying to find a little girl called Penny. According to a message she sent in a bottle, she's being held hostage."

Suddenly, it hit Sora. A while ago, just before he left Destiny Island for this adventure, he had seen a news report about a little girl gone missing. "So, you guys tracked her to here?" he asked.

"Basically." Bernard answerred, "But it's been anything but easy. We've been harassed by swamp creatures since we got here!"

Sora's eyes widened as he asked, "Like alligators?"

Bernard nodded, then eyed Sora. "Yes. What makes you say that?"

Donald's eyes suddenly widened as he fluttered his wings violently, hovering in midair in the process. "WAK! Probably because there are two comin' at us right now! WATCH OUT!"

Bernard turned and screamed in fright as two alligators were, indeed, chasing right after them. To Sora, these reptiles would have been easy pickings, save the fact that, compared to Sora right now, they were the size of TWO school buses.

"Uh-oh…" Goofy groaned.

One of the gators opened its mouth, ready to eat Sora in one bite, but he stuck his Keyblade in its mouth, keeping its jaws open. The gator struggled for a while, giving Sora enough time to get away. As soon as he was out of its range, Sora summoned the Keyblade back to his hand and the gator's jaws slammed shut with a sound similar to a sizeable piece of wood snapping in two.

Donald was trying to avoid getting eaten, flying around like mad and avoiding the second gator's snapping jaws. The gator snapped at the duck, narrowly missing him...though it did pluck the mage's tailfeathers. Donald got a good look at his behind, then decided that he was fed up with the reptile. His staff appeared in his foot and he pointed it at the reptile's face.

"THUNDER!"

Thunder shot from Donald's staff and hit the alligator right between the eyes. The alligator growled in pain as it tried to shake the pain off, as though it was a biting parasite. The gator recovered from its pain and almost snapped up Sora if Goofy didn't get in the way. The alligator's jaws slammed shut on the dog/turtle-man's shell with a very cartoon-esque crunch. Its teeth suddenly cracked and eventually fell out as it spat Goofy out (1).

"Guess I don't agree with them. Ahyuck!" Goofy guffawed.

The gators growled in a very grumpy demeanor, obviously fed up with tough food, and slithered back into the water. As soon as they had disappeared completely, a dragonfly buzzed from the swamp's depths with a large leaf that it appeared to be steering. At this time, Bernard and Bianca came out of hiding and went over to a nearby rock, close to the dragonfly.

"Ebenrude, we've gotta get out of here on the double!" Bernard said, quickly, not exactly wanting to meet up with the gators again.

Ebenrude didn't answer, but made several buzzing noises which sounded as close to a "roger" as possible. The group of five got onto the leaf and Ebenrude got them skimming across the water at high speed, like a motorboat. The group traveled the swamps until they came across a shabby-looking boathouse.

"So, how did you guys get here?" Sora asked out of pure curiosity.

"Well, we came here from Radiant Garden." Bernard asked, turning back to Sora.

Donald didn't exactly need Ebenrude's leaf for speedy transport, so he followed on the wing and close to the ground. "On a Gummi Ship?" he asked.

Bianca chuckled slightly. "No, Donald. We got here on an albatross named Orville." she answered.

Donald cocked his head. "Is that possible?" he asked.

Bernard decided that there and then would be a good time to explain to Donald. "Well, we actually came to a place nearby by mini-Gummi Ship. We then had Orville do the rest."

Goofy pointed at the boathouse with his scaly finger. "Is THAT our destination?" he asked.

Bernard got a good look at the boathouse, then nodded. "Yes, and we have all the people at the swamp ready to fight when we call."

Sora scratched his head, and out of curiosity, brought out a question. "Well, what's happened to this Penny girl?"

Bianca only shrugged. "All we do know is that she's been kidnapped." she answered, "We don't know who did it, but we'll find them."

Sora quickly huddled with Donald and Goofy. "Well, guys, looks like we've got someone else we have to take down…Not only will we find the Pure Heart, we'll also save the life of an innocent child."

"Good idea, Sora." Goofy admitted, "I like your thinkin'!"

Bernard

A New York mouse from the Rescue Aid Society, which is completely made of mice and was founded to help those in need. He was originally a janitor, but was promoted when Bianca wanted HIM to come with her on a rescue mission. He has a crush on Bianca and often acts shy around her, but cares about her safety very much. He first appeared in _The Rescuers_ 1977.

Miss Bianca

A New York mouse who was originally from Hungary and a member of the Rescue Aid Society. She's fun loving and ready for adventure despite her elegant appearance. She draws the eye of every male mouse in the RAS, but Bernard was the one who caught her attention because of his concern for her safety. She first appeared in _The Rescuers_ 1977.

Ebenrude

A dragonfly native to the Marshlands. He doesn't speak, save a few buzzes and beeps, and is the main source of transportation for the locals and visitors. He's also constantly being chased by some form of insectivore from frogs to bats. He first appeared in _The Rescuers_ 1977.

_(1) THIS would not happen in real life. Gators have been known to crunch turtle shells, bone, and even crack crash helmets with their jaws alone._


	44. Penny

Chapter 44: Penny

A little girl was running through the marshlands like her life depended on it. Though about six years old, she was running like she had nothing left to lose. Tucked under her left arm was a simple stuffed bear that she treasured like a friend, as it was the only one she had. THIS was Penny, the girl that needed to be rescued.

There was a growling in the distance and Penny knew that Madame Medusa's pet alligators, Nero and Brutis, were after her. She kept running, because she knew if she did, she would soon be free. She hadn't been free for months and this wasn't the first time she had attempted to run away, nor she guessed, would it be the last.

Still, the alligators caught up to her. One of them caught her by the shirt and dragged her away into the swamps. "Stop it, Brutis! PUT ME DOWN!" she cried in protest.

Quite a while's distance away, Sora and co. landed at the boathouse where there was a fireworks display going on. The explosions of colored flame spelled out three words that Sora could see, virtually anywhere in this slime hole. "'Got the Girl'? Something tells me that THAT'S Penny." Sora said, pointing out the fireworks.

"Well, then we have no time to lose! Come on, Bernard." Bianca said seized Bernard by the arm and proceeded to drag him into the house. Bernard followed, uneasily, but quickly kept pace.

Sora and co. quickly followed. They ventured into the living room of the area and Sora was amazed at how big it was compared to him. "This'll take a while." he said to himself, "If the living room is this huge, the whole place must be about a mile wide at this size."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy had no sooner taken a few steps when a barrier of dark matter surrounded them. And in a few puffs of smoke, Heartless popped into existence. They had wide mouths and sharp teeth similar to a Venus Flytrap and broad, leaf-like arms and legs. To make things weirder, their eyes seemed to be…where their tongues should have been.

"Looks like we've got some fighting to do!" Goofy said.

Goofy suddenly yelped as Sora seized him by the collar of his shell, and the knight instantly withdrew into it for defense. Sora then threw him up and hit him with his Keyblade like a baseball player. Goofy ricocheted off one of the Heartless only to miss another. The one that got hit was simply stunned and recovered just as Donald flew past it. It reached out suddenly and swallowed Donald. It stayed still for a while as it glowed bright green, then spat Donald onto the floor.

Donald looked a little drained…and was covered in green goop to add insult to injury. "Aw, nuts…" he muttered.

Donald quickly shot back up and raised his staff with his gripping, bird-like foot. A ball of ice collided with the Heartless and it froze in place before dissipating. Donald had NO intention on setting this whole house ablaze with something like Fire or Thunder. Sora took his Keyblade and began to hack at the Heartless' necks, severing two of the group's heads. Goofy saw one coming to bite him and suddenly hopped up, ramming the Flytrap Heartless' lower jaw into the upper jaw. This stunned it long enough for Sora to bash its head in. That was all of them.

"Well, that was pretty short-lived." Sora said, the shield holding them in dissipating.

"What WERE those things?!"

Sora turned to see a pretty spooked Bernard and Bianca staring at them as the barrier finally vanished into thin air. "Those were Heartless." Sora answered, "They're formed from the Darkness in someone's heart. If you see any, we'll handle them."

Suddenly, the door creaked open and an alligator took a struggling Penny into a room. Waiting for them was a short, fat man with a fringe and glasses. He stood next to a tall woman with red hair, a matching dress, and a rather long, pointed nose. The group quickly ducked under a couch to avoid being seen by both humans and gators. Most humans HATED mice, and alligators, as they clearly saw, thought of them as lunch.

Sora peeked at the people from under the couch and glared at the woman. "Five munny says that's the kidnapper." he said, gesturing to the woman.

Bernard nodded. "You don't have to be Einstein to know that." he said in response.

The two people holding Penny captive were talking for a while. The woman, it seemed was the craftiest of the two, whereas the man was a bit more…dumb and blindly obedient, too. The woman, or Medusa, soon had the man take Penny to a room. Penny went quietly, but had a look of dislike on her face the whole walk there.

"So, why's this woman have Penny again?" Sora asked.

Bernard shook his head as he answered, "We're not sure. But from what we can tell, it's just an act of cruelty."

"Only one way to find out." Sora said. He made to dart out from under the chair only for Donald to jerk him back.

"Sora, we'd have to go through those two alligators." Donald hissed, "Remember what Sakuzy said about them?"

_Remember, an alligator has the strongest bite force of any animal for its size. If you come across one, remember you have about half a ton of reptile that has teeth, a bite equal to parking a one and a half-ton truck on your arm, and a BAD attitude!_

Donald shuddered at the thought, but continued, "So, we're gonna need a better plan than just…Sora?" Too late. Sora already darted across the room, trying to find a way around the two gators. The gators turned around and Sora quickly darted behind the leg of a table. Donald put his face in his wing in disbelief. "There he goes again..." the duck moaned.

Donald, Goofy, Bernard, and Bianca darted after Sora and managed to find a hiding place under a lazy boy. The two alligators started to walk away from the room, but suddenly sniffed the air and started coming towards the chair.

"Uh-oh." Donald said with a gulp.

"I think they know we're here…" Sora said, keeping absolutely quiet.

"But how? We're outta sight." Goofy said, scratching his head.

Bernard suddenly had one idea and whispered something to everyone. "I think they smell Bianca's perfume!"

The scent that was hanging around Bianca was, indeed, very strong. It smelled strongly of a flower garden.

"Looks like we've gotta fight these guys again…" Sora said as he whipped out his Keyblade, but apparently the others had different plans. Goofy hid in his shell, even though that wouldn't have been much of a protection. Donald made a quick dash from under the chair and darted to the room. Bernard and Bianca were soon quick to follow. Sora sighed in disbelief. "Man, what's with these guys?"

Sora picked up the still-hidden Goofy and made a bolt for the room and the alligators were soon in hot pursuit, following Bianca's perfume. They slid into a room and, with effort similar to an experience in the Underworld, shut the door. Donald then locked it and the alligators ran headlong into the door with a CRASH. They fell to the floor with birds circling their heads and dazed looks.

The five heroes sat with their backs to the door, trying desperately to catch their breath. That encounter was TOO close to call. Sora then peeked under the door to make sure Nero and Brutis were gone. "I think that'll keep them out." he said to them.

"You just spoke!"

Sora turned around and saw that Penny was standing next to them with a startled look.

Flytrap Heartless

A Heartless native to the Marshlands. It mainly attacks by swallowing its enemies, digesting them slightly, then coughing them back up. They resemble Venus Flytraps.

Penny

A little girl who was kidnapped by Madame Medusa in order to get some treasure which the woman can't get by herself. Whenever she tries escaping, Nero and Brutis, Medusa's pet alligators, eventually track her down and bring her back. Still, she's very sweet and carries her teddy bear everywhere. She first appeared in _The Rescuers_ 1977.

Nero and Brutis

Medusa's pet alligators, these two reptiles are as loyal as lapdogs. They do whatever she says and are mainly used to track down Penny when she tries to escape. And they do a good job of doing it, too. They first appeared in _The Rescuers_ 1977.


	45. The Devil's Eye

Chapter 45: The Devil's Eye

There was quite an awkward silence as the little girl stared at the mice, bird, and turtle with an astonished look. Then, to break the silence for once, Sora answered Penny's startled response. "Yes, we did. Anyway, I'm Sora, that's Donald, that's Goofy, and those other mice are Bernard and Bianca. We've been sent to rescue you, Penny!"

Penny looked overjoyed at this, but that was until Donald flew up and landed on her shoulder. "One thing still bothers me--why's that old hag keeping you here?" he asked.

Penny sat down on the bed and helped the others onto it. She held her arm down and the mice crawled up it while she picked up Goofy by the shell to get him on the bed. "Medusa keeps me here because I'm small enough to get a diamond that she can't get herself." she answered.

A curious look crossed Bernard's face. "What diamond would THAT be?" he asked.

Penny shrugged. "Somethin' called the Devil's Eye. It's in a hole where there's lots and lots of treasure."

A look of pure inspiration crossed Sora's face as he snapped his furry, little fingers. "Lots of treasure? Sounds like a place where a Pure Heart would be…" he said to himself.

Goofy looked up at Penny, then asked, "Well, Penny, you ready to go home?"

Penny nodded. "I am, but what can a few small animals do?"

Bianca raised her hands, reassuringly. "Don't worry. If we plan ahead and have a little faith, we'll be out of here in no time." she said, confidence booming in her voice.

"Anyway, IF we get that diamond, how do we get out of this swamp? We'll have those alligators chasing us!" Donald pointing out, still remembering the fact that one of them plucked his tailfeathers.

Bianca pulled out a small bottle and the answer was quite obvious. "My perfume!" she answered, the plot thickening, "They'll follow the scent RIGHT into a trap!"

Sora scratched his chin. "Well, what do we catch them in?" he asked to both himself and the group.

Inspiration struck as Penny answered, "There's an elevator in this house! We'll catch them in there!"

"Good idea, Penny." Goofy complimented, "But we'll need a distraction…so no one will try and stop us."

Penny thought hard, then asked, "You saw those fireworks?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. They weren't exactly easy to ignore."

"Those are Mr. Snoops'." the girl said, "He uses them to tell Medusa if he's got me."

"So we'll have to set them off. The fireworks will destroy the boat AND provide enough racket to distract those two." Sora said, the plan still unfolding.

"When we escape, what if she chases us?" Bernard asked.

Penny let the mice on her other shoulder and picked up Goofy to look out the window of her room. Outside was a vehicle of sorts that looked like a cross between a motorboat and a hover-boat. "We'll snatch her Swamp Mobile!" she answered, "I always wanted to drive it..."

Sora rubbed his furry hands together. "So, the plan's in motion. Now all we have to do is get that Devil's Eye..." he said with one last thought.

"Most likely she'll put me in the well tomorrow." Penny told them.

"Then that means we'll have to put the plan in motion as soon as possible." Bernard said, planning it all out in his mind.

After a few hours, Penny fell asleep along with the rest of them. Sora stayed awake. He heard Joyex talking to Sakuzy on more than one occasion. What did HE dream about anyway? Sora put the thought out of his head tried to get some sleep for himself.

_(Choose any background music you want for this.)_

_Sora had a weird dream that night. He dreamed that he and Sakuzy were fighting Hades at the Underworld Coliseum. Sakuzy had a face that he hadn't seen before—one of PURE, uncontrolled rage. The Future Keyblader tried striking his opponent down, but Hades grabbed his Keyblade and threw him at the wall, where a pillar fell on his midsection, pinning him to the ground. He tried pushing it off him to no avail._

_"Hades, leave him alone!" Sora growled._

_Hades chuckled. "Heh, I don't need to cause him physical pain." he said, raising his finger, "Taking the last person he had, that's enough damage for me."_

_Suddenly, Sakuzy made an outburst that was as close to a primal roar as Sora ever heard. "I hate you SO MUCH!"_

_Hades simply rolled his eyes in casual indifference and clicked his tongue. "Feeling's mutual, future freak." he responded, then turned to Sora. "Anyway, Sora, wanna know WHY this guy's been protecting you for as long as he could? Why he threw himself at great peril just to keep you safe?" he asked, a malicious smile on his pale face._

_The moment Hades finished that sentence, Sakuzy's face was filled with unimaginable terror. "Hades! No! You can't just reveal this!" Sakuzy begged._

_Hades turned, then said, "You, I'm ignoring." He turned back to Sora, then said, "The reason why he's been protecting you so bravely is because he's…"_

Sora instantly woke up from the dream, interrupting Hades' last few words. He searched the room to find Penny was gone. "What a weird dream." he said to himself, "Sakuzy's what? Ah, who cares. We've gotta get the Devil's Eye! Guys! Wake up!"

Sora nudged Goofy and Donald awake and they hurried out of the house. Goofy turned himself into a makeshift boat by allowing Sora and Donald to ride him like a rowboat and using a small piece of wood as a paddle. After rowing for about five minutes, they suddenly noticed that Medusa and Snoops had Penny near a large pit and they were just about to lower her in when they sprang. They went unnoticed by Medusa and Snoop by jumping just as she was lowered in with Bernard and Bianca.

The well wasn't as bad as Sora had half-expected. It was dark and dank, a bit like the Underworld at Olympus Coliseum, only a little less...death-inviting. Sora then noticed a hole in the middle of the chamber that was about twelve feet in diameter...to a human, anyway.

Sora poked Penny's stocking-clad leg to get her attention, then pointed at the hole. "Where's that lead to?" he asked.

After a little pause, Sora heard the sound of rushing water inside the depths of the hole. "That's where the tide comes in. I-I'm afraid to go down there…" she said, a little shaky in her last sentence.

Bernard pounded a fist into his palm, then said, "Well, if I was a pirate, that's JUST where I'd hide the Devil's Eye." Bernard went over to the hole's edge, then heard the water rising a bit. He seemed to rethink his opinion as he backtracked a bit. "Well, on second thought…"

"Oh, come on, Bernard." Bianca almost begged, "Think about the adventure!"

Goofy then noticed something as they were trying to get Bernard in there. "Uh…guys? I think that…" he began, but was suddenly cut off by Sora.

"Goofy, we don't have time for that!" Sora said, wanting to find the gem before the tide came in.

Bernard made to run from the others and knocked Goofy into the eye of a nearby skull, leaving the turtle-dog halfway in and halfway out. Donald sighed as he brought his wing into his face. "Alright, Let's get him out." he said in disbelief.

Donald and Goofy started pulling on Goofy's leg to try and get him out of the skull, but it was to no avail. Goofy was stuck in there pretty good.

"Geez. You'd think he was TRYING to stay in there!" Sora said as he heaved again.

"Well, you see that's the thing. I found something!" Goofy suddenly shouted in a very loud tone to catch someone's attention. "Hey, Penny! OVER HERE!"

Penny hurried over to the sound of Goofy's voice with a lantern in hand as she looked at the turtle caught in the eye socket. "What is it, Goofy?" she asked.

"What's that there diamond called again?" asked Goofy.

"The Devil's Eye." Sora answered, "Why?"

"Well, because there's a REALLY big diamond in here!" Goofy answered. The entire group froze in place as Goofy finished that sentence. Bernard and Bianca peered into the skull's other eye socket and saw that Goofy had a HUGE diamond clutched in his hands. "While you were tryin' to get me out, I grabbed it!" Goofy said, strumming his fingers down the side of the diamond.

Donald whipped out his staff as he readied himself. "Let ME handle this." he said, "THUNDER!"

A lightning bolt rained from the sky and shattered the skull on contact with the bone. Goofy flew out of the skull with his traditional scream and they soon found that he had his hands on the Devil's Eye. It seemed that Donald's Thunder spell also affected Goofy in some way, because a few sparks coursed through Goofy's shell as he held up the diamond.

"Score one for the good guys!" Sora said, jumping into the air and pumping his fist.

"You mean the bad guys." Bernard corrected, "We're doing this for Medusa, remember? Once we escape, you can say that."

Penny went over to the hole up above, then cupped her hands to her mouth to call for Medusa. "We've got the diamond!"

A minute's pause, and the bucket came down and she grabbed on as they were heaved up. Bernard, Bianca, and Sora hid in the pockets of her dress while Donald fluttered out and Goofy stayed in the bottom of a bucket that was lowered with the rope. They found Medusa with Snoop and the evil woman quickly snatched the diamond from Penny's hand.

"At last! The diamond!" She said, taking in the diamond's appearance. At last! Just look at it! Filled with power for its owner!

The man, Snoops, tried to get a good look at it, but Medusa was obviously a bit greedy to let him have it. "Can I see it?" he begged, "Let me see! Let me see!" Medusa turned it over for about a second before hogging it to herself again. "Oh, come on. We're partners, so we each deserve even shares!" the man reasoned.

"You fool! It's mine! All mine!" she said, defensively.

"Double crosser!"

The two tore away and just as they were at the house, Sora asked the question he had been dying to ask. "Should we start?"

Donald nodded. "I'd think so!"

Goofy looked around, then pointed out Nero and Brutis. "First we oughta get them gators distracted." he said.

The "Rescuers" raced off into the house, ready to put their plan into action.

Madame Medusa

A greedy woman who wants jewels, big and expensive ones, too. She kidnapped Penny to find the Devil's Eye, because the hole it was in was too small for her. She's the owner of Nero and Brutis the alligators. She first appeared on _The Rescuers_ 1977.

Mr. Snoops

Madame Medusa's stooge. He's a pyrotechnician and uses the fireworks he makes to send messages to Madame Medusa. He often wants credit for the things Medusa has done, but hardly gets any. He first appeared on _The Rescuers_ 1977.


	46. Plan in Motion

Chapter 46: Plan in Motion

Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran into the living room, joined by Bernard and Bianca, quiet to try and NOT get any attention. Medusa and Snoops were still arguing about the eye, only Medusa had both Snoops and Penny backed to a wall with a shotgun. Oddly enough, Medusa had Penny's teddy bear in one hand while the gun was in the other.

"Now, you stay RIGHT where you are." she threatened, "If you make one move toward me, YOU GET BLASTED!"

Penny made for her bear, but Medusa simply pushed her aside. "Give me back my teddy. You promised…" Penny begged.

Medusa, oddly enough, "cuddled" with the bear as she said, "Teddy comes with me now. Besides, it's not like…"

THAT tore it. The hag was going to take pretty much the only friend this girl had here and Sora was NOT going to take that lying down. Without even thinking, he shot into the room and made the loudest noise he could muster. Medusa looked down and threw her hands up, juggling the gun AND the bear, which fell to the floor and a small stitch opened up in its back. "MY DIAMOND!" she shrieked, "MY BEAUTIFUL DIAMOND!"

Snoops, no longer having fear of a gun, made a mad dash for the diamond only to get tripped up by Goofy, who made very sure that Snoops tripped on his shell. The fat man fell to the ground with a thud, giving Penny enough time to nab her bear AND the diamond.

Sora and co. quickly sprinted after the girl just as Nero and Brutis charged after them. Bianca whipped out her perfume bottle and sprayed as much of it into the air as she could. It worked like a fine-tuned machine and the two alligators followed her and Bernard right toward the elevator. At the last second, they dashed to the side while Nero and Brutis ran straight into a wall with a crash. The impact slammed the iron-bar door behind them and were sent to the bottom floor, smashing into the bottom with a very audible crash.

Medusa chased after Penny while Sora and co. made a dash for a room with fireworks in it. Snoops saw them and started chasing after the trio. He caught up with them and he was ready to shout when Sora pulled out the Monkey Charm.

"Censor Monkeys!"

In a flash of light, three monkeys appeared on the scene. One had its mouth tightly shut, the other had a hearing aid, and the last one was wearing sunglasses.

"I found 'em!" Snoops called, "They're in the…"

The blind monkey, which was obviously the major working force, spoke up in a loud voice and even used sign language for the deaf monkey. "Alright, boys, you know what to do!" he told them.

The Mute Monkey nodded, then whipped out a large device with a red button in its center and pressed it with his hairy finger. Snoops never finished his sentence because a censor bleep blocked out the noise.

Sora chuckled, then called out, "Sorry, I don't think she caught that!"

Snoops covered his mouth, then tried to say the room they were in again and again only to meet a bleep, a bleep, and another bleep. He was about to go out and step on Sora when suddenly Goofy slid across the floor and tripped Snoops up again. Sora also reflected that anyone who fell for that trick twice should really get out more.

The blind monkey nodded, then saluted to Sora. "Ciao!"

All three monkeys waved goodbye as they vanished back into their own world. Sora and co. sprinted over a now-unconscious Snoops and finally crossed the threshold to the fireworks room. The idea sprang to mind before Donald even raised his staff.

"Fire!"

With just a single spark, the fuses of the fireworks sparkled to life like a roman candle. Sora and co. quickly made their escape as they found Penny on the swamp-mobile, which was parked at a dock of sorts.

"The plan worked!" Sora said, running across the dock and hopping onto the swamp-mobile.

"Good. Now, let's get outta here!" Bernard said, hopping onto the vehicle.

"Okay!" Without another word, Penny turned the key to the swamp-mobile and took off as the boathouse exploded. Suddenly, there was a CLANG and the Swamp Mobile jerked violently. The group turned on the spot to see Madame Medusa, chasing them on her alligators, riding them like water skis. She was holding onto a rope that was attached to the back of the vehicle, obviously used to tie it to the dock, and was beating at them viciously with a metal pipe.

"She'll catch us!" Penny panicked.

Sora looked back with a determined look. She was NOT going back with that woman, not while he was here. "Not if I can help it!" he countered. Sora hopped off Penny's shoulder and pulled out his Shark Charm. He knew THIS would work, especially after what he was capable of back in Narnia.

"Bruce!"

Bruce swam seemingly from nowhere and was instantly dunked into the swamp's murky depths. The great white shark sped around Nero and Brutis, causing the alligators to panic and turn back even against Medusa's orders. The shark surfaced with a confused look, then called after them. "Actually, I'm a vegetarian!" Bruce shrugged, then vanished back to his own world while Sora and co. were sailed to freedom.

Sora got a good hold on the Devil's Eye, having removed it from Penny's bear. He had to admit it must have been worth a fortune, but was quite surprised when the diamond itself started glowing. "What the heck?!"

The diamond glowed a little more, turned acid green and changed into the shape of a heart. Donald, Goofy, Bernard, and Bianca inspected it, the two mice quite astonished by what happened.

"So, the Devil's Eye was the Pure Heart all along!" Donald said from atop Penny's shoulder.

Bianca scratched her chin. "Pure Heart?" she asked.

"What's a Pure Heart?" asked Bernard.

"It's a powerful item that can be used for virtually anything." Sora explained, "We're looking for them because we want to help someone."

Bernard smiled as he folded his arms. "Well, at least we know this heart is going to good use." he admitted, "I like your thinkin', Sora."

Soon, the Swamp Mobile came to a nearby shore and the group disembarked. Even when they had to go slow for Goofy's sake, they found a road.

Sora looked up at Penny and nodded at her as she looked down at him. "Penny, you're safe now." he assured her, then turned to Bernard and Bianca. "Bernard, Bianca, we've gotta go. But we'll visit when we can!" he assured her.

Bianca shook Sora's hand. "I'm very sure of that, Sora. Make it soon."

Sora took the time to shake Bernard's hand as the gray mouse said, "See you later, Sora."

Sora was about to walk away when Penny stopped him. She reached into her pocket and pulled something out to give him.

"Hey, Sora? Before you go, you can have this. It always brought me good luck, but I think you'll need it more than me." She said handed Sora a summon crystal with a feather on it, though it took help from Donald and Goofy to hold it up.

Sora struggled to keep the charm up, but smiled nonetheless. "Thanks, Penny."

The group began to walk off with the crystal in hand and Penny, Bernard, and Bianca waved goodbye. "Come and visit me soon." Penny called, cupping her hands to her mouth.

"We will!" Sora called back as he and his friends disappeared into the reeds.

The Gummi Ship beamed up the group, seeing as their mission had been accomplished. Upon entering, the group returned to their original forms. "Whew! I thought I'd never get out of that mouse form." Sora said, now really appreciating his human form. Upon further investigation, Sora found that no one was in sight, even in the kitchen, "What happened here?"

Donald looked around, then turned to Sora to explain. "Well, it couldn't be an attack. There's no sign of a struggle."

They heard someone say 'aw' in a manner that suggested that he/she was disappointed and it was coming from Riku's room. They opened the door to find Riku, Crescent, and Kairi in a game of Go Fish. Riku noticed them first. "Hey guys." he said with a wave of his crystal hand, "Got the Pure Heart?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah." he answered, then said, "I see you guys are having fun."

Kairi scoffed. "You're kidding, right?" she asked, "Crescent cheats and he's still not winning!"

"Watch." Riku held up his cards, then asked, "Hey, Crescent, got any sevens?"

Crescent eyed his hand nervously, then answered in an obvious lie. "Go fish."

Sora inspected Crescent's hand, then snatched a card from it. "You're right. He's lying. Here you go."

Sora handed the card over to Riku, who took it in his free hand and, with difficulty, put out the pair. "Thanks." thanked Riku.

"Well, hopefully, Sakuzy has the next Pure Heart." Sora said, taking a seat on Riku's bed.

Kairi nodded. "He sent us a message that said he did and we should meet him and Joyex at Radiant Garden." she relayed.

Riku inspected his crystal arm, then said, "It'll be good to have my hand back…at last."

Sora's eyes widened, then he quickly said, "And when we're there, we're dropping Crescent off!"

Crescent pounded his fist into the Gummi Ship's floor with a loud clang as he groaned, "Aw man!"

Their ship then turned to the Radiant Garden and blasted off faster than the eye could register.

Censor Monkeys

Three monkeys—one blind, one mute, and one deaf—who make sure that all the noises are approved. Whenever Sora calls, they silence an immediate command from the enemy. They first appeared in _The House of Mouse_ 2000.

_That would be the Censor Monkey's Command Silencer._


	47. A Pirate's Life for Me

Chapter 47: A Pirate's Life For Me

Port Royal...

Sakuzy and Joyex were dumped into the cold ocean water and were barely keeping themselves surfaced. "Darn it, Joyex! Why'd we have to end up in the ocean?!" Sakuzy asked, grouchily.

Joyex's hands shot out of the water as he said, "Don't look at me, I didn't touch ANYTHING."

Sakuzy sighed, then said, "Well, at least we know that the next Pure Heart's here."

"What now?" asked Joyex.

"What else?" Sakuzy asked, "Swim to shore, if we're near enough."

The two swam at top speed for a while before realizing that they could be MILES from land, PLUS the ocean currents were going against them. Out of other options, Joyex got out the Frog Charm.

"Kermit!"

In a flash of light, Kermit appeared, ready for some form of combat, but then noticed something. "What? No Heartless? No Crystalli? Why'd you summon me?" he asked.

Joyex gave Kermit a look that seemed to scream bloody murder. "Just get us to shore you lousy amphibian." Joyex threatened.

Kermit flinched, and answered in a shaky voice. "O-okay t-then…" Kermit took both Sakuzy and Joyex by the hand and, in a single bound, brought them to a sandy beach. As soon as he touched ground, Kermit made a face. "Sheesh. What a doozy THAT summon was…"

The frog then vanished back into his own world, muttering under his breath. But just as the amphibian made his exit, Sakuzy and Joyex noticed a ship not too far away and quickly retreated into the tropical trees.

"Oh, don't tell me that there are PIRATES here..." Sakuzy said in disbelief.

Joyex shrugged, then said, "Okay, I won't."

Suddenly, a noise rang through the air. "Don't eat me." Joyex and Sakuzy looked up to see a parrot in the trees say the exact same words again. "Don't eat me."

"Oh, save it, Polly. I have no intention of eating you." Sakuzy said, ignoring the bird.

"Don't eat me."

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through the back of both their necks and they gave one yelp in pain. One was all they had, because they shortly blacked out with a strange, tribal person behind them with a blowpipe. When Sakuzy opened his eyes again, his eyes widened. "Joyex, old buddy, old pal...this would be a BAD time for you to wake up now.

Joyex's eyes fluttered open to find himself in what seemed to be severely camped quarters. He looked around to see that he was in a strange cage made of bones, but WHERE he was, he had yet to find out. Then, he looked down. "WHOA!!" he screamed, gripping the bone bars tightly. The spherical cage was suspended by a vine, over a deep canyon. After catching his breath, he turned to everyone else inside the cage and asked, "Did I miss something?!"

"Not much to explain." someone replied.

Joyex turned around as best he could to see a young man with long, black hair and a thin mustache. The man turned and decided to introduce himself. "I'm Will Turner. Care to explain who you are?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah." Joyex said, nervously, "I'm Joyex. Don't ask why, cuz I hate it when people do."

Will shrugged, then decided there and then to leave the subject be. Sakuzy, on the other hand, looked around and asked, "How long have we been here? And what's with these cages?"

Another man decided to answer that question. He had graying hair with side burns and a white shirt with a brown vest. "Well, let's put it this way. These cages weren't built until AFTER we got here." Sakuzy, Joyex, and Will let go of the bars in disgust as the man introduced himself to the two newcomers. "Name's Gibbs, by the way."

"Uh...hi?" Joyex said, weakly.

After a minute of silence, Sakuzy asked, "So, anyone care to explain or formulate a plan?"

"Well, I was looking for a friend, but the village now thinks he's their chief." Will explained, "Now we're stuck here."

Gibbs, raised a hand, then corrected Will. "That not be the case, Mr. Turner. They think he's a god in human form, not their chief. And they think that, in order to free him, they have to 'release him from his fleshy prison'." Sakuzy and Joyex gave Gibbs a questioning look and he added, "They want to eat him. And from what I hear, they'll be ready to cook him when the drums stop beating."

Now that Sakuzy thought about it, he could hear the faint beating of drums from the tropical jungle's innermost parts. However, he soon noticed that they had stopped. "I have one idea. Listen..." Sakuzy whispered his plan into Will's ear, who nodded as he understood it.

One minute later...

"PUSH!" Sakuzy ordered. The whole crew of pirates pushed on one side of the cage, swinging the vine they were suspended by and getting it closer to the wall, every pirate reaching for the wall, including Joyex and Sakuzy. However, it fell short by about a meter and they swung almost to the other side.

"AGAIN!" Will said, taking the words right out of Sakuzy's mouth. They did it again and, this time, they got so close that Joyex and Gibbs seized a handful of vines that netted down the sides of the wall. The only result was that they tore these vines off the wall and swung back to where they started.

"ONE MORE TIME!" Joyex shouted. With one last push, all crewmates got a good hold on the wall's rocky surface and held on tight. "YES! Now, climb up!" He told them, quickly. If there was one thing Joyex didn't want to do, it was to end up as a red splotch on the landscape.

"You heard the lad! Stick yer arms and legs through! Climb!" Gibbs barked. The pirates did as they were told and clambered up the wall, taking the cage with them on several pairs of arms and legs.

Within minutes, Sakuzy, Joyex, and the crewmates had gotten over the cliff's ledge, but had forgotten one thing: transportation. When they took one step forward, the cage rolled forward, taking them with it. As all the cage's residents tumbled around, Joyex managed to say, "There's...got to be...a better way...to do this!"

The cage rolled through the island's jungle and actually rolled UP a palm tree, then rolled back down again, bringing them to a halt. They had just begun to try and break out of their cage when they saw one thing they dreaded: the natives. "Dang! I thought we lost the creepy natives on Skull Island!" Sakuzy cursed. He racked his thoughts for any idea, which came quickly.

Fortunately, Will had the same idea. "Lift the cage and run!" he said.

Gibbs relayed the order, in his own words, though. "Lift the cage! Just like a lady's dress!" he barked.

Sakuzy, Joyex, and the crewmates stuck their legs through the cage's bone bars and steadily made their way through the jungle. It was funny, however, that one of the pirates was very short and was lifted clean off the ground with the cage. Moving around wasn't exactly easy, the lack of leg-space very apparent as they scuttled around. Sakuzy, at that moment, pointed out to Joyex, "Let's face it. This isn't the most awkward position we've ever been in."

Suddenly, the crew came across a deep ravine that led to a watery crevice down below. They came to a halt, but hadn't even tried to go around it when the natives surrounded them, this time, armed with bows and arrows. It was either face the natives or fall down the crevice...they chose fall, which they did. The cage landed in the water with a SPLASH and actually battered the sharp rocks down at the bottom. The rocks broke right through the bones and, after a good, strenuous pull, the cage fell apart.

"Well, that went well." Joyex said, shaking the water out of his messy, black hair. THAT statement was changed, however, when the natives simply fired down at them, their arrows pelting the water and narrowly missing them. They swam back and forth, but had just gotten shelter when the natives stopped shooting at them.

The ravine, it seemed, led to the shoreline where they started and had no sooner gotten there when they saw a pair of pirates trying to cast off...with much difficulty. As they reached the ship, Gibbs was trying to get on while Will didn't appear to be in a hurry.

"Come on!" Gibbs ordered, "We have to haul anchor!"

"No." Will responded, "I'm not leaving without Jack!"

There was suddenly quite an enormous kerfuffle and Sakuzy and Joyex noticed an entire crowd of angry-looking natives. They were chasing a man with a red bandana on his head, tan skin, long hair, and beads in said hair. The man himself looked very frightened, but who wouldn't?

"Never mind, let's go!" Will said, changing his mind.

As Will got onto the ship, Sakuzy and Joyex decided there and then that they would sooner join them than become prisoners again. They clambered onto the ship like squirrels as the tide came in.

The man hopped onto the ropes of the ship just as it headed out to sea, leaving the natives stranded and very disappointed. He turned back to them, then addressed them. "And so, you shall remember this day as the day you almost caught..." Suddenly, a wave struck the shore and utterly soaked him. The pirate spat water out of his mouth, then finished his sentence. "Captain Jack Sparrow."

Sakuzy and Joyex slumped onto the ship's deck. After that experience, they hoped that they would never see another mob of natives again.

"Well, Zola, didn't expect to see you again." Jack Sparrow said, somewhat surprised to see them, "Riddle me this. Who's your friend?"

Sakuzy looked up at the guy, then looked around, expecting he was talking to someone else. He then asked, "You talkin' to me?"

Jack cocked an eyebrow, then realization hit him like a bullet. "Oh. I'm terribly sorry. Thought you were an old mate of mine." he apologized.

"I see. Anyway, I'm Sakuzy and this is Joyex." he told him, "And you are?"

"Captain Jack Sparrow." the pirate answered, "Greatest pirate to sail the seven seas." Sakuzy rolled his eyes as Jack began to talk nonstop. However, one thing the pirate said was enough to catch his attention. "Even fought off an odd bunch of crystal beasties."

Sakuzy turned and asked, "Crystal Beasties?" When Jack nodded, Sakuzy corrected him. "Crystalli."

Jack obviously didn't like this correction, for he seemed to take a step back. "So, Crystalli are what they're called, is it?" he asked, "Whatever they are, I don't tolerate them. They're makin' us pirates look like proper gents." Joyex paused for a while while Jack Sparrow looked around, then shrugged at the Nobody. "What? Do I offend?" he asked.

"You're bizarre, you know that?" Joyex pointed out.

"I've been called worse." Jack admitted, "Now, rumors are coming that there are even more of these things out at sea...which is right where we are. And to make matters worse...there's something else out there."

Sakuzy suddenly felt the area around them get notably colder, but hadn't really changed at all. "Something else? Who?"

Jack almost explained when something darted past him with a high-pitched screech. "Bloody monkey!" Jack cursed, chasing after the blur. It WAS a monkey, dressed in a miniature pirate outfit and a piece of cloth clutched in its hands. Jack chased after the little primate until he got so fed up, he whipped out a pistol and shot it.

"Jack, are you CRAZY?!" Sakuzy said in disbelief.

"Well, he is a little bit, considering he took me parchment!" Jack Sparrow explained, angrily.

"I was talking to YOU." Sakuzy corrected.

Jack's eyes widened, then said, "Well, that's a surprise. The monkey's named Jack, too."

Joyex stared after the monkey, which darted around the pirate ship, squawking like a parrot. "Uh...why isn't the monkey dead? You did shoot him after all." he asked.

"Oh, wait 'till nightfall and get 'im in moonlight. It'll all make sense in that." Jack answered, still trying to get at the monkey.

Joyex rolled his eyes, then put his fingers in his mouth and emitted a shrill whistle. Jack the Monkey stopped just as Jack Sparrow dove for him, causing the pirate to fly forward and land on the deck with a CRASH. The monkey then, calmly, went over to Joyex and clambered up to his shoulder. Joyex held out his hand and Jack put the cloth in it.

The Nobody unfolded the material to show a tracing of a two-pronged key of sorts. "What's this?" Joyex asked, tracing the outline with his finger.

Suddenly, someone snatched the material from Joyex's hand. Jack Sparrow had gotten up from his little wreck and taken it while Joyex was distracted. "Thank you for getting that back, mate." he said as he pocketed it.

"What is that?" Joyex asked, suspiciously.

Jack turned to Joyex, then asked, "That depends. Do you know much about Davy Jones?"

Joyex scratched his head, racking his thoughts for anything. "Sorry. Can't say I have."

Jack nodded. "Well, then that's good."

Back on the island, a man in a bluish green robe was observing the tracks left by the crew from their escape. He bent down to inspect some footprints in the jungle soil. They were surprisingly fresh; possibly only a day old. As the man stood up, he surveyed his surroundings. Around him were the bodies of natives that had tried to stop him. Some had deep wounds while others looked like they had been attacked by a wild animal.

"I'm close now...Better get to Sakuzy before that squid-head, Jones, gets to him first." he said to himself. The man walked back to the shore, then vanished in a light the same color as his cloak.

The Black Pearl...

Things were pretty casual on the Black Pearl. Jack the Monkey was causing havoc, stealing things on a whim from one of Sakuzy's Summon Charms to one pirate's wooden eye. It took that pirate (who Sakuzy came to know as Ragetti), his partner Pintel, and Sakuzy just to catch him. After they took the wooden eye back, Ragetti popped it back into his eye socket and rolled it to get used to it. "Thanks, mate." he said to Sakuzy.

"Uh...you're welcome?" Sakuzy answered, uneasily.

Joyex, who Jack had given the job up in the crows' nest, took out a telescope and peered in every direction. Starboard, Port, down, and even up, where he spotted...

Joyex: ENEMY!

Jack and Sakuzy jumped in alarm and each drew a weapon. Sakuzy got out his Eagle Feather Keyblade while Jack Sparrow got out his sword. As Sakuzy looked up, he saw what Joyex did: the crystals in the sky. The crystals shifted in midair, turning into the all-too-familiar Crystalli Soldiers and landed on the Black Pearl's deck with several thunking noises.

"Not these guys again!" Sakuzy said in a disgruntled tone.

Jack Sparrow gave Sakuzy a glance and asked, "Not the first time you've seen these savages, eh matey?"

However, none of them had made a move when they suddenly raised their guns in a cease-fire. Just as the group was about to strike, a hooded figure arrived in a flash of light and turned to Sakuzy, causing the Keyblader to start. "You."

The man whipped off his cloak to show a muscular, young man not much older than Sakuzy. He was completely bald and wore an expression harder than stone. He also had greenish-blue eyes and a crystal of the same color right over where his heart should have been. The glare of this man seemed to pierce both Sakuzy and Jack's souls.

Sakuzy kept his Keyblade out as he gripped it so hard his knuckles were almost white. "Hello, Aquamarine." he greeted coldly.

Jack turned to Sakuzy and cocked his head in confusion. "You know this crystal thing, So Oozy?" he asked.

Sakuzy grunted in disdain. Jack had gotten his name wrong. "It's SAKUZY. And yes, we go WAY back." he corrected and answered.

Then, the Crystalli spoke in a tough, somewhat gravelly voice. His voice matched someone that was about three years older, though. "The Crystalli have given you a deal, Sakuzy. And time's up!"

Natives

A tribal race on an island way off the coast of Port Royal. Not much is known about them...except that they're surprisingly primitive, believe Jack Sparrow is a god in human form, and have a craving for meat. They first appeared in _Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest _2006.

Mr. Gibbs

Fellow crewmate of the Black Pearl, Gibbs was once a pirate hunter, but is one now. He, like Jack, has a natural craving for rum. Despite this fact, he's got an extensive knowledge of the sea and some of its legends. He first appeared in _Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl _2003.

Jack the Monkey

The official pet of the Black Pearl, Jack used to be the pet of Captain Barbossa, but now he's kind of neutral. He's a mischievous monkey that will steal just about anything he can carry, often getting on Jack Sparrow's nerves. However, he cannot die, because he is still affected by the cursed Aztec gold. He first appeared in _Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl _2003.

Pintel and Ragetti

Once crewmembers of Barbossa, now working alongside Jack Sparrow, Pintel and Ragetti are an odd bunch. While Pintel is short-tempered and somewhat-aggressive, Ragetti is more humorous and dimwitted. Ragetti's also got a wooden eye that has a thing for popping out or getting stolen. They first appeared in _Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl _2003.

_This time around, Port Royal is different, cuz I recently watched Dead Man's Chest._


	48. Aquamarine

Chapter 48: Aquamarine

"Hello, Aquamarine."

Jack turned to Sakuzy and cocked his head in confusion. "You know this crystal thing So Oozy?"

Sakuzy grunted in disdain. Jack had gotten his name wrong. "It's SAKUZY. And yes, we go WAY back."

Then, the Crystalli spoke in a tough, somewhat gravelly voice. His voice matched someone that was about three years older, though. "The Crystalli have given you a deal, Sakuzy. And time's up!"

Sakuzy glowered at Aquamarine with a face that may have been carved from stone, matching the Crystalli's glare. "I thought I told Chrysallis that I'd rather stab myself." he pointed out, his Keyblade still at the ready.

Aquamarine shook his head, all the while his eyes fixed on Sakuzy. When he finished, he pointed his finger, accusingly at Sakuzy. "Hate to break it to ya, but he won't take that answer." he snarled.

Sakuzy scoffed. "Alright." he said, "HOW'S THIS FOR AN ANSWER?!" Sakuzy summoned his Keyblade and charged at Aquamarine with a battle cry.

Aquamarine didn't move, but simply held out his hand as though saying "stop". "Parley!" he called.

Sakuzy had jumped and stopped, comically, in midair before falling back to the ground. He got back to his feet, then asked, "What?"

Jack Sparrow slowly walked toward the tough-talking Crystalli and got between Sakuzy and Aquamarine, all the while trying to keep things calm. "Tis a part of the old pirate code. I may be a pirate, but still, I follow the code. If anyone issues Parley, it means that there will be no harm done to anyone until negotiations are complete." he explained, then stroked his thin beard. "Reminds me of the time when that Organizer was here. Is it becoming a habit with ye villains?" he asked.

Aquamarine scoffed as he folded his arms. "As a matter of fact, Sparrow, yes." he answered, shrewdly.

Joyex jumped down from the crows' nest and asked, "Alright, Aquamarine, what do have to give us?"

"This." Aquamarine held out his hand and unfolded it to show that he currently held a still-beating heart. Jack Sparrow goggled at it wide-eyed as Aquamarine smirked in pure malice.

"How'd you get yer hands on THAT?!" the pirate asked in shock.

Aquamarine simply pocketed the heart with a stifled chuckle. "Never you mind, Sparrow. Never you mind." he said.

Sakuzy folded his arms across his chest as he rolled his eyes, then directed his attention back to Aquamarine. "And what do YOU want in return?" he asked, raising his brow.

Aquamarine's smile vanished as he pointed his finger at Sakuzy. "You." Sakuzy took a step back and scowled, while Aquamarine's increased in size as he lowered his hand. The glare he gave became about as welcome as an accusing finger. "You're as slow as ever, Sakuzy. THAT part didn't change a bit for you."

Suddenly, Joyex leapt between the two with his arms spread out in a dramatic sort of way. "Don't take Sakuzy! Take me instead!" he begged.

Aquamarine stared for a moment, then huffed. "We don't need YOU, Nobody." he pointed out, "We don't need someone who was never supposed to exist."

Joyex's dramatic pose came to a crash as he flinched slightly and clutched the part where his heart would have been. "Ow. That hurt."

Aquamarine returned his attention to Sakuzy and Jack. "We need Sakuzy to get a new Crystalli host." he explained, "If he does oblige, I'm sure that he'd make a FINE member."

Sakuzy suddenly matched Aquamarine's glare with his own and got so close that he could feel the Crystalli's breath. "Drop dead!"

Aquamarine didn't answer, but he simply asked one question in a manner eerily similar to Saix when he confronted Sora in Twilight Town. "Now, Sakuzy, do you want to go the same way as Maya?" he asked.

Sakuzy felt like his heart had been hit with an invisible arrow. Aquamarine smirked; NOW he had him. "Maya?" Sakuzy asked, quietly.

Joyex quickly shook his friend until he got back to the real world. "Stay with us, buddy!" he coached, "He's just trying to trick you!"

Aquamarine took one step forward, then gestured to himself with his thumb. "As for where I was getting to, I've been given orders to take you in. Conscious or not." Aquamarine seemed to reach for his so-called "acquaintance" as though expecting him to take his hand.

Jack, on the other hand, had other plans and whipped out his pistol, pocketing his sword. "And I say nay. You see, So Oozy needs a ship to find a bit of treasure and I'm afraid I can't let 'im go with ye, mate."

Joyex nodded, then said, "For once, Swallow, I agree with ya."

Jack turned on Joyex and corrected the Nobody. "That's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow to you, Boy X."

Before Aquamarine could even summon the urge to sock it to the pirate and Nobody, he felt a piercing pain in his right side. Jack had shot him and that provided enough distraction for Joyex to toss his chain whip upward. It looped around the mast, then fastened itself good and tight. Joyex took his feet off the ground and put all his weight into a swing that sent him forward and thumped Aquamarine in the middle, sending him right off the Black Pearl and into the ocean below with a "splash".

As Joyex landed on the ground, Jack gave him a weird look. "Well, mate, I certainly didn't expect that." he admitted.

At that moment, Will went up to Jack and made a very quick and to-the-point demand. "Jack, I need your compass. Elizabeth will die unless I get it back to Port Royal."

Jack thought it over, then made a counter offer. "Alright, William, how 'bout we make a deal? You help me find THIS and then you can save your bonnie lass, ol' what's-her-face. Savvy?"

Back with Aquamarine, the Crystalli ran aground on a crag and crawled ashore. He looked out to the sea; he had probably washed ashore miles away from the Black Pearl by now. He got back to his feet and stared out to sea, his expression as hard as stone. "Sakuzy, that coward." he growled, "Always running from his problems as always."

Suddenly, a cooler, more ominous male voice echoed through the Crystalli's ear. "I told Chrysallis he should have sent ME instead. I wouldn't have issued parley just to show off."

Aquamarine turned on his heel to see a man in purple robes standing on another rock just behind him. "Who asked YOU, Amethyst?!" he spat.

The man known as "Amethyst" clicked his tongue and waved his index finger back and forth. "Not very friendly today, are we?" he asked.

Aquamarine walked past Amethyst, making very sure to brush him with his shoulder. "Shove off, egghead. Sakuzy's mine."

Amethyst smiled under hood as he asked ONE question in a snide way. "Have an interest in your old friend, huh?"

Aquamarine froze on the spot, then turned on his ally and bashed his fist into the purple-clad man's midsection. He then kicked him to the ground in pure rage and obviously was still angry as he roared something to his friend while he was on the ground. "He WASN'T my friend!"

Amethyst chuckled as he simply stood back up and clutched the place where Aquamarine punched him. "Whatever." he said, coolly, "You still had some form of respect for him before."

Amethyst vanished in a flash of purple light as he grinned again under his robe. Aquamarine glared at the sea to see the Black Pearl out to see. He looked at his hand, then clenched it into a VERY hard fist. "Sakuzy, no matter how far you run or how hard you try and hide, I WILL find you!" he growled to himself, "And whether you want to or not, you WILL end up one of us!"

Aquamarine put his arms together and snapped them apart as bluish-green light coiled around them like serpents until they flickered out. When they did, a pair of blades that bore surprising resemblance to manta ray wings attached to his forearms, a blade on each one. He then ran took an impressive jump right into the sea below.

Aquamarine

A Crystalli host that is VERY tough and quick to anger. He and Sakuzy seem to know each other well and someone named Amethyst says that he has an unusual interest in the Keyblader from the future. He tried bribing Jack into giving him Sakuzy in exchange for the heart of Davy Jones, but whether that IS his heart remains to be seen.

_I already have ONE voice suggestion for Aquamarine—David Sobolov. He played Depth Charge on the Beast Wars series. If you have any other suggestions, I'd like to hear them._


	49. Davy Jones

Chapter 49: Davy Jones

On the Black Pearl, the group looked like they had just run a mile. Joyex and Sakuzy looked fine while Jack Sparrow looked, there was no other word for it, SPOOKED. "So, that Crystal person has the Heart of Davy Jones..." he said, quietly.

Sakuzy was a bit confused and shrugged. "So some guy's got a spare in case of a bad heart transplant." he pointed out, "So what?"

Jack got to his feet, and Sakuzy suddenly got the feeling that THAT was the wrong thing to say. "That was no ordinary heart. That be the heart of Davy Jones. Whoever controls the heart controls the sea itself."

Joyex's eyes widened as he said, "Cool."

Jack nodded as he said, "It IS, Boy X. VERY cool."

"It's JOYEX." Joyex corrected, "So, what now?"

Sakuzy thought this over, out loud, "Well, with Aquamarine on our tail, I'd recommend leaving the world…" he quickly changed his mind as he said, "Nah. We've still got to find the Pure Heart. Still, I'd recommend leaving the immediate area. We've gotta check if that heart really was the heart of this Davy Jones."

Jack Sparrow smiled, then said to Sakuzy, "Well, it's easy to get that from a pirate, mate."

"So, do we get eye patches?" Joyex asked, hopefully.

Jack looked at Joyex up in the crows' nest, then shook his head, as though insulted. As Jack walked away, he answered with his back turned. "Nay, mate. That's only with those fake pirates, same as peg legs and parrots."

There was a sudden squawk as one of the pirates' parrot fluttered its wings grouchily. "I heard that." he squawked.

Sakuzy sighed in defeat and said, in a very unexpressive way, "Aye-aye."

While on their way to who-knows-where, Sakuzy had to deal with Jack the monkey constantly harassing him. The little primate was still cursed and it sometimes chilled Sakuzy to the core to see him in the moonlight as a half-decomposed skeleton. He also had to deal with the other pirates (one of which had a parrot talk for him but often repeated words) and alcohol. Sakuzy refused, but Joyex ended up getting drunk and had Jack confused with his mother for a while. But the one thing he had fear of was the pirate's code of double-crossing.

One day, aboard the Pearl, Sakuzy was out on deck and leaning on the balcony. Jack had gone off to visit a quote-un-quote "friend" of his that lived in a very dank-looking village, inland. The Futuristic Keyblader put his face in his hand and shook his head. He and Joyex had decided not to go in with Jack and the only company they had was Mr. Cotton, the owner of the parrot and he wasn't very talkative. The poor pirate was told to mind the boat and since he couldn't tell anyone else that, due to lack of a tongue, he had to do as he was told.

"Any more of this and I'm gonna have heart failure." Sakuzy complained. He heard a moan and turned to see Joyex struggle on deck, looking a bit green in the face. "Hangover?"

"Hangover." Joyex answered, "And the fact that the ship's making me seasick isn't helping. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Joyex covered his mouth and went to the opposite balcony. Sakuzy turned to avoid seeing something, but that didn't stop him from hearing retching and something hit the water. When he turned back around, the Nobody was no longer green, but was looking awfully pale. "Upchucked?" he asked.

"Upchucked." asked Joyex, "And why the heck are we repeating each other's words over and over again?!"

Sakuzy shrugged. "Maybe it's be a running gag."

"Well, it'd better stop! Cuz I'm SICK OF IT!" Joyex said, frustrated.

Suddenly, the lifeboats came back to the Black Pearl and Sakuzy and Joyex had to heave them back on deck. Jack was back on the ship with a jar of sorts in hand.

"There you are, Jack. How'd it go?" Sakuzy asked. He made to touch the jar that Jack had, but the pirate simply smacked his hand away.

"Went fine, but don't touch me jar of dirt, So Oozy."

Sakuzy stared after Jack as he walked away to the Captain's Quarters, then turned to Joyex. "Do you think he mixes these names up on purpose?" he asked.

Sakuzy and Joyex went after Jack and met him in his quarters, but it turned out Will had the same idea. "So, what'd you find out, Captain?" Joyex asked.

"Well, Boy X," the pirate responded, "in order to find the Dead Man's Chest, we'll need to find the key. And I know the perfect place to start looking..."

As the crew set sail, night came with alarming suddenness and a tropical storm had brewed within minutes. When the Black Pearl came to a halt, Sakuzy looked over to see a pirate ship that had apparently hit a crag. "So...what's this?" Sakuzy asked, scratching his head.

"It be the ship we're looking for." Jack answered, "Well, who'll be going to try and find the key?"

Will stepped forward. "I will."

Jack nodded, then leaned close to Will and added, "If you see Davy Jones, just tell him you're trying to settle the deal with Jack."

"I'll go with him." Sakuzy said, stepping forward. Joyex almost went with him, but Sakuzy held him back. "No. Stay here and make sure Jack behaves." On seeing the confused look on Joyex's face, Sakuzy added, "Both of them."

As Will and Sakuzy rowed out to the wrecked ship, which had been smashed in half, Jack quickly whispered something to the other pirates. "Douse the lights...we don't want to be seen, mateys." They did so quickly and decisively.

Will and Sakuzy boarded the wrecked ship, searching for anything that looked out-of-place. Suddenly, they saw something wash up onto half of the ship...a person. They rushed over and rolled it over on its back...but soon they wished they hadn't. Instead of a human face, this thing had none. It looked like it had been sucked inward, leaving only a bloody hole right in the center. Both cringed in disgust and took several steps away from it, but then the sea seemed to get very violent.

Back on the Black Pearl, Joyex looked up to see the source of the sea's sudden rage. It was a giant ship that was a shade of green, seemed to be leading a storm behind it on a leash, and was covered covered sail-to-stern in barnacles. It also had the appearance of a gargantuan sea monster, its front looking like the jaws of a giant, predatorial fish of sorts. While most of the pirates were a bit spooked, Jack, on the other hand, looked like he saw a ghost.

"What's up, Swallow?" Joyex asked.

"That's Sparrow, matey." the pirate pointed out, "And the Flying Dutchman's what's up."

"What's the Flying Dutchman?" Joyex asked, having never been to this world before.

"Only the most feared ship in all the seven seas. It's HIS ship." Jack answered, still spooked.

"You mean Davy Jones?" Joyex asked, looking out at it.

Jack Sparrow gazed back at the ship, then said, his eyes still on it, "You'll see soon enough."

Aboard the wrecked ship, Sakuzy and Will got a good look at the ship that had just come right out of the sea. From what they could tell, they had just gotten on the wrong ship. Soon, the halved ship was boarded, but the crew was HARDLY human; they were all hideously deformed and looked like stuff from the sea.

In an instant, Will whipped out a sword as the Eagle Feather flashed into Sakuzy's outstretched hand. The odd crew took out weapons of their own, then launched their attack. Sakuzy parried like mad, striking at any opportune moment, and actually nailed one across the face. Will, on the other hand, tried to work out a strategy. He knocked over a barrel of oil, then smashed a lantern onto it. The oil burst into flame, causing some of the crewmates to scatter in fright.

Other crewmates, on the other fin, were undeterred. One clasped Sakuzy around the neck with what appeared to be a lobster claw while another belted Will across the head. Both were immobilized in seconds and taken onboard the Flying Dutchman.

Aboard the Black Pearl, Jack watched the whole thing from a spyglass with a worried expression. "Okay, THAT could present a problem." he said, worriedly.

Joyex took the spyglass and got a good look at it as well. His jaw fell open at the sight of the gruesome-looking crewmates as he said, "How could this get any worse?"

Will and Sakuzy were brought onto the Flying Dutchman's eerie deck. Along with them were a few frightened men of the sea; possibly survivors of the shipwreck. Suddenly, there was a resounding "thunk" from down the hall and both Sakuzy and Will glanced to their left to see who was there.

The noise, it seemed, heralded the arrival of the captain of the Flying Dutchman. It was a man...sort of. He had a face eerily similar to an octopus head with tentacles in place of a beard and mustache, a crab leg for a peg leg and claw for a left hand, and several barnacles adorned on a captain's getup. On this eerie sailor's belt was a rusty sword and in place of his right hand's index finger was a small tentacle, which fingered a pipe.

Will and Sakuzy both had a good idea as to who this guy was, for they both whispered to each other, "Davy Jones."

Davy Jones flexed his pincer-hand, then turned to a shuddering sailor and took a long smoke from his pipe. He asked, in an Irish-sounding sailor talk, "Do ye fear death? Do ye fear that dark, crushing abyss?" In a surprising feat, Davy Jones blew the smoke out of his octopus siphon, rather than his mouth.

The sailor didn't answer, but one of his mates had an answer already. "Don't!" he shouted.

Davy Jones whirled on the man, then asked, "Do YE fear death?"

The second mate simply scrunched his eyes, then shakily said, "I'll take my chances."

Davy Jones shrugged, then snapped his fingers. As Will and Sakuzy watched, a strange Heartless walked over to the man. The Heartless was acid-green with tangles of seaweed around its body, the Heartless symbol on its chest, and a very fishlike appearance. It looked like something Sakuzy saw from "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" once. As he watched, the Fishman Heartless wrapped its webbed hands around the second mate's neck, then wrenched it to the side, snapping his spine. Davy Jones' crew hooted with laughter as one crew member took the man and heaved him overboard to the ocean's depths.

"Now," Jones said, turning back to his original victim, "I can kill yeh, but if you're too frightened, I can prolong your judgment on one condition: join my crew. So, do you join?"

The crewmate shuddered, but slowly nodded. "Yes." he answered, earning a satisfied nod from Jones.

Jones walked down the line of sailors, then came to Will and Sakuzy. He looked them over, then turned to his crew with a huff. "Why do you bring me these scallywags? They're neither dead nor dying!" he barked.

"Jack sent me to settle your deal." Will answered.

Jones froze in place, then turned and cocked his head. Thinking he hadn't heard them, Sakuzy repeated, "Jack Sparrow sent us to settle your deal."

On the Black Pearl, Jack looked at Jones from his spyglass and flinched when Davy Jones turned and spotted him. Jack lowered his spyglass and almost jumped a foot in the air when he saw the captain of the Flying Dutchman right in front of him. He had gone from his ship to the Black Pearl so fast that he had seemingly teleported. When Joyex saw that Jones was right beside him, he

"Davy Jones." Jack Sparrow said in a quiet voice.

"We made a deal, Jack Sparrow. Time is up."

Davy Jones took a menacing step forward while Jack took a step back, trying to get away. The pirate's eyes darted back and forth, then held up his hands in his usual, frightened demeanor. "Wait, what if we made a deal?" he asked, quickly.

Davy Jones held up his crab-claw hand, then clacked it threateningly at Jack. "We already had one, Sparrow." he pointed out, "I gave you the Black Pearl for thirteen years in exchange for your soul."

Jack Sparrow scratched the back of his head, then looked over at the Flying Dutchman. "How about you take the strapping young man with a Keyblade instead?" he asked.

Davy Jones froze, then stroked his tentacle beard as his face curved into a smile. "A Key wielder, is he?" he asked, interest in his voice, "Maleficent's gonna want one out of the picture...But still, tis not enough for yer eternal soul."

Jack looked at Joyex, who folded his arms across his chest and spoke in, what was possibly his coldest voice yet. "Don't even think about it."

Suddenly, a gleam appeared in Jack's eye as another idea got into his head. "What about Mr. Will Turner? Fine young lad, obedient, and an excellent soprano. So what say ye to that?"

Jack held out his hand in a friendly manner, but when Jones shook it, his tentacle finger wrapped around it like a miniature snake to keep Jack from going anywhere. "You'll need fifty souls to exchange for your own." Jones informed, "You need forty-eight more and three days to find them. Pray ye don't disappoint me, Jack."

Jones released Jack and walked away, vanishing in a spray of sea and reappearing back on The Flying Dutchman, which and sailed away before vanishing into the sea that it had come from.

The moment Jones was gone, Joyex punched Jack square in the jaw, sending the captain skidding to the ground. "You cowardly little…" Joyex growled, pulling back his fist again.

Jack Sparrow reached into his effects, then pulled out his shotgun. When he got up, he asked, "Now, Boy X, are you completely daft?!"

Joyex reached up, then jerked Sparrow to eye level by the collar and spoke with all the rage he felt like, as Sakuzy wasn't there to squeeze the locket. "Sakuzy and I saved your sorry life from Aquamarine and you sold him out! If I knew you'd do that, I would've let those native guys kill you! And it's Joyex! GOT IT?!"

Meanwhile, on the Flying Dutchman, Davy Jones was filling the newly-recruited souls in on life on the Flying Dutchman. Several ghastly-looking people were lined up with Sakuzy and Will among them. Turned out that since they were now part of his crew, they had to serve him until he let them off...which was about a century.

"So, let me get this straight. We won't get off this ship for a hundred years?" Sakuzy asked, his eyes wide.

Davy Jones strode over to Sakuzy and looked him in the eye as he took another long smoke from his pipe. "Not unless I command ye so." he pointed out, then blew out a puff of smoke through his octopus head's siphon. The smoke choked Sakuzy slightly, but he dusted that off.

"And if we stay on here long enough, we'll basically turn into those semi-aquatic freaks?" Sakuzy pointed over to Jones' crew, all of which were part sea creature. Now that he was in close range, he could see some of them with a bit more detail. There was a guy with a hammerhead that really freaked him out as well as one guy with a hermit crab head. Finally, there was one with little spikes coming out of his skull like a sea urchin. Sakuzy didn't want to know how deep they were in the guy's head.

"Aye. That be your life now. Life isn't easy, and neither is the afterlife." Jones said, often at times spitting seawater in his face.

"Well, in THAT case, I'll be going now!" Sakuzy, despite some warning looks from the crew and Will, took the huge hunk of coral off the wall he was adjacent to and dashed to the balcony. However, the coral turned out to be a member of Jones' crew, because it had a face and spoke.

"Hey! Put me down!" the coral man said, trying to thrash free. However, his rigid shell wasn't just stiff, but fragile, so he soon ceased fighting against it.

Sakuzy ignored the coral man's demand, dove into the water without any regard for what might be in it, then started paddling himself away from the ship, using the coral man's body like a boogie board…that is until he heard something. Namely, the theme music of a certain man-eating great white shark. "Immediately on that tune of D-minor, I realize the foolishness of this maneuver." he said to himself.

Sakuzy was right, because a green tentacle easily a quarter of a mile long and as thick as a pine tree erupted from the sea and wrapped around Sakuzy before hauling him into the air. All the while, Sakuzy screamed as he flailed around in the air until the monster tossed him back on the Flying Dutchman's deck with a dull "thud".

Jones smiled, then stood over Sakuzy, showing every hint of satisfaction. "So, are you going to try that again, lad? Or will you become food for the Kraken?"

Sakuzy paused, then shrugged indifferently. "Most likely." he replied.

Davy Jones apparently didn't like Sakuzy's answer, for he pulled out a rusty, barnacle-covered sword and put it so close to Sakuzy's neck that it touched him. "Then don't even think of trying, or else I'll slit that little throat of yours, you little whelp." he said, threateningly.

Sakuzy simply stared back at Davy Jones with a bitter look on his face. "Right. And believe me, I'm ready for death. I've been left with virtually nothing." he said, his expression cold.

Davy Jones smirked as he withdrew his sword and simply pointed it at Sakuzy like an accusing finger. "Nearly breaks me heart, if I had one." he said, his smile not even fading.

The captain of the Flying Dutchman sheathed his sword and turned to his crew. "Men! Take this boy to his punishment of dishes!" he barked, then walked away while his crewmen seized Sakuzy around the arm and marched him to the ship's underlevels. After being violently tossed in there by the hammerhead guy, Sakuzy rose to his feet. He grabbed a cloth, then got a good look at the dishes he had to clean; plates that were covered in shark chum, some form of seafood, and barnacles.

Sakuzy grunted as he saw what he had to work on. "Ah, crud." He turned on the sound of creaking wood to see Will checking in on him.

"You okay? I saw what Davy Jones did and..." Will said, striding over to him.

"Don't worry, Will. I'm fine." Sakuzy assured, rubbing his side. He thought he bruised something when the Kraken tossed him back onto the Flying Dutchman. Then, with a sigh, he set to work on the dishes. To strike conversation while he was working, he said, "Well, I guess we're stuck here..."

Will took another cloth, then set to lightening Sakuzy's load. "Yes." he heaved a sigh, then said, "And I was about to be married, too."

Sakuzy looked over at Will, then remembered a name the young man had said earlier. "Is she that Elizabeth you told Jack about earlier?" he asked.

Will nodded. "Yes. Yes she is."

Sakuzy set back to his work, then said, "Don't worry, Will. We're probably not gonna stay long."

Will turned to look at Sakuzy with an expression that seemed to say, "is this real?" He then asked, "You have a plan, I take it?"

Sakuzy nodded. "Exactly" he responded, "If Jack won't come back of his own free will, my buddy Joyex will force him to come. I'm sure of it!" He gave Will a good clap on the back, then said, "You'd better get outta here. If that shark guy catches you doing work with me, I don't think he'll like it."

Will actually smiled, then gave the dish he was working on one last scrub before leaving. Sakuzy heaved a sigh as he looked at the work he and Will had done so far. The food had been removed, but they would need a chisel to get those barnacles off. _Ah, close enough. _Sakuzy thought to himself.

Davy Jones

A legendary pirate of the seas who's allied himself with Maleficent and the Heartless. He collects desperate seafarers that are either dead or dying to be on his ship as his crewmates which eventually turns them into hideous part-sea creatures. He originally wanted Jack's soul, but he took Sakuzy and Will's in exchange. Despite his reputation, he doesn't want this role and would want a normal life in exchange for his position. He first appeared in _Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest_ 2006.

The Kraken

Davy Jones' loyal pet, the Kraken bears strong resemblance to a giant squid or octopus with tentacles a quarter of a mile long. It is rumored to suck the faces right off people and take ships down to a watery grave. When Jones wants an enemy dead, the Kraken will usually make very sure of it. It first appeared in _Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest _2006.

Fishman Heartless

A species of Heartless that is amphibious and serves under Davy Jones and his crew. They can walk on land like a man, but underwater is where their true strength lies.

_The next charm is the XIII Charm and THIS is the last chapter. I'm gonna post it, because in the NEXT chapter, he appears._


	50. Old Friends Fighting Together

Chapter 50: Old Friends Fighting Together

Sakuzy and Will waited and waited for any sign that Jack and Joyex were coming back to save them. Pages on their calendar started falling off and Sakuzy seemed to get shaggier. It turned out that the pages on the calendar that were coming off were falling off because they got wet from the sea air. Sakuzy finally took the calendar and shredded it to pieces.

"Stupid calendar, stupid sea air." he muttered, earning a strange look from Will, "I'll get rid of the fake beard now." Sakuzy pulled off the beard and threw it on the ground, then looked out to sea and sighed. "What's taking them so long?" he asked.

Will walked over with an exasperated look on his face. "Sakuzy, it's only been twenty minutes." he pointed out.

Sakuzy suddenly realized how long they had been gone, then sighed. "Yeah. But it feels like twenty years. I know it's ridiculous, but Joyex WILL come back! I know it!"

"Well," Will pointed out, "You must remember that sometimes, good things come to those who wait."

Three days later…

Tortuga, a foul, pirate-infested isle to you and me. But to a pirate like Captain Jack Sparrow, it was a wonderful pirate-infested isle. Jack had decided to start harvesting souls here and had left Joyex to be the swabbie; cleaning up the ship. When he was done, he had a pretty good time teaching the parrot a few interesting words and phrases, not to mention swinging around on his chain like Tarzan.

Jack Sparrow came back onboard with a few new faces...and found Joyex asleep at the wheel. Literally. He took out his pistol and fired into the air, waking Joyex in an instant. "There'll be no lollygagging on my ship, Boy X." he pointed out.

When Joyex got a good look at the new crewmates, two in particular caught his attention. One had ragged, brown hair and a very messy uniform getup while the other wore a hat, trying to conceal something. "Who're your friends?" the Nobody asked.

"Well, mate, allow me to introduce James Norrington..." Jack gestured to the ragged man, who instantly stormed off into the ship's interior. On seeing Joyex stare after him, the captain added, "Also has a few issues with me in the past."

Joyex understood full-well, but then pointed to the one with the hat. "Who's he?" he asked.

Suddenly, the "he" turned out to be a "she" as she removed her hat to reveal long hair the color of straw. "Elizabeth Swann." she answered, "I'm looking for Will Turner and Jack is going to lead me to him."

Joyex stared. This wasn't exactly the first time he had seen a girl disguise herself as a man. "O-kay. I'm just going to walk away and get back to the crows' nest."

Joyex and Jack were on the Black Pearl with Joyex in the crow's nest. Night had fallen and Joyex was using the telescope that Jack had given him for just the occasion. Jack, on the other hand, was at the wheel. "Ah, this is worthless." Joyex groaned, "We've been searching this long and the only thing I've found is that whale over there..."

Joyex pointed downward to see that there was a whale, which was apparently not too fond of him. When said whale surfaced, it blasted Joyex with a burst from its blowhole. In the blink of an eye, Joyex was covered in water and whale snot, not to mention he looked wind-blown.

Jack saw Joyex up in the crows' nest and grinned, showing off a few of his gold teeth. "Well, makin' friends already, aren't we?" he asked.

Joyex tried to finger-comb his hair when suddenly something was tossed up to him. Joyex fumbled with said item until he found out it was a compass of all things. However, it had to be broken, for it didn't point north and wavered in every direction. "Hey, Jack, what's with the busted compass?" the Nobody called.

Jack Sparrow looked back up at Joyex, then answered, "My compass is many things, Boy X, but broken is not one of 'em." Joyex looked at the compass, which simply pointed in another direction from the previous time. "No, it always points to what you desire most." Jack explained, "For, if you want yer friend back, then you'll want the heart of Davy Jones. If you want your friend, it'll lead you straight to the chest. Savvy?"

Joyex looked at the compass, which spun in circles a little bit, then pointed in one direction and stayed there. "That way, captain!" he said, pointing east.

Jack smiled as he turned a few degrees port, then sailed off in said direction. "We have our heading..."

A few hours later, Joyex spotted an all-too-familiar storm: a herald of the Flying Dutchman. "Flying Dutchman ahoy, Captain Joe Swallow!

Jack Sparrow winced, then said, "It's Captain JACK SPARROW! And we weren't supposed to find the bloody ship. We were supposed to find the Dead Man's chest."

Joyex tied his chain whip to the crow's nest and climbed down it until he was face-to-face with Jack Sparrow…only upside down. From his point of view, his ponytail fell up and the sky was now the ground. He managed to keep himself attached to the chain whip because he held on with his hands. (He was in a Spider-man position, in other words) he also had a rather disgruntled look on his face.

"Either way, you STILL sound like a songbird. And excuse me for not getting my desire straight." he said, gesturing to himself with one hand.

"Never mind that, Boy X."

"It's Joyex, Swallow."

"Let's just get goin'. This conversation's gettin' nowhere fast, matey." Jack said, returning to the wheel.

Joyex released the chain whip and landed, ninja-like, on the ground. He then gave his chain a good tug and it came twirling back to him in seconds. "You're tellin' me, Cap'n."

"Perhaps the compass would be better off int the hands of someone else." Jack said, snatching his compass back. He took the compass, then handed it to Elizabeth and told her the same thing he told Joyex. When she wanted to find the chest in order to save Will, the compass turned a little bit south. "NOW, we have our heading..." Jack said, returning to the wheel.

Joyex was glad that this would be over soon. It took about a week to find the blasted ship--four days were spent recruiting people to go in Jack's place, but they stopped and decided that finding the chest was more important.

Unfortunately, someone else had found the Flying Dutchman. Someone named Aquamarine. The Crystalli had snuck onto the Pearl without them even noticing and any pirate that discovered him was unconscious in seconds. The bald Crystalli now stood at the very back of the ship and saw the ship at sea. "Time to get down to business…" he said to himself.

Aquamarine got out his two arm blades and dove into the sea like an Olympic swimmer. The arm blades helped him glide across the sea like a ray as several crystals fell into the ocean behind him.

Aboard the Flying Dutchman, Sakuzy was, again, scrubbing dishes that were laden with barnacles and probably wouldn't get much cleaner. He sighed, then muttered, "It's only for a hundred years. It's only for a hundred years..." as he continued scrubbing.

"Sakuzy!"

Sakuzy turned from his work to see Will enter his quarters. "What? What is it?" he asked.

"You've heard of the Dead Man's Chest?" asked Will. On seeing Sakuzy nod, he added, "Well, I know where the key is. Jones revealed it in a game I challenged him to, but we'll need help to get it."

As Will said this, another crewmember walked in. This man had sallow, green skin, a starfish on his face as well as barnacles, and slimy, black hair. Sakuzy took a step back, but then the man raised a hand. "Be still." he said, "I mean you no harm." On seeing the somewhat-relieved expression on Sakuzy's face, the man introduced himself. "My name is William Turner. Friends call me Bootstrap Bill."

"Wait. Turner?" he asked, "Are you Will's...?"

"Yes." Will answered, "He's my father."

"Now, here's my plan." Bootstrap said, "I'll distract the watchman while you two try to get the key."

Sakuzy looked at the pile of dishes he had done so far. He still had a ways to go, but said, "Ah, heck. Let's go."

Sakuzy and Will snuck into Davy Jones' quarters to find him asleep in front of an enormous organ. Now that Sakuzy thought about it, he wondered who had kept playing that eerie music during parts of the day. "So, where's the key?" asked Sakuzy in a whisper. Will put a finger to his lips to shush Sakuzy, then answered by whispering in his ear. "You've gotta be kidding me..." Sakuzy said in a hushed voice.

Will silently snuck up to Davy Jones and took two items from the keyboard: a feather quill and a tobacco pipe. He at first tried to use just the pipe, but that wasn't going to work in a hurry, because he couldn't afford to touch the tentacles with his fingers. He tried to use the quill to move away another tentacle and could see the key now, but he had nothing to grab it with.

By now, Sakuzy was sweating like crazy. He couldn't afford to go in with Will, because two people trying to take the key would only complicate things and be more dangerous. As Will repositioned the quill into his mouth, he accidentally moved the pipe the wrong way. One of Jones's tentacles fell onto the organ's keys and it let loose a low, bellowing note. Will quickly lifted the tentacle back up as Jones snorted, scaring the wit out of Sakuzy. Fortunately, they were saved by the oddest of circumstances; a small music box the size of a locket began to play a soft tune. Jones stammered a bit, but then fell back to sleep, not even noticing Will or Sakuzy.

Now that Will was back in control, he took a small trinket in his free hand and held it to Jones' tentacle beard. The tentacle subconsciously took the trinket and Will quickly snatched up the key. He slowly lowered the two tentacles back to their original position, then made his escape along with Sakuzy.

Once out of sight, Will reached into his pocket, then pulled out the small, iron key. It matched the description on the material that Jack had: two prongs instead of one. Sakuzy also looked at the key, but then something hit him. "Wait…" he said to himself, "If the heart is locked away in a chest, what was the one that Aquamarine had?"

Bootstrap entered the scene, and upon seeing the key, he smiled. "Got it, did yeh?" he asked. Both nodded, then Bootstrap said, "Now, you keep the key and hide it. Once Jones sees that the key is gone, he'll go find the chest. There, you'll have to do your deed."

Sakuzy nodded at first, but then asked, "Wait, what if Jones thinks YOU did it?"

Bootstrap laughed a strangely bark-like laugh, then said, "Jones owns my eternal soul. What more could he do to me?"

Heavy footsteps suddenly thundered from a hallway as Will quickly tucked the key into his pocket again. Within seconds, the hammerhead appeared in the room, looking VERY steamed. "The captain has declared that all personnel will remain in their immediate quarters until further notice." the shark-man snarled, then hoisted them into the air and heaved them into the brig. "Now, you stay right here, or else you will face death!"

As soon as the hammerhead , he locked the door behind him. "O-kay. Things just got tougher…" Sakuzy murmured.

Around the time the Dutchman neared an island, another person had arrived on its deck. He leapt from the sea like a dolphin and landed on the Flying Dutchman's deck.

Aquamarine landed like a ninja, but was soon met with the ugly mug of the hammerhead. The shark-man took in his intruder, then took a large club in hand and made to hit the Crystalli with it, but on the swing, Aquamarine grabbed it with one hand and spun it away. In another movement, he leapt into the air and spin-kicked his shark-headed opponent right into the sea. "Disgusting creature." he growled.

Aquamarine got through the ship with relative ease, as everyone else was in their quarters. He then found himself below deck and peeked into the cell containing Will and Sakuzy. He gave it a sharp rap with his foot and both perked up. When Sakuzy saw who it was, he spoke in a sarcastic voice as his face clenched up. "Hello, Aquamarine. It's SO good to see you again."

Will turned to Sakuzy. "A friend of yours, Sakuzy?" he asked.

Sakuzy paused, then answered in the only reasonable way. "In a manner of speaking, yes." he answered, then turned his attention back to Aquamarine, "Alright, Charlie Tuna, how are you gonna kill me?"

Aquamarine obviously didn't like that nickname. Still, he grabbed two bars in each hand and pulled them apart like they were made of rubber, earning a stare from both Sakuzy and Will.

"You're letting me go?" Sakuzy asked, staring at the bent-up bars.

Just as Sakuzy got out, Aquamarine seized him by the collar and lifted him right into the air. "This means NOTHING, Sakuzy." he growled, "The Crystalli want you for their own and they won't let some squid-headed leader of a traveling freak ship take you. Now let's get out of here before this place grows on me."

The three ran out and were almost instantly confronted by, you guessed it, Davy Jones. Apparently, Jones had seen this coming and had all pirates come out again.

The pirates had just advanced when Aquamarine held up a hand, just like he did with Jack Sparrow. "Parley!" the aqua-green Crystalli Host called.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Sakuzy asked to no one in particular.

Davy Jones walked towards them, his able hand on the hilt of his rusted sword. "Did I hear someone call 'parley'?"

"Exactly, squid-face." Aquamarine replied.

Davy Jones strode over and was tall enough to look Aquamarine in the eye. Well, there might have been an inch between the two, as Jones was a grown man and Aquamarine was still a teenager. "What is it ye want, matey?" he asked.

"I'll leave without a fight and without any harm done on ONE condition." Aquamarine said, raising a finger.

Davy Jones cocked a slimy eyebrow, then asked, "And that be what, my manta ray friend?" Davy Jones referred to the arm blades, which were so wide and so long that they looked like the wings of a manta ray.

Aquamarine remained silent to the comment as he pointed to Sakuzy. "Sakuzy." he replied, "I'll leave quietly if he comes with me."

Sakuzy couldn't believe this. Once again, he was caught between a tug-o' war between the pirate and the Crystalli. "Don't I get a say in this?!" he asked, frustratedly.

"No." both Jones and Aquamarine said.

"Well…I guess you can't have it EITHER WAY!" Without any further hesitation, Sakuzy ran over to the Dutchman's side and made a spectacular leap off its side. Will was soon to follow, and soon they were paddling towards shore.

"Did you plan for any of this?" Will asked.

"No. Not really." replied Sakuzy.

When Sakuzy and Will reached the shore, they saw Norrington, Jack, Elizabeth, and Joyex standing over a treasure chest of sorts. Will stared at Jack and Jack at Will.

"Well, if it isn't William Turner..." Jack said, slowly inching towards the chest.

Suddenly, Sakuzy heard a splash and saw a pair of heavy boots land in front of him. He saw Aquamarine standing right in front of him, the huge arm-blades at the ready. "Let me guess…the negotiations are over." Sakuzy said, the Eagle Feather flashing into his hand.

"Don't think that I didn't see this coming." Aquamarine snarled, readying his arm blades.

Aquamarine looked to the side in time to see Jones' crew emerge from the sea, then snapped his fingers. Miles below the ocean's surface, the crystals that arrived earlier were shifting into new shapes. They now looked somewhat like sharks and had a torpedo-like build. The Crystalli took off to the surface via jet propulsion and leapt clean out of the water like some form of crystal dolphin. The Crystalli entered the shallows, then arms and legs sprang from their sides as they snarled at the crewmates, causing some of them to turn and face them with swords and clubs. One of the crewmembers got a good chunk bitten out by one of the Crystalli's shark-esque teeth.

"Crystalli Mariners. How helpful." Sakuzy said, still in a battle-ready position.

Sakuzy then remembered the key and turned to Aquamarine with a raised eyebrow. "That wasn't REALLY the Heart of Davy Jones, was it?" he asked.

Aquamarine's expression was oddly unexpressive, though he did give an answer...sort of. "Maybe not."

Sakuzy rolled his eyes. "It wasn't." he answered.

Aquamarine reached into his robe and took the heart out of his pocket before he threw it over his shoulder. "Tore it out of some guy." he explained.

Sakuzy looked somewhat revolted, but it was quickly stopped by the fact that Aquamarine had sprung. Sakuzy darted to the side just as the giant blades came down with a CRASH. He counterattacked with his Eagle Feather only to meet the arm blades with a resonating CLANG. Aquamarine had used his weapons as a shield of sorts, then spun in a circle, becoming a giant buzz saw in the process and causing Sakuzy to duck and avoid it.

Meanwhile, on the same shoreline, Joyex was joined by Pintel and Ragetti, who stared in two different directions. As Joyex followed their gaze, he saw Jack, Will, and Norrington dueling with cutlasses and Elizabeth shouting after them, trying to get their attention.

"What's happening?" asked Pintel, earning a shrug from Ragetti.

"Well," Joyex answered, "I think that Jack's after the chest to save his own skin, Will's trying to save his dad, and Norrington's trying to get back some of his former glory. As for Sakuzy and Aquamarine there, I think that Sakuzy's trying to keep Jones off his tail while Aquamarine is trying to eliminate the competition." Joyex turned around, expecting to see a less-stupefied Pintel and Ragetti. Well, he saw them, just not in the position he was expecting; they had the chest and were running away. "Ah, crap." he cursed, then gave a shrill whistle to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth turned on the whistle to see Joyex pointing at Pintel and Ragetti, who were fleeing the scene. "Bloody pirates..." she growled, then chased off after them, Joyex in hot pursuit. The Nobody was brandishing his chain whip at them, shouting some threat about ripping out their intestines.

As Joyex and Elizabeth chased them into the jungle, they heard a familiar ruckus behind them. They looked over their shoulders to see Jones' crew pursuing them, closely followed by the Crystalli Mariners. The Crystalli chased after them on their long, gangly legs and snarling like panthers. Elizabeth could only scream as she ran faster. Pintel and Ragetti, as dimwitted as they were, tried to run on opposite sides of a tree and ended up falling on their backs, dropping the chest in the process.

"Thank you." Joyex said, snatching it up and running away.

Suddenly, a massive wheel rolled past them and back onto the shore. Norrington and Will were crossing blades, walking on top of the wheel as it rolled, while Jack was inside, trying to get at something on the wheel's inside.

Sakuzy and Aquamarine dueled like they had never done before. Before, they had once been friends with friendly sparring, but now they were completely intent on bringing the other down. Each strike was aimed to kill, but landing a blow like it was anything but easy. After countless hours of training, they could practically read each other's minds. Half the time, they knew what was coming before the warrior could even summon the urge to swing.

Aquamarine slammed one of his arm blades into the sandy ground and Sakuzy jumped to actually land on its surface and run off it to land on his other side. Unfortunately, he had underestimated Aquamarine's strength, for the Crystalli simply jerked his blade out and swung again. Often at times, one of the Crystalli Mariners would charge out of the jungle and take a snap at Sakuzy, who evaded and placed it between him and Aquamarine. Amazingly, the Crystalli simply hacked through his minion like julienne fries.

"That's a desperate move, Sakuzy." Aquamarine pointed out, "Anything to slow me down. But that won't work on me!"

Will had gotten away from the battle with Norrington long enough to check his pocket. The key was no longer there… "The key! Where's the key?!" he asked, catching the attention of several of the crewmates.

Sakuzy turned, but was suddenly jolted by the a loud BOOM! The Flying Dutchman was opening fire on them with cannonballs.

Aquamarine stared, then had a flashback despite the situation.

_You choose the background music now. Cuz I'm getting sick of it!_

_  
Enter Flashback..._

_Sakuzy was running from a gang on Destiny Island. He climbed to the top of the tree, but the gangsters were climbing after him. He couldn't think except for shouting two words at the top of his lungs. "SOMEONE HELP!"_

_Joey, Maya, Adrian, and Depth heard Sakuzy's call and came running until they found him cornered at the top of the tree. Joey could only stare at what was going on. "Man, Sakuzy, how could you get yourself into THIS situation?" he asked._

_Adrian simply closed his eyes, his face looking severely unimpressed. "Don't ask me to fathom the way his mind works." he paused, then asked, "How does it work again?"_

_Sakuzy was soon forced to cling to a branch, almost one-handed. The gangsters obviously decided they had enough fun with him and simply left him hanging there. "Hello?! I'm dangling for my life here!" he reminded._

_"He's got a point, guys! We've gotta help him!" Maya pointed out, but before anyone else could make a move, Depth stepped forward._

_"Leave everything to me." Depth took out his Omega Weapon Keyblade and threw an energy disk at the branch, causing it to snap and Sakuzy to fall._

_"Oh...CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUD!!" Sakuzy screamed._

_Depth then jumped higher than most people could and caught Sakuzy in midair. The group then ran as fast as their legs could carry them, as the gangsters decided to come back since their plans were ruined. When they got to the island, Adrian turned to Sakuzy and punched him right across the face._

_"OW! What?!" Sakuzy asked, accusingly._

_"You IDIOT!" Adrian growled, "Now, before I slice you into ribbons…" Adrian summoned his Chaos Night Keyblade, then put it close enough for Sakuzy to kiss the tip of it. "How did you get yourself into that situation?" he asked._

_Sakuzy paused, then answered in possibly the simplest way possible. "Something incredibly stupid. Now, let's get to the Master's dojo before he gets angry again."_

_Joey on the other hand, looked towards the heavens and emitted a very irritated groan. "Man, I hate those robes. I feel like I'm in my pajamas when I wear them!"_

_Sakuzy turned, then asked, "You comin' or not, guys?"_

_Joey heaved a sigh, then said, "Oh, alright…"_

_End Flashback._

Aquamarine, completely aware of what he was doing, jumped right in front of Sakuzy and raised one of his arm blades like a shield. He did it at just the right time, too, because a cannonball almost blew Sakuzy away, catching Aquamarine instead. With a loud, resonating CLANG, the Crystalli Host flew into the jungle's depths faster than Sakuzy could even blink. At the same time, all the Crystalli Mariners went into retreat, vanishing into greenish-blue lights.

Amidst the chaos, Norrington had come across a lifeboat and noticed something inside. He smiled, then snatched it before anyone even noticed.

Jack Sparrow, on the other hand, shouted, "Back to the Pearl! Back to the Pearl!"

The entire crew, minus Norrington, followed suit and boarded the lifeboat back to the Pearl. But just as most people predicted, the Dutchman caught up with them in no time.

As Davy Jones watched through a spyglass, he saw Jack Sparrow doing something both brave and stupid. He was dancing along the ship's side and singing in a "nya-nya" tone. "I got a jar of dirt! I got a jar of dirt! And guess what's inside it!"

While it was brave of Sparrow to taunt Davy Jones, it was also very stupid. Not only did it make Davy Jones angry, it made him want to use his most devastating weapon. "Release the Kraken!" he barked.

Back on the Pearl, the ship suddenly jerked to a stop and Joyex almost flew out of the crows' nest. "What the heck was THAT?" he asked in surprise, but soon his question was answered.

A tentacle as thick as a tree erupted from the sea and lashed out at the crew. A tentacle narrowly missed Sakuzy and he hacked at the tentacle with Eagle Feather only to see his weapon get stuck in the creature's slimy hide. He ducked under it just as it tried to sweep him away, then summoned Eagle Feather back into his hands. After seeing that the creature wouldn't be harmed like that, he decided to try a different tack. He pointed his Keyblade in the air and a spiral of wind dislodged an oncoming tentacle.

"EEW! I touched it!!"

Sakuzy turned on that exclamation to see Joyex with a tentacle wrapped around his ankle. He pointed his Keyblade at it and shouted, "BLADE!" A blade of silver energy burst from the Keyblade's tip and severed its tip, releasing Joyex from his slimy hold.

Elizabeth also had an idea that worked. She lit a cannon and when it fired, it blasted a hole right through one of the Kraken's tentacles, releasing another crewmate.

"Nice shot, Liz." Sakuzy complimented, calling down below deck.

"Thank you!" she called back.

Jack took out his pistol, then aimed for a barrel of sorts. Just as a tentacle reached over it, Jack fired. The shot hit the barrel and it exploded in a burst of flame, taking a huge chunk out of the tentacle. On seeing the curious look on Gibbs' face, he said, "Gunpowder."

Suddenly, Joyex got a good look at the tentacles. So far, they were all concentrating on one area: the mast. He got an idea, then reached into his pocket and pulled out the Blaze Charm.

"Red XIII!!"

In a burst of flame, a strange, catlike creature sprang onto the Pearl's deck and let loose a roar. The cat-thing had scarlet fur, a mane of untamed hair and the tip of its tail was on fire. Over its right eye was a scar and the Roman numerals XIII was tattooed onto its arm. With just one bound, Red XIII leapt onto one of the tentacles and on contact, the whole tentacle caught fire. Red XIII continued the process and as Sakuzy found out, the Kraken didn't think too highly of fire.

Eventually, the fire was too much for the beast to handle and with a defeated groan, it sank back down to the ocean's depths.

Joyex, Will, Elizabeth and Jack ran back to Sakuzy, who had just gotten up from one of the tentacles' strokes. Red XIII was nowhere to be seen, probably having vanished back to their world.

"We won! Boy, Red XIII sure can make a difference in a tussle!" Joyex said, proudly.

"Haven't seen anything like that since Sora was here." Elizabeth said in awe.

"Oh, but mate, if only you knew what was in me jar of dirt." Jack said, taking out said jar, "It be the heart of Davy Jones."

Sakuzy shrugged. "Yeah. The heart Aquamarine took was your average human heart."

Joyex stifled a gag and turned a sickly green. "Ugh! Not now! I ate five minutes ago!"

Jack looked into his jar of dirt and his eyes widened. "Wait a minute...Where's the thump-thump?" he asked, worriedly.

Sakuzy gave Jack an odd look and scratched his spiky head of hair. "Thump-thump?" he asked.

"The heart was in that jar, but now it isn't!" Jack explained.

Joyex looked surprisingly calm. "Yeah, well, you know. Gotta take the bitter with the sweet." he said.

"Hey, Jack," said Sakuzy, "How about we TALK about you handing me over to Jones so you can keep your own soul?"

Jack made his unusual hand motions, then sighed in what could only be defeat. "I'm not going to like this, am I?" he asked.

"No." Sakuzy answered, "Not ONE bit."

Sakuzy summoned his Keyblade and sprung at Jack...(_We regret that the rest of this scene is too violent for young readers. Though it DOES include Sakuzy trying to force Jack to eat his jar of dirt and trying to get him with several Blast spells._) After that fiasco, Sakuzy had finally calmed down enough to examine the jar. He opened it and searched through it, but was more than surprised to find something inside. When he pulled the item out, it turned out to be an indigo heart.

Joyex beamed, then snapped one eye shut and said, in a mock-pirate accent, "Methinks that this be the Pure Heart. AARRGGHH!"

Joyex seemed to be doing his best impression of Jack Sparrow, though the captain didn't seem too pleased with it. "Ridiculous impression, Boy X, and yet I'm flattered." he said, flatly, "Well, So Oozy, guess this be farewell to ye, matey."

"You bet it will, Joe Swallow."

"That's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow to you." Jack scolded.

At that time, Sakuzy and Joyex both said their corrections at the same time.

"It's Sakuzy!"

"It's Joyex!"

Jack Sparrow cocked a brow, then slowly nodded. Then, to take their mind of things, he reached into his jacket pocket. "By the way, mates, I found something that might tickle your fancy..." Jack reached into the pocket of his jacket, then threw Joyex a summon charm with a large, black bow and arrow imprinted on it.

Joyex inspected the charm, then tossed it playfully into the air before catching it. "Ah, I never cared for this charm much... I guess I'll give it to Sora when we meet in Radiant Garden." he said before pocketing it.

Sakuzy got out a silver remote control of sorts and pressed a big, red button in its center. "Scottie, beam us up!" he called.

Joyex gave his companion an odd look, similar to what Sakuzy gave Jack Sparrow. "What's…"

Joyex never finished, because Sakuzy explained swiftly and decisively. "The Gummi Ship will find us and pick us up if I say that."

"Oh."

In under a minute, the Gummi Ship beamed the two up and it really startled Jack, Will, and Elizabeth. After taking in what happened, they looked around, then at each other

"Well, THAT was certainly unexpected…" Jack said, pointing at the place where they once were.

Will and Elizabeth nodded, then both said, "Aye."

Jack gave both Will and Elizabeth the "evil eye", then pointed a finger at them. "Don't do the pirate talk, William. It ill becomes you."

James Norrington

Once a proud commodore of Port Royal and commander of the navy, James tried to catch Jack Sparrow once and failed thanks to Will and Elizabeth. Now, he's no more than a humble pirate hoping to get his glory back. Whether it will happen is currently unknown. He first appeared in _Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl _2003.

Crystalli Mariners

The Crystalli controlled by Aquamarine. These Crystalli specialize in aquatic attacks and can move through water at explosive speeds, but can go onto land if commanded to. They look like crosses between a shark and a torpedo with sharp teeth and claws to boot.

Red XIII

A fiery catlike creature from a distant world, also known as Nanaki. Red XIII is wise, logical, and fierce when he has to be. He comes whenever Joyex calls and will jump through enemies, setting them on fire. He first appeared in _Final Fantasy VII_ 1997.

_That would be Red XIII's Pyro Pounce._

_In the NEXT few chapters, things will get INTERESTING. The appearance of Mrfipp's Crystalli and a new OC._


	51. CureAll

Chapter 51: Cure-All

Radiant Garden...

Sora and co.'s ship landed in the Radiant Garden and as they departed, the group, plus one (Crescent) looked around and found no sign of Sakuzy and Joyex's ship.

"Where could they be?" asked Sora.

Crescent shrugged, then gave what was probably a very stupid answer. "Pittsburgh?"

Sora folded his arms, then gave Crescent a scolding look. "THAT was a rhetorical question." he pointed out.

"Oh." Crescent said, then pointed a scolding finger at Sora and said, "Well, WARN ME NEXT TIME!"

Goofy, it seemed, had a more reasonable answer. "Maybe they're late." he suggested, "After all, we didn't get our Pure Hearts easily."

"Point taken. Well, might as well see…"

The rest of Sora's sentence was drowned out by a VERY familiar voice. "Oh, so THAT'S where you got to, Crescent!" Everyone turned to see Blader standing behind them, tapping his real foot impatiently. He was right outside where the Restoration Committee East Side's base was.

Crescent waved and said, "Hey, Blader!"

Blader unfolded his arms, then strode over to the group before giving them a very scolding look. "Crescent, where've you been the last..." he did a quick count on his fingers. "Twenty-seven chapters?!" he finished.

Crescent answered as though being asked a simple question: with relative calmness. "I was on a Gummi Ship with Sora and his friends." he answered, "Helped them out of the Carnival of Chaos, too. Kefka never knew what hit him."

Blader let out an exasperated sigh and sarcasm filled his voice up to the brim. "Who could've seen THAT comin'?"

Sora decided to take the two's attention off their conversation and asked, "Hey, Blader, have you seen Sakuzy and Joyex?"

Blader thought it over, then shook his head. "Actually, no. But, how about you guys come over?" he asked, "There's somethin' we gotta check out and it could give us a lead on these Crystalli guys."

Blader turned to leave, then looked at Kairi and scratched his chin. "Y'know, I think I've seen someone like Kairi. Can't put my finger on it, though..." Blader racked his thoughts a little longer, then waved it off. "Ah, heck! Let's just get going! And by the by, Petross would like to examine Riku."

Sora and co. followed Blader into the East Side's base. On entering, they found Petross examining a pod with what looked like a monocle mixed with a microscope and several handheld devices.

Crescent broke the silence in the base as he raised a hand and said, "Hey, Pete (1)! How are ya?"

Petross looked up, slightly startled, then glowered at Crescent. "NEVER call me as that." he said with a growl, "That name reminds me of that oaf that works with Maleficent."

"Whatever."

Sora walked over to Petross and asked, "Petross? Uh…what's this?" the Keyblade Master gestured toward the pod, which appeared to be made of pure crystal.

Petross gave the pod one last look-down and answered, "I found it yesterday. You remember Emerald?"

Blader scoffed, remembering the fight he had with him. "Yeah. A guy never forgets a wimp like that." he said with a slight chuckle in his voice.

"Well, apparently THIS is one of those Crystalli." Petross explained. The pod looked big enough to hold a person and seemed to be made of various layers of pure crystal. Donald tapped on it a few times and heard that it was hollow, judging by the tone it produced on impact. "According to X-Ray scans of it, there should be a Crystalli in this pod." Petross added.

"Then, why're WE standin' here talkin' and lettin' the guy snooze?" Blader asked. He tapped the pod's surface with his knuckles, as though knocking on a door and said, "Let's crack the egg and see what he knows."

Petross shook his head as he gestured to it with both his large hands. "Not this one." he replied.

Crescent peered at the pod, followed by Sora and co. They could see right through it and could easily make out a person in there. However, it wasn't moving and a gem lodged in its chest had a large, jagged crack in it. As usual, the ninja had to point out something that was both obvious and stupid. "He looks dead!"

Petross looked up at Crescent, a sour look on the medical officer's face. "For once in your life, Crescent, you said something sensible."

Crescent's violet eyes widened in mock-surprise. "I did?" he asked.

Ignoring Crescent, Petross held up a clipboard with what was probably a few lab results. "My best guess is that he either died coming here or was dead to begin with. Still, it could provide us with answers on what we're up against. And I have a feeling that our leader is doing the same thing."

Blader looked severely crestfallen at Petross' news. "Aw man! If that don't make the cut!" he cursed, then turned to Petross, "I mean what good news is gonna come out of here?!"

"Not much, for the moment." Petross answered, then looked upward as though he was staring right through the ceiling, " We can only hope that the other pods across the multiverse were as unfortunate as this guy here."

Riku had apparently waited long enough, because he addressed Petross directly. "Hey, didn't you want to do something about this?" Having grabbed Petross' attention, Riku removed his shirt to show his diamond arm and the top part of his chest. The crystal-skin disease had gone well past his shoulder and was beginning to affect part of his neck, too.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Riku, lay on that table." Petross pointed at a table that you'd find at your local doctor's office. Riku did so and Petross started examining him. After a few seconds, he lifted a brow in amusement. "Interesting...Parts of your body might be changing into diamond, but the rest of it acts as if nothing's wrong."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Exactly how LONG do I have left to live?"

Petross looked up from his work with a surprised look on his face. "That's a bit extreme. But, judging by how the disease easily broke through Donald's spell that slowed it down…,"

"Sorry!" Donald quickly apologized.

Petross ignored the duck, then answered, "I'd say that you have…about a week."

Sora, at that moment, let it out. If anything, he didn't want to let hope (or Riku) die. "Sakuzy and Joyex will be here soon! I know they will!"

"Someone called?" an all-too-familiar voice asked.

Sora wheeled at the sound of a voice to see Sakuzy and Joyex. Kairi, much to everyone's surprise, hugged Sakuzy. Upon seeing her doing that, Joyex held his arms out hopefully. "Daddy's home!" he called out. Kairi just walked past him, leaving him hanging. "What? No hug for me?" he asked.

Kairi smiled, then said, "Ah, don't kid yourself, Joyex." She turned on the spot and hugged him, too.

"Okay, enough already." Joyex said, trying not to laugh, "I was joking."

Kairi let go of the Nobody, then Sora went over, his hands in his pockets. "Well, we've got OUR Pure Hearts." he said as he took his hands out of his pants pockets, then held out the purple one from Land of Horrors and the acid-green one from the Marshlands with one in each hand. Kairi, on the other hand, took out the golden one from Narnia from her own pocket.

"Ditto." Sakuzy said as he held out the orange heart from Camp Greenlake and the indigo one from Port Royal.

"Now, Riku, how about we get rid of that pesky little skin disease?" Joyex asked with a grin.

Sora also pointed out to the others a quick fact that he learned thanks to Sakuzy. "Riku will use them for himself, because we can't use them without the Prince of Heart." Sora paused, then asked, "Sakuzy, do YOU know him?"

"We've…met." Sakuzy answered. On receiving a curious glance from Sora, he said, "So, Riku, you ready to be cured?"

"What do you think?" asked Riku.

The group handed their Pure Hearts to Riku and the crystalline hearts started hovering around him. They then started rotating like a multi-colored wheel, getting faster and faster with each rotation until they were a blur of colors. In seconds, the diamond parts of Riku's body cracked and shattered to reveal normal skin. When the crystal parts of Riku's body vanished, the Pure Hearts stopped circling and fell to the ground with a clatter. Riku moved his now-normal arm, cracking his elbow once or twice.

"Man. It's good to have my old flesh and bones back...And I can finally let go of this Keyblade!" he said with every hint of relief. Riku dismissed his Keyblade and flexed his fingers, admiring his hand like it was some priceless treasure. He then put his shirt back on, because the table he was laying on was as cold as ice.

"We're still gonna need these for Mickey and Minnie, so…" Sora said as he reached for the Pure Hearts, but he hadn't even gotten a finger's length from them when the hearts vanished in bursts of their respective colored glitter. They then flew up into the air and flew in opposite directions, though bits of gold dust landed on Sora and a bit of purple on Kairi. They both felt a bit tingly after that, but they felt fine save that fact.

Sakuzy's eyes widened as he almost fell to the ground. "UH-OH! NOT good!" he said

Sora felt the place where the dust hit, but nothing appeared to have happened. Ignoring this, the Keyblade Master stared at Sakuzy with a questioning look. "What're you talking about, Sakuzy?" he asked.

"I forgot the MAJOR drawback of using Pure Hearts on ANYTHING!" Sakuzy groaned to himself, "After you use the Pure Hearts, they'll disappear back into their own worlds!"

After a few seconds, the impact hit the entire group. It was similar to when Sora, Donald, and Goofy found out about "Ansem" and Xehanort. "WHAT?!" they said, altogether.

"All that hard work and we're back where we started?!" Sora asked in disbelief.

"Looks like those Pure Hearts are back in the worlds we found 'em in…" Sakuzy said, hanging his head.

On thinking it over, the group decided it was better not to make second trips to where they came from.

"No. I am NOT going back to Land of Horrors! ONE werewolf was enough for me!" Sora said, scratching the back of his head. It wasn't exactly the most fun he'd had...

"Same about me and Port Royal. Jack Sparrow drove me insane…" Joyex said with a shudder.

Sakuzy looked at the ground, closed his eyes, then shook his head with a heaved sigh. "Nothing to do NOW, but keep moving on. BUT..." Sakuzy's mood seemed to brighten up as he pointed out one fact that seemed to affect everyone. "Those were only FIVE Pure Hearts and there are MANY other worlds out there. I suppose we could give THOSE a shot."

Kairi smiled and gave a shrug. "He's got a point, Sora."

"Alright, guys," Sora straightened back up, then said, "Let's go!" Sora would have gone right out the door there and then, but an explosion loud enough and strong enough to shake the base almost made him lose his balance.

As Sora got steady from the shockwave, Blader rushed over, his shield in hand. "Hate to ruin your party, kid. BUT it looks like we've got trouble!" he said, urgently.

The group ran outside to see a figure in a purple cloak, which was (to Sakuzy and Joyex) similarly dressed to Pearl and Aquamarine. It was the same one that interrogated Aquamarine at Port Royal.

Sakuzy gave the Crystalli a glare, then said, "Hello, Adrian."

Though they couldn't see under this person's hood, they could tell he was ticked. "I thought I told you that I abandoned that name. It's AMETHYST now!"

The Crystalli called "Amethyst" removed his cloak to reveal a boy, not much older than Sakuzy himself, though he was a head taller. He had a grim face with lavender hair, purple eyes, and an amethyst crystal lodged in his thigh.

_(1) I got THAT part, because Petross means rock. And we, eventually, got the name Peter from the word Petross (all credit for that goes to Dimensiondude for searchin' it up)._


	52. Amethyst

Chapter 52: Amethyst

Blader took his shield out at the presence of the Crystalli. Emerald was a downright wimp, but this guy looked like he could be quite dangerous. "Aw man! Not another one of these crazed jewelry guys again!" he cursed.

Sora was confused. Sakuzy knew this guy? "How do YOU guys know each other?" he asked.

Sakuzy slowly nodded, though he kept his eyes on Amethyst the whole time. "We were old friends. Until he took that shell." Sakuzy pointed at the crystal lodged in Amethyst's leg, directing everyone's attention to it.

Kairi noticed the crystal and remembered almost immediately what it meant. "Wait...What's with that crystal?" she asked, "I know Emerald had one, too, but what does it mean?"

Sakuzy spoke, not bothering to turn to face Kairi. "It means that they are Crystalli hosts. Sora has seen Crystalli Soldiers and knows that they fire crystal shards. But that ammo is actually a species of Crystalli known as a Crystalli Shell." he informed, "If a Crystalli Shell hits you, you'll turn into something like Amethyst…"

NOW, things made sense as Sora asked, "So the same thing happened with that Emerald guy?"

"Exactly. The shells give you a need to serve this "living crystal" thing and will warp your desires into evil." he explained.

Amethyst had apparently heard Sakuzy's every word, for he pointed a finger at Sakuzy. "Wrong. The shells opened our eyes to the truth and now we know that ALL who disobey the living crystal MUST BE DESTROYED!" Amethyst lowered his finger, then smiled a wicked grin as he said, "Now, Chrysallis has sent me here to do what Emerald could not—destroy you."

Keyblades sparkled to life with Sakuzy's Eagle Feather, Sora's Ultima Weapon, Kairi's Flowering Strength, and Riku's Way to Dawn. "You want me?! Come and get me!" Sakuzy challenged.

Amethyst could only stifle a laugh. "Very well then." he accepted, "But only YOU and the Keyblade Master. The rest will deal with THESE."

Amethyst snapped his fingers and several crystals smashed into the ground between them. These were slightly…different from the ones that Sakuzy and Joyex faced at Camp Greenlake and Port Royal.

Sora didn't think too highly of these things, though. "A couple more mindless Crystalli Soldiers?" Sora asked, having only seen the Soldiers, "This shouldn't be much of a problem."

Amethyst smirked. "You obviously haven't fought MY Crystalli. Now If you don't want to fight, I'd suggest sheathing your weapons."

The crystal meteorites then shifted into their true forms with crystal parts shifting and replacing each other. The Crystalli turned out to be of a kind that Sora hadn't seen before. They were taller than soldiers by a good foot or two, had a more humanoid shape than the Crystalli Soldiers, and had two fully developed hands. They also had visible heads with a red visor where their eyes should have been, builds similar to professional martial artists, and heavily-built shoulder armor. They could have been humans; humans that were two meters tall and made of pure crystal.

"Okay…" Sora corrected himself, "These things look pretty dangerous."

One of the Crystalli reached up to its shoulder, then produced a staff from its shoulder and took it in its three-fingered hand. It spun the weapon around, then stopped and aimed its tip at Riku. The staff's ends sparked with bright purple electricity, but the real surprise was that the Crystalli spoke. The Soldiers that Sora faced in Narnia didn't even talk. "He said "Sheath your weapons", organics!" it ordered.

While everyone else was slightly shocked that the Crystalli spoke, Joyex took that moment to quickly identify them. "Oh, GREAT! Crystalli Neo Soldiers!"

As Sakuzy returned his focus, Amethyst smiled as he addressed his troops. "Neo Soldiers!" The Crystalli Host pointed to the Restoration Committee and the rest of the group, then continued. "Destroy them! And capture them if you can!"

The Neo Soldiers advanced towards the others, staffs crackling like open power lines. Kairi and Riku readied their Keyblades, Donald got out his staff, Goofy and Blader their shields, Crescent his sword, and Petross started popping his knuckles. Sora and Sakuzy summoned their Keyblades and the fight began.

_(This fight will have two different points of view-one of Sora and Sakuzy, the other of the rest of the group. We'll start with the rest of the group.)_

The other Crystalli Neo Soldiers pulled long staffs out of their shoulders and the weapons instantly started sparking with electricity. Donald obviously didn't like this. "I already had enough electricity directed at me out of Igor!" he groaned to himself.

Crescent was the first to go into combat. He leapt into the air and landed right in front of a Neo Soldier. He slashed with his sword only to meet its staff in a sharp parry. It jabbed at Crescent with its staff and it sparked on contact with the ninja's shoulder. "OW! Can't we just talk this out?" he asked. There was a pause as the Neo Soldier advanced on him again. "WHAT THE HECK AM I SAYING?!"

The bruise Crescent got from the Neo Soldier's staff healed up and he continued the battle. He hacked and slashed, either missing or getting blocked. These Crystalli were TOUGH, both strong and skilled. Finally, Crescent saw an open spot and chopped off the Neo Soldier's left arm with his sword, which he expected to end the fight. He was quite surprised to see that the Neo Soldier still seemed perfectly able to fight. It simply picked up the staff single-handedly and began to wield it at Crescent like it had lost nothing.

"How annoying to fight a foe who just won't die." Crescent pointed out, parrying a sharp thrust from the Neo Soldier.

Behind him, Blader had just blocked a Neo Soldier's strike with his circular shield, the impact sparks littering the ground. "You're tellin' me." he said, blocking another strike.

Goofy and Blader were barely able to block blows from the new Crystalli. The Neo Soldiers were so fast that their staffs were no more than sparking, purple blurs. One Neo Soldier almost caught Blader right in the chest if he hadn't ducked and rolled under the Crystalli's legs in a very military-esque technique.

Goofy stared after Blader. "Whoa!" he said in surprise, "Say, Blader, could you teach ME that?"

Blader continued to talk, all the while fighting his Neo Soldier. "Don't get your hopes high, Mutt-man."

Blader then jumped over it with surprising agility and threw his shield low to the ground just as he landed. The Neo Soldier fell to the ground, its legs severed just below the knee. Blader went to help Goofy with his, but was quite surprised when the Neo Soldier, which he thought he defeated, twirled nimbly on its staff and used the remains of its legs to thump him in the back, sending him skidding.

"GAH! Man! What does it take to beat these piles of pebbles?!" he asked in disbelief.

Blader simply got up and continued his battle with the physically challenged Neo Soldier, which was currently using its staff as a crutch of sorts and cursing at him.

Kairi and Riku had to work against one Neo Soldier: the one that told them to sheath their weapons. Kairi was a skilled Keyblader, but not as good as Sora. And her elegant fighting style was starting to prove more of a handicap against the Neo Soldier's sheer speed. Riku saw several opportune moments to try and get a blow in, but the Neo Soldier was still a skilled fighter, blocking any attempts Riku tried. The Neo Soldier made to jab at Kairi with its staff, but she brought her Keyblade down on the staff, pinning the weapon to the ground. Riku seized his chance and sliced off the attacker's left arm and right leg with the Way to Dawn. But like the previous attempts, the Neo Soldier continued battling, hopping after Riku on its remaining leg and wielding its staff with its remaining arm, all the while screeching some improbable threat regarding its staff and Riku's body cavities.

Joyex had somewhat vanished from the fight until he suddenly leaped in between two Crystalli Neo Soldiers. He tapped them on the shoulders and asked, "Excuse me, but can I make a reservation to Twilight Town here?"

The Neo Soldiers acted on instinct and turned to stab him only for Joyex to jump out of the way. The result was that they planted their staffs into the other's chest. The pair sparked, then flew apart from each other and started going after Joyex again, burn marks on their chest.

Meanwhile, Petross was doing quite well with his Crystalli. He was actually a lot faster than he looked, because just as one made to jab him, he whirled on the spot and seized it by the arm before throwing it away. He then turned on the same spot and brought the back of his massive fist smashing into one's head, sending it skidding to the floor. Throughout his fighting, the medical officer's feet barely left the ground and his fists were as fast as the Neo Soldiers' staffs. He was basically a living bulldozer, for no one stood in his way unless he was standing still.

Petross finished the ones that came after him by grabbing two by the head and slammed them together so hard that they shattered like glass. He dusted off his hands after the process. "Yup. I still got it!" he said to himself, then raised his fists as a few more came for him, staffs crackling.

One of the Neo Soldiers had Donald backed into a corner, because Donald's spells did little or no damage to them at all. It raised its staff to strike, but a crocodile skin boot quickly smashed into its back. When it turned to see what hit it, someone seized it by the arm and tossed it with a good heave behind him. Scott Highflier and Ryan Syrus had decided to join the fight as well.

Scott turned to Petross and waved. "G'day, me old Prof.!" he greeted quickly.

Petross seemed bewildered at the sight of his old student. However, a fight was still going on. "I'd like to say 'hello', Scott. But would you mind giving us a hand?"

Ryan scoffed as he cocked his head in a playful manner. "'Nuff said, 'nuff done! Let's thrash them!"

As Ryan shot off through the Crystalli, Petross stared at the spot where he was standing. "Who the heck was that?" he asked.

Scott shook his head. "I wish I could tell yeh, mate."

The battle continued until all that was left of Blader and Goofy's Neo Soldier was a twitching hand. Riku had severed his Neo Soldier's right arm, but it still kept hopping after him on its remaining foot and managed a glancing kick before Riku casually severed the limb. The Neo Soldier went down cursing, thrashing its useless stumps.

Crescent was still having to deal with his opponent, though it only had one hand. He had to admit that it had skill for being left handed. He pushed the staff aside, then jumped into the air and stuck his sword right through the Neo Soldier's head. He pulled his weapon out and almost walked away when he heard the hum of a sparking staff, spinning. When he turned, he saw the Neo Soldier continue after him with a huge crack in its face. "CRUD!" he cursed.

Crescent put up his sword to block the staff only having to quickly move to parry a side attack from the staff's other end. He ducked and slashed from another blow only to meet the staff again. Apparently, this soldier could still fight, though it didn't appear able to see. Finally, Crescent stabbed it in the chest and hacked off its head, cutting off its brain functions. The truly dead Neo Soldier's knees buckled and it fell to the floor with a thud.

Kairi turned from her old Crystalli enemy and saw Sora and Sakuzy, who had Amethyst all to themselves. The Crystalli Host smirked as he snapped his fingers and a dark barrier separated them from the outside world. Sora had seen this experience before and raised his Keyblade with one word.

"Fire!"

A fireball shot out from Sora's Ultima Weapon and fired at Amethyst, who did a backflip when it was close. Soon, it became apparent that the flip wasn't to dodge the attack. The amethyst chunk on his thigh caught the fireball and the flame was absorbed into it.

"HUH?!" Sora asked in surprise.

"Don't think it's over yet! Move!" Sakuzy warned. He quickly moved to the left as the shard on Amethyst's ankle suddenly glowed like a neon lamp. The same fireball Sora tried to hit Amethyst with shot back at him as a laser bolt of pure energy. Sora dodged it, but felt the heat of the blast as it passed and it ruffled his hair.

Sakuzy jumped at Amethyst and was about to bring his Keyblade across Amethyst's face, but the Crystalli Host simply smiled. In a burst of purple light, a jagged-looking scepter appeared in his hand and he parried the Eagle Feather Keyblade. "Hmph. Too slow!" he said, unimpressed at Sakuzy's efforts.

Amethyst suddenly brought his scepter sideways and smacked Sakuzy with the other end. Apparently, this was just like the Neo Soldiers' staffs minus the electrical ends. He performed a tight backflip backward as Sora rushed after him and upon landing, he swept the ground with his staff. Sora jumped over this and brought his Keyblade down only to meet the scepter as Amethyst used his spin to get back to his feet. With a sudden twist of the Keyblade, he forced Sora to the ground. He didn't bother with a finishing move, because he quickly whacked away Sakuzy's oncoming blade. The sudden impact forced Sakuzy sideways, but he landed on his feet and turned to face his enemy. Sora also got back up and he and Sakuzy both charged with their weapons raised. Amethyst smiled as he simply sidestepped both of them, forcing them to stop. Had their attack gone through, both would have attacked each other.

"Huh. You call THIS fighting?" he asked, "I've seen better skills from a Heartless."

THAT tore it. Sora suddenly did the only thing he could think of…

"Sakuzy!"

"For the future!" Sakuzy and Sora both leapt into the air and began to hammer down on Amethyst's scepter, creating a shower of impact sparks. Suddenly, the Crystalli Host gave way and was pummeled by the two Keyblades' strikes. When the two saw this, they both spun their Keyblades in their hand and struck him again.

"Guess that's that." Sakuzy spun his Keyblade like some kind of gun and fixed it in his hand. That is…until Amethyst got back up, his wounds completely healed.

Amethyst almost laughed, then said, "What a waste of effort."

The Crystalli snapped his fingers and the scepter, which was on the ground several feet away, vanished in purple light. Sakuzy seemed to realize what happened and charged without a second to lose. The minute he swung, his attack was blocked. When he opened his eyes, he saw Amethyst blocking the attack and smiling. Then, with a spin of his scepter, he spun the Keyblade away and had Sakuzy pinned to the ground, the tip of his scepter aimed directly at his throat.

However, before Amethyst could even make a move, a man with a blue robe suddenly appeared in a flash of blue light. The man spoke in a crafty, growling voice in a clipped English accent. "Amethyst!"

Amethyst turned to see the man in blue and looked a bit infuriated that he had been interrupted. "What now?" he asked, grouchily.

"Change of plans." the blue-clad Crystalli answered.

The blue robe removed his blue cloak to reveal a much older man, probably in his sixties. He had short-cut, black hair, ocean-blue eyes, and a sapphire lodged in his left forearm. He also had a mustache-beard combo the color of salt and pepper.

Sakuzy got to his feet and took in this man's presence, his eyes wide. "Master!" he said in surprise.

Amethyst dispelled his weapon and looked just about ready to explode as he walked up so close to this man that their noses virtually touched. "You had no right to interfere, Sapphire!" he spat, "Chrysallis gave ME this mission and it was mine ALONE!"

The man known as Sapphire put up a finger, like a know-it-all scholar scolding a child. "Correct, Amethyst. But you let your head get in the way." he corrected, "Chrysallis' orders were to defeat Sakuzy and convert him, NOT to kill him!"

Amethyst huffed at his superior, then walked past him. He didn't even bother looking back. "If you think you can do any better, go on!" he said, shrewdly.

Sapphire took a casual look at Amethyst, then disabled the shields with a snap of his fingers. "I don't need shields. I'm more than strong enough to fight off more than two people at once."

Sakuzy seemed to be VERY angry now, but then, he finally exploded. "Out of all the people I knew, Master, I never expected YOU to switch sides!"

Sapphire seemed immune to this outburst as he gave him a fixed glare. "Chrysallis opened my eyes to the truth, Sakuzy. The Living Crystal's wishes WILL be appeased."

"Imposter." Sakuzy growled, "MY Master would NEVER try and extinguish innocent! You low…" Sapphire inhaled through gritted teeth, as though mocking pain. "Cowardly, traitor!" Sakuzy finished.

"Oh no… Now there's no need for such language." Sapphire mocked, "And to think you were one of my best students." Suddenly, the mocking disappeared as Sapphire's blue eyes turned the color of a raging ocean, "Well, as your 'teacher' let me just tell you that YOU FLUNK!"

In a burst of blue light Sapphire summoned a pair of blue rods. But with one movement of his hands, the "rods" extended into what looked like fans made of blue, steel-esque blades rather than paper. He made a complex combat move that only a master martial artist could perfect and readied himself for battle. With a sparkle of magic, Sakuzy's Eagle Feather Keyblade appeared in his hands. If it had come to killing his master, he would do it without question.

Amethyst

Another Crystalli. He and Sakuzy seem to know each other well and Sakuzy calls him 'Adrian'. Amethyst seems to be somewhat bitter to Sakuzy, possibly due to things that happened between them in the past. He wields a staff and the powers of darkness, not to mention he controls the Neo Soldiers.

Crystalli Neo Soldiers

One of the more advanced Crystalli warriors. They're more intelligent, more humanoid, and more battle-ready than the more common Soldiers. They can also take staffs from their shoulder that can spark electricity. Even if they lose a limb or wind up blind, they will continue to fight until permanently disposed of.

Sapphire

An old man from the future. Sakuzy refers to him as 'Master' and he has a pair of blade fans. He appears to be one of the best fighters the Crystalli have ever known from what he says. He is serious, dutiful, and has a very strict attitude, yet he mocked Sakuzy, who was once his own student.

_That would be Sakuzy's Justice Force._


	53. Sapphire

Chapter 53: Sapphire

Sora joined in the fight against Sapphire; he felt that Sakuzy would need all the help he could get. In a blur of blue, Sapphire was right in Sora's face and spinning like a saw blade, his fan-blades moving like an airplane propeller. By the time Sapphire was done spinning, having met only Sora's Keyblade, he jumped away with surprising agility for someone his age.

Sora hadn't even swung when the old man jumped. "Whoa! He's fast!" he said, his eyes wide in surprise.

Sapphire was now fighting Sakuzy and slashing with his fan-blades and had become so fast, one blink was basically one swing of his blades. Sakuzy swung his Keyblade only to have Sapphire pull a superb trick. He jumped slightly, then stepped on the Keyblade before propelling himself upward in a jump. Sapphire flipped in midair with the grace of a dancer and landed on his feet as though nothing had happened.

"Come now. Surely you can move faster than that." Sapphire said, unimpressed, "Come on. Have a free shot at me. I won't run."

Sora took his chances with this option and charged headlong into battle. He swung his Keyblade at Sapphire, but the elder simply raised a fan blade, stopping the weapon short of hitting him smack in the face. Then, with a sudden thrust, Sapphire kicked Sora right in the chest and knocked him onto his back. Just then, Sapphire parried Sakuzy's attack. The thing was that Sakuzy attacked from behind and that Sapphire hadn't even turned around; the fan-blades were positioned right behind him. Then, in an astonishing move, he whirled around, and the sudden change forced Sakuzy sideways with a CRASH.

"Sakuzy, do me a favor and try something new. I know the moves you're using, because I TAUGHT THEM TO YOU!"

Sora got up, then noticed that there were MORE Neo Soldiers. Amethyst wasn't gone, so these pains in the neck still stuck around. Sora was NOT the type to let his friends get hurt. He looked at Sakuzy, who was facing the blue-clad warrior.

"Sora! They need you! I'll be fine!" Sakuzy said, his Eagle Feather at the ready.

Sora nodded, then ran off to aid his friends in battle.

The Neo Soldiers had surrounded most of the group and the Crystalli that Joyex caused to follow him had him surrounded. He grinned his cocky grin before he spoke. "Alright, I bet you're wondering why I called you guys here and…" The Neo Soldiers readied their staffs and all sprang forward only to get impaled on each other's weapons. Joyex, on the other hand, used his chain whip to get to a rock a few feet away and hauled himself to safety. "THAT'S why!"

Another Neo Soldier had taken notice of Joyex and chased after him, its staff sparkling with electricity. The others had to deal with one of the best Crystalli to have ever been spawned. They had reflexes to rival the best warrior and staffs that struck from well beyond the reach of any of their weapons. THAT and they were backed into a nearby building. Sora glanced at them and took out his Summon Charm Kairi gave him from Skull Island. It was the Gorilla Charm.

"Joe!"

A dense jungle appeared from nowhere as leaves began to rustle and some snapped like twigs. With a roar, a fifteen-foot gorilla sprung from the trees. He was a bit smaller than King Kong and less battle scarred, but he still roared viciously before springing at the Neo Soldiers. Sora hopped onto the ape's shoulder, riding him like a war horse. Joe seized one of the unsuspecting Neo Soldiers in one hand and smashed it into the ground before moving on to the others. Some of the Neo Soldiers got smashed under Joe's feet while others met his fists. By the time Joe was finished, the Neo Soldiers were disabled or terminated. One hissed threats as it reached for its staff, but hadn't even sparked it when Sora slid down Joe's arm and hacked off its head. Joe grunted in a manner that said, "uh-huh" as he nodded in approval. He then took off on a run and vanished back into his own world.

Sora turned to Kairi, who laughed nervously. "Thanks for the charm back there." he said, calmly.

Kairi nodded. "No problem."

Sora then wondered why Sapphire didn't attack him during that time and found that he was fighting Sakuzy instead. Every time Sakuzy tried to get a blow, Sapphire would block him every time. Sapphire took a step back every time Sakuzy took a swing at him. Strangely, Sakuzy wasn't aiming for any vital part of Sapphire, but the arm, right where the crystal was lodged.

After a quick exchange, Sapphire decided to take advantage of the fight. He parried an assault from behind and sharply turned around. "Sakuzy, how many times to I have to tell you?!" With each word that Sapphire said, he hacked at the Keyblader, who barely blocked. "DON'T…GET…OVER…CONFIDENT!!"

On the last impact, Sakuzy fell on his back, his Keyblade scattered on the floor. Before he could even call it back, Sapphire kicked him in the side and forced him onto his stomach. Sapphire glowered down on Sakuzy with a look of casual indifference. "You're not worth my time, Sakuzy." he said in a low, threatening voice, "I seek a worthy opponent, but you fail to meet my expectations…as you always have."

Sapphire turned to walk away, but Sakuzy growled in pure rage as he raised his Keyblade and pointed it at Sapphire.

"BLASTAGA!!"

A larger Blast spell shot from the Eagle Feather and rocketed at Sapphire, but out of pure rage, Sakuzy didn't count on his reflective gem. Sapphire simply caught the attack on his forearm's crystal and it glowed like a light before it shot the ball of blue energy back at him.

"Oh no…" Sakuzy said as he realized that he had been suckered.

The Blastaga hit him right in the face, exploding with force greater than when Sora's at the Carnival of Chaos. The force of the blast sent him flying into a building with a crash and he fell down, out like a light.

Sora summoned the Ultima Weapon and pointed it at Sapphire like an accusing finger. "Did you forget about me?" he asked, challengingly.

Sapphire glanced at Sora, then turned away from him, answering without even looking at him. "I have no interest in YOU."

Sora growled as he dispelled the Keyblade. As Sapphire walked past Amethyst, Amethyst pointed at Sakuzy. "Go ahead. Make him a Crystalli. Isn't that what you WANT to do?!" the purple-clad Crystalli asked.

Sapphire simply turned to Amethyst sharply, yet answered in a serious, yet calm, voice. "Not an honorable thing to do as a warrior." he replied, "I'd prefer to convert him when he was conscious and well, rather than unconscious like a coward."

As Sapphire continued to walk away, Amethyst took out his scepter, which sprouted an ominous crystal spike on its orb. "Very well. Then I'll do it!"

Amethyst felt someone tapping him on the shoulder and turned around to see Petross behind him, cracking his knuckles. "Guess again, motor mouth!" said the big guy.

The medical officer of the Restoration Committee reared back his arm, then brought his sizeable fist slamming into Amethyst's face, sending him flying several feet backward. Amethyst landed with a sickening crunch, but managed to sit up and glower at them. In a flash of purple light, all that was left was air.

Scott ran over to Petross' side along with Ryan and the kid beckoned for Sapphire, like in the movies. "So, blue boy, wanna be next?" he challenged.

Sapphire paid no mind to him, but answered anyway. "Sorry. But the Crystalli have no use for mutations such as yourself." he said, casually.

Scott seemed flabbergasted as he took a step backward. "WHAT?! How'd YOU know 'bout our powers?" he asked in shock.

Sapphire spread his arms out in a manner eerily similar to a certain one-winged angel. "Let's just say that we have our resources." The old man lowered his arms, then vanished in a flash of blue light the color of sunlight on the ocean.

Sora turned and ran over to Sakuzy. He got down on his knees and tried to shake him awake, but it was no use. Sakuzy was still breathing, but he was just unconscious. Petross went over and checked his vital signs from breathing to pulse.

"Petross, will he be okay?" Sora asked.

Petross looked up and nodded, albeit solemnly. "He should be fine. However, he should NOT have used that Blast spell. Still, he'll be good as new in no time, though, I'd think it'd be best to get him some medical attention." Petross turned to Scott and thought he'd point something out. "And Scott, you got a C on your last test."

Scott looked outraged as he put his hands on his head. "Oh, come on, Prof.! I was attacked by a psychopath, remember?!"

At this point, Blader decided to intervene. "Alright, we'll do the whole school reunion later. Let's get going!"

They were going to walk back to the base when Joyex stopped Sora. "Hey, Sora, I thought you might like this. Jack Sparrow gave it to me, but I have no real need for it."

The Nobody tossed Sora the charm he found at Port Royal; the Arrow Charm. "Thanks, Joyex." Sora said. The group got Sakuzy on a stretcher and began the long trek back to the base.

Joe

A fifteen-foot-tall gorilla from the jungles of Africa. Whenever Sora calls, he'll charge into the battlefield to crush any and all of his opponents. He's a big gorilla, like Kong, only a lot more gentle and way smaller. He first appeared on _Mighty Joe Young _1998.


	54. Major Flashback

Chapter 54: Major Flashback

_(I'm not exactly picky about background music for this, but (this is optional) you CAN play Ryuji Iuchi's song Daily Agony if you want.)_

_Sakuzy was gazing upon Destiny Islands, cold sweat running down his face. He and the rest of the Keybladers had to fight their way through a huge group of Crystalli, but the battle itself left Destiny Island in a sorry state: namely a barren piece of rock with flames licking its soil._

_Behind Sakuzy were Joey, Maya, Depth, Adrian, his Master, and Victor. There was also a guy who looked like Emerald, only with blue eyes instead of green. A woman with red hair was also there with a younger girl with short blonde hair. One with raven-black hair and skin the color of soil made to comfort one with curly brown hair. Another with streaming red hair was trying to catch her breath was with the last one with black hair with a pale streak going across it. Finally, there was a boy with short brown hair and a green shirt who was standing close to a girl around his age with white and red clothing and blonde hair, and a boy with reddish-purple hair, no shirt, and a purple animal-hide pants._

_"Made it through the first night, guys. And we're all here." Sakuzy said, doing a quick head count._

_"But not Jax." Joey pointed out, "He didn't get away! He couldn't!"_

_Sakuzy turned to Joey and pointed at his friend accusingly. "You think I don't know that?!" he asked, "He took that bullet, which was meant for me, in his own heart! We're NOT giving up! We're fighting this for Jax!" Sakuzy's eyes were filling up with tears as he continued, but he didn't even remember the last time he'd felt so strong. "Because THAT Keyblader was a hero! He WILL be avenged!" he finished._

_Depth rolled his eyes, unimpressed with Sakuzy's melodramatic speech. "Alright, we get the idea." he said, rolling his eyes._

_Joey stared for a while before bringing his face up with a large grin, despite the tears on his comrades' faces. "Aw, c'mon, guys! Turn those frowns around!" he said with a shrug._

_Adrian simply glowered at Joey, then spoke in the sternest voice he could muster. "That saying won't make things any easier, you know that?" he asked._

_Joey seemed to deflate a bit and sighed._

_"As soon as possible…" he began, but his master cut him off by putting a hand on his shoulder._

_"Not now, Sakuzy." he said, surprisingly calm, "We only got away because Depth saw them coming half an hour before they attacked." The kid who looked like Emerald stood up, looking ready to speak, but he didn't say anything in the end. Fortunately, the Master saw him and asked, "Do you have something to say, Jim?"_

_Jim paused, but then regained his composure and answered the Master directly. "Just a thought, but...How about we...elect some guy in charge?" Jim almost forced the last part out, as though he had been wanting to get it off his back._

_Joey's comical smile spread across his face as he nodded and fingered his chin. "I'm cool with that." he reminded, "I nominate Sakuzy!"_

_Sakuzy started as he stared at Joey. He had been expecting this least amongst the group. "Oh, c'mon, Joe, I don't think that I could lead people under siege." he said, trying to stay out of it._

_The girl, Maya, put her hand on Sakuzy's shoulder and whispered in his ear. "You never know until you try. I think you're fit to lead us now." she said, softly._

_Adrian, on the other hand, had different ideas on who to elect. "I nominate Master. He's been leading the Keyblade Order since he taught our parents and hasn't let us down before."_

_The survivors went into a long and tedious debate on leadership rights, but when the votes were tallied, Sakuzy ended up leader. Sakuzy turned to Depth with a grin on his face. "I won by a single vote." he said, causing Depth to look up slightly, "You gave it to me, didn't you?" he asked._

_Depth didn't look up to meet Sakuzy eye-to-eye, but he did loll his head back and forth. "Maybe."_

_Maya then grabbed Sakuzy by the arm and started leading him away. The Crystalli were coming, after all. And the role as leader was anything BUT an easy position…_


	55. Toy Zone

Chapter 55: Toy Zone

Sakuzy woke up to find Sora slapping his face. It didn't hurt too much, but it was enough to jar him from his slumbering state. He then noticed that his head was bandaged, as was his arm. "Ow..." he groaned, "What hit me?"

Sakuzy's vision slowly returned to find Sora, Joyex, and Kairi at his bedside. "Your own Blast Spell, that's what." Sora said, answering his previous question, "Sapphire sent it right back at you, remember?"

Sakuzy screwed up his face, then remembered what had happened. "Oh yeah." he groaned as he felt something pang in his head, "Ugh, I shouldn't have tried something THAT powerful…"

Sakuzy made to sit up, but his whole body felt like it weighed a ton and Joyex simply laid him back down on his back. "You okay, buddy?" the Nobody asked.

Sakuzy put one hand on his forehead with strenuous effort and made an attempt to massage it. "Ohh…My head feels like it's trapped in a vice, but other than THAT, I'm fine."

Scott and Ryan walked over and stood over Sakuzy's left side. Sakuzy smiled at the sight. "Hey, guys." he greeted, despite his pain, "Haven't seen YOU since Camp Greenlake…"

"Crikey, Sakuzy, ye nearly died of skull damage. Good thing that blast blew it outta yer head!" Scott chuckled at his joke while Ryan rolled his eyes. It was a bad joke in his opinion.

"No times for jokes, Scottie." Ryan pointed out.

Scott, in a sudden act of whim, seized Ryan by the hood and almost lifted him into the air. "Maybe we should have ANOTHER talk why you should NEVER refer to me as that."

Sakuzy, deciding to change the subject, asked, "So, what've you two been up to?"

Scott released Ryan in time to answer the question. "Ah, the usual." the Aussie answered, "Lookin' for our buddy. You know, the one who escaped before we did. Other than THAT, same ol', same ol'."

Sora scratched his head. "So, Sakuzy, how do YOU know these guys?" he asked.

"Joyex and I met them at Camp Greenlake." Sakuzy explained, "Helped us break out, too."

Before Sakuzy could go into further details, Petross walked over with a clipboard in one hand and a stethoscope around his neck. "Why, Sakuzy, it's good to see you up again. You may be fine...for the moment, but you'll need a day of rest." Petross studied his medical chart, then added, "That blast was NOT good for you, especially since you were already exhausted."

Sakuzy sighed as he flopped his head back down on his pillow. "Sleep will DEFINITELY help. I feel like I've been hit by a train." he said as his head lolled to the side slightly.

As they waited for Sakuzy, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi went over to Merlin's place while Joyex went over to the town, murmuring something about Moogles. Sora and co. walked into Merlin's to find that the place was deserted. Sora looked around Merlin's house and found what appeared to be a research center. He found three things around the room's main center—Pooh's storybook and an unknown, ancient-looking book lay on a desk. But the thing that got the best of Sora's attention was a brightly-colored chest. It was bright blue with some yellow brackets covered with stars and clouds.

"What're these things?" Sora asked, looking at the ancient-looking book and the chest.

Kairi wasn't exactly interested in what Sora was looking at. Instead, she walked over to the storybook to get a good look at the cover, then smiled. "Sora?" she asked, "Is that YOU on this book's cover?"

Sora dashed over to Kairi's side and saw the all-too-familiar picture of him sitting with Pooh on a quiet hilltop. He blushed, but decided to come clean in the end. "Yep. This book holds a world called 'The Hundred Acre Wood'."

Kairi turned to Sora with a curious fleck in her eye. "Are you saying that there's a whole world in that book?" she asked.

Sora nodded. "You'd better believe it. I've been there twice and I've saved it once."

Sora glanced at the ancient-looking book, which had a small bolt of lightning running down its center, but quickly changed his attention to the box. What secrets did IT hold? He went over to the chest and creaked it open only to find that it was empty. "Huh? Why would Merlin keep an empty chest?" he asked.

Sora's question was quickly answered when a series of sky-blue lights shot from the chest's inside. The blue light spiraled around Sora and he was soon getting sucked into the box. Goofy and Donald suddenly took notice of this and jumped in surprise. "SORA!" they shouted.

The duck and dog grabbed Sora around the waist, but the lights surrounded them as well and within seconds, they were sucked into the box along with Sora. When the blue lights vanished, the chest closed.

Kairi stood there, her mouth agape at what just happened. She opened the chest in an attempt to go after them, but the lights didn't try to suck her in. The chest was just empty. "WHAT HAPPENED?!" she asked in surprise.

Merlin suddenly appeared in a puff of blue smoke, catching both her and Riku off-guard. "Oh, well I'll be." he said, adjusting his glasses, "It seems as if I'm a little late for your arrival."

Riku recovered just in time to ask Merlin what Kairi wanted to ask. "Where's Sora? He looked into that chest…" Riku beckoned at the chest to emphasize his point. "And he, Donald, and Goofy were all sucked in!"

Merlin held up a hand, then said, "Oh, that question is easily answered. I found out, recently, that there's more than ONE world contained inside a certain object. So, I found THAT book…" Merlin pointed over at the archaic book with the lightning bolt. "And the box. The box of which you say, leads into a world called the Toy Zone." he explained.

Toy Zone...

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were falling through what felt like an abyss until they landed on solid wood with a "thunk". They seemed to be inside of a giant box of sorts.

_Blocks suddenly piled onto each other to form a 'T', a yo-yo rolled by to form an 'O' and its string zipped around to form a 'Y'. A jack-in-the-box then sprung up and placed the word 'Zone' under the 'Toy' that just appeared. The words all flew apart and fell into nothingness._

Sora shook the cobwebs out of his head and got to his feet, trying to get a good look at his surroundings. "Ow…What's going on here?" he asked, cricking his neck, "I feel all stiff."

Goofy's voice suddenly rang through the darkness. "Well, I feel kinda soft inside. Literally."

"And whenever I touch myself, I squeak." Donald pointed out.

Sora couldn't see a thing, but he did hear a loud squeak that reminded him of a rubber duck. As he felt around, he looked up and saw a light coming from a good ten feet up. "Hey, I think we're inside something. Let's see if we can get out!"

Sora and co. clambered on top of several large blocks of wood and pushed up on the roof until it swung up. They got out of the thing they were in, only to realize that it was a giant toy box with clouds painted on its light-blue surface. When they looked around, they found that they were in a giant bedroom that reminded Sora a bit of his own when he was a kid. They had also changed form. Sora was now an action figure of...himself, Goofy was a black, stuffed dog with his hat, and Donald was a white rubber duck with his hat.

"Oh, great! I'm an action figure!" Sora said in disbelief. He felt the skin on his arm, his clothes, even his hair—all were made of the same substance: plastic.

"Maybe this thing's sorta like Pooh's storybook." Goofy said as he looked around.

Donald shrugged as best he could. "Could be."

Going out on a limb, Sora summoned his Keyblade to see that it was something like an accessory. It was just as he feared. "Great." he groaned, "Even the Keyblade's plastic in this world."

Donald and Goofy looked around to see a gigantic bed, desk, and dresser; or at least they were gigantic to THEM. They were only about a foot high, if not, smaller. "Ya think anyone here could help us around here?" asked Goofy.

"Howdy!"

The group turned around and saw a cowboy doll with a hat and a pull-string. He had a rather long nose, a plaid yellow shirt , a pair of jeans, plastic boots, and brown hair. Who was this guy, anyway?

_Can you guess who this guy is? Most likely you will. I've always wondered why Kingdom Hearts never added a Pixar movie into the mix, so I thought that THIS would be a good place to start._

_I loved this movie._


	56. Meet the Toys

Chapter 56: Meet the Toys

Sora took in the presence of this cowboy doll. He had virtually appeared from nowhere and was standing on the giant bed in the middle of the room. "O-kay. Who are YOU?" Sora asked.

The cowboy jumped down from the bed and walked over to the two. He was a good bit taller than Sora, but he looked like a truly likeable guy. "Howdy. My name is Woody and THIS is Andy's Room."

Woody took Sora's hand in a friendly handshake. Introductions went around as he shook each one's…well, except Donald, he simply patted him on the head, as Donald couldn't move his wings.

"Glad to meet ya, Woody. I'm Sora." the Keyblade Master greeted.

"Donald Duck." Donald said, hopping into the air and landing with a loud squeak.

"Goofy!"

"Nice to meet all of you." Woody looked them over, then said, "Since I don't recognize ya, something tells me that you guys aren't exactly from around here."

Sora scratched the back of his head, his spiky hair not even moving as he scratched it. "You have no idea." Sora said, under his breath.

"Well, since you're new around here, might as well show you the rest of the…"

Before Woody even finished, another voice sounded. This voice was a bit more dutiful and deep at the same time. "Rest of the tour? Leave that to me, cowboy."

Sora and co. looked around wildly, trying to see who had said that. Woody, on the other hand, simply looked exasperated. Suddenly a short guy with white and green armor jumped down from a model airplane suspended by the ceiling. He had something strapped to his back, a small light bulb on his right arm, some skin-tight purple cloth over most of his head, except his face, and had a large chin.

Woody didn't seem too enthusiastic about this toy entering the fray, showing even in his voice. "Hey, Buzz…" he said.

Buzz thrust out his chest, then said, "I saw the three enter. And I find it a pleasure to meet Sora, Donald, and Goofy in that order."

Sora stared at this toy, then asked, "Okay, who are you?"

"Buzz" pressed a circular button on his chest plate and a pair of plastic wings popped out of the gadget on his back. "I am world-famous BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!" the space toy answered in a very dramatic-sounding voice.

Sora and Donald had expressions that seemed to say "What the?" as Goofy simply went up to Buzz and shook his hand. "Well, nice to meet ya, Mr. Buzz Lightyear, sir."

Sora hesitated, but shook Buzz's hand nonetheless. "O-kay…Nice to meet you too, Buzz."

Buzz turned to Woody and gestured to himself. "Now, Woody, I think that I should be the one to take them on the grand tour." he offered.

Sora decided to simply end this argument. "Um...We'll go with Woody, but thanks for the offer, Buzz."

As Sora suspected, his answer didn't faze Buzz in the slightest. Instead, he gestured lightly to Sora and beckoned to himself. "Ah, don't worry, young cadet. I'll be around if you need me."

Buzz walked off, leaving a very confused Donald and Sora behind.

"Well, now that THAT'S out of the way, let the tour begin." Woody said, leading the trio through the room.

On their first stop, Woody led the group through the room until they happened to meet a large, pink piggy bank. He had three toes on each foot, beady, black eyes and was actually playing solitaire. "Allow me to do the introductions, Sora. THIS is Hamm."

Hamm turned on being addressed, then took notice of Sora and stopped his card game and went over to the group. "Ah, new guys. Nice to meetcha." he said with a slight wave of his left "hand".

Sora suddenly remembered all the piggy banks he broke open when he was young. He decided NOT to comment about this in front of Hamm. Woody was about to continue when a green, plastic T-Rex landed in front of them and roared. The roar was surprisingly pitiful; it sounded like no more than a bad attempt to be scary on Halloween. It didn't even scare Goofy and the dog-man scared easily.

When Woody spoke, he was surprisingly calm, as though this had happened before. "How're you doing, Rex?"

"Rex" eventually stopped roaring and spoke, surprisingly to Sora, in a timid, insecure voice. "Were you scared?" he asked, hopefully, "Tell me honestly."

Woody held his index finger and thumb about an inch away from each other, then said, "I was CLOSE to being scared that time."

Woody started to walk away with Rex talking behind his back. "Oh, I'm GOING for fearsome here, but I just don't FEEL it!" he meandered, "I think I'm just coming off as annoying..."

Donald could only scoff as he rolled his eyes. "You THINK?" he asked.

Sora put a finger to his chin, then said, "Maybe we should help him…"

"Do I hear a call for HELP?" a familiar voice asked. Much to everyone's surprise, Buzz seemingly fell out of nowhere to land right in between Sora and Rex, then asked, "You need help being fearsome? Allow me to assist you."

Sora and Buzz walked over to Rex, wanting to help the dinosaur. "Okay, Rex, here's what you have to do." Sora said, working with Buzz to solve the problem.

"First of all, Rex, lean FORWARD while roaring and keep your arms tucked in so you don't look ridiculous. Oh, and keep yourself STRAIGHT before roaring." Buzz pointed out.

Rex did exactly what Buzz told him and let out a REALLY LOUD roar that blew the facial parts off some plastic potato thing. Sora took immediate notice and ran over to the potato thing, which was now walking around, blindly, on a pair of blue shoes. "Sorry! Let me help you..." Sora apologized.

Sora picked up a pair of eyes that had scattered on the floor while Buzz shook Rex's hand in congratulations. Upon putting the eyes back on the plastic thing, Sora suddenly realized what this was. "Hey, you're a Mr. Potato Head."

The potato's still-scattered mouth suddenly spoke, catching Sora off guard and startling him. "Yes, I am. Now, would you help me get myself back together?!" he asked, grouchily.

Sora eased himself, then answered, "Sure."

Sora helped the spud put his parts back on, then thought, _Man, I forgot about how much I used to love these things._

Sora smiled a mischievous smile, then placed all the pieces back in their places, though not quite the correct way. He snickered to himself, then appeared to run off to look at the rest of the room.

Mr. Potato Head walked over to Hamm, then called out to catch the piggy bank's attention. "Hey, Hamm! Look at what the new guy did to me." The walking spud showed his face for Hamm to see that it was all messed up. The eyes were sideways, the nose was in an eye socket, and the mouth was where the nose should have been. Also, his right arm was in a place where his ear was and vice versa. (1) "He made me Picasso!"

Hamm shook his head, then made to walk away. "I don't get it." he muttered.

Mr. Potato Head glowered over at Sora, who was trying VERY hard not to laugh. "Sorry. Just couldn't resist!" he said, stifling a laugh.

Mr. Potato Head "shrugged" as best he could and said, "It happens."

"Oh, there you are, Sora!" Woody ran over Sora with Potato Head and almost laughed. Woody immediately fixed the spud-head back up and turned to Sora. "I believe that we still have a tour to do."

Woody led them over to a place near the bed and Sora saw a bemusing sight. It appeared to be a toy dog that split down the middle and had a slinky in its middle. "This is Slinky Dog." Woody introduced, "'Slink' for short."

Slinky turned to Sora and spoke in a rough, southern voice. "Howdy, kid."

"Hey." Sora said with a wave.

Slinky reached under the gargantuan bed and pulled out a checkerboard. "Checkers, anyone? I'm red this time." he challenged.

"Uh, Slink?" Woody asked, trying to get Slink's attention. The slinky dog, however, took it as something different.

"Oh, alright, you can be red if you want…" he said, but then Woody corrected him.

"No, it's not that, Slink. It's just that I'm giving a tour and…"

Woody didn't finish, because Sora stepped to the other side of the board. "Hey, I'm pretty good at checkers. Wanna play?" he said, getting his black pieces ready.

Slinky seemed overjoyed at this as he eagerly got on his side of the playing board. "Well, golly Bob howdy! It kinda got boring with Woody. Let's play." he said, moving one of his pieces.

After a quick game, WHICH Sora won, giant footsteps started to echo from the outside hall. Woody looked at Sora, Donald, and Goofy, then his eyes widened in fright. "Uh-oh! You guy's have GOT to hide! Andy's coming!" he ordered, gesturing to the bed.

Sora gave Woody an odd look. What danger could come from a kid? "Why?" he asked, "Wouldn't he think we're new toys?"

Woody kept his answer short, sweet, and to the point. "Andy's never had stuff like you, so he'll get suspicious."

Sora thought this over. He probably WOULD get confused if something he didn't have appeared in his room. "I see your point." he said, then he, Donald, and Goofy bolted under the bed as quick as a flash and huddled down as the other toys scrambled back to their places in the room.

From under the bed, he saw a giant kid walk around the room and take something before leaving. Most likely he had to go somewhere and they wouldn't be there. Sora, Donald, and Goofy came out of the bed to find Woody standing on top of the bed.

"What was that all about?" Sora asked, then added, "Just trying to get things straight."

Woody got down from the bed and answered, "If Andy found you, he'd probably throw you guys away OR he'd get in trouble, accused of stealing!"

Sora thought it over and now it made more sense than just simple suspicion. "Gotcha. Showing ourselves: BAD. So...anything else we can do around here? Any more introductions?"

Woody

This cowboy doll is the leader of the toys in Andy's room. He often gets into arguments with Buzz, but is the sane center for this motley collection and a very dependable leader. He first appeared in _Toy Story_ 1995.

Buzz Lightyear

One of the newest members of this collection of toys. He once threatened Woody's post as leader of the toys, but now the two are good friends, though they don't always get along. He once deluded himself into thinking that he was the REAL Buzz Lightyear, though he's really a toy. THIS changed real fast after a life-changing experience. He first appeared in _Toy Story_ 1995.

Hamm

A piggy bank who's on pretty good terms with Mr. Potato Head, Woody, and Buzz. He's one of the many toys who idolized Buzz, but isn't above taking orders from others. He also likes card games such as Poker and Go Fish, which has often led others to believe he's cheating. He first appeared in _Toy Story _1995.

Rex

A plastic dinosaur toy who has SERIOUS insecurity issues. More often, he's seen playing a SNES, and his favorite game: Buzz Lightyear! Sora and Buzz helped him learn to roar like a TRUE Jurassic predator, partially because he lacks courage and self esteem. He first appeared in _Toy Story_ 1995.

Mr. Potato Head

A toy who always seems to lose his accessories. He's on good terms with Hamm the piggy bank and is constantly hoping that someone would get a Mrs. Potato Head as a Christmas/birthday present. He first appeared in _Toy Story_ 1995.

Slinky

An odd toy that's a dog split in half with a slinky center. He's easy-going and somewhat simple, though he's always ready to back Woody up. First chance he gets, he'll ask the cowboy for a game of checkers. He first appeared in _Toy Story_ 1995.

_(1) Yes. I used to do that to him when I was a kid. It was fun to mutate ol' Potato Head._

_In the next chapter, one OC will be appearing. He's an anti-hero and one of two that will be appearing in Radiant Garden (the second one's a girl and both of them have powers. YAAY!)._


	57. J

Chapter 57: J

Radiant Garden...

Riku and Kairi were strolling down Radiant Garden's street. Merlin had told them that Sora, Donald, and Goofy would reappear by sunset; when the chest's magic would wear off. "Well, they should be back by now, it's almost sunset." Riku pointed out, looking over at the now-orange sun.

Joyex then turned a corner and walked towards them with a rather large mallet and someone they never saw before. (1) "There." he said, sounding very satisfied, "THAT should take care of those pesky Moogles."

Riku suddenly noticed the shady character just a short distance behind Joyex and cocked his silver-haired head. "Hey, Joyex," he called, "Who's your friend?"

Joyex looked back at the guy behind him, then said, "Oh, him? This is…"

Apparently, the guy had heard Riku, because he cut Joyex out and made his own introduction. His voice was somewhat dark and when he spoke, it was as though he had recently been angered. "Just call me 'J', it's the best name I've got."

The guy was now close enough that Riku could see what he looked like. J looked somewhat rugged, but it did look like he managed to shave. He wore a black hoodie jacket, with the hood down, a light-gray shirt underneath, blue jeans, white tennis shoes, and a pair of sunglasses. He also had shoulder-length, untidy, black hair and a black, leather glove on his right hand. He was about an inch shorter than Scott, but something about him seemed to tell that he was the older of the two.

"How'd you two get together?" Kairi asked.

Joyex held up a finger, then said, "Y'know, I had a feeling you were gonna ask that. Better roll the flashback."

_Enter flashback…_

_Joyex walked out of an accessory store with the same mallet he was carrying now and showing every hint of satisfaction._

_"_I just finished taking care of a bunch of Moogles in the accessory when some guy tripped me."

_Joyex suddenly stumbled and tripped over something he hadn't seent. Yet, before he could even get back up, a guy who helped him up and left the scene equally fast._

"The same guy who tripped me helped me to get back on my feet. But when he left, my wallet wasn't there."

_Joyex quickly checked his pockets to find that nothing was there, then darted off after him, brandishing the mallet at the thief._

"I then started chasing after that guy and reached him…only to realize that J here had got to him first."

_When Joyex rounded a corner, J did have the pickpocket by the wrist and had it twisted around his back. "Now, unless you want me to tear your arm out of the socket, you'll give this guy his wallet back." J's voice was still serious, but surprisingly calm._

_The pickpocket dropped the wallet without question, and J let go of his arm, letting the guy run off. Joyex picked up the wallet and looked J right in the eye, or at least the shades. "Thanks, stranger." he said, uneasily._

_J didn't smile in return to Joyex, but he didn't seem angry; just calm. "No problem. And call me J." On seeing Joyex's confused expression, he said, "My REAL name's too dangerous for me to parade about."_

"We then took a walk and when I brought up Scott and Ryan, he decided to follow."

_End Flashback…_

Joyex held up his hands in a gesturing manner and finished, "And then we ended up here for all to see."

Kairi, in an attempt to be friendly, held out a hand for J to shake. "Nice to meet you, J. I'm Kairi."

Riku, on the other hand, didn't do the same. He probably knew something Kairi didn't... "And I'm Riku." he added.

J didn't take Kairi's hand, but gazed at her indigo eyes, then looked away with a small, but barely-noticeable huff. In the end, she put it down, seeing as he wasn't going to take it anytime soon. "Charmed." he said to Kairi, then turned to Joyex and asked, "Now where did you say Scott and Ryan are?"

Joyex shrugged. "Beats me." he answered, "Scott said that they were looking for someone that had accompanied them to Camp Greenlake.

J lifted one of his thin, black brows, then said, "Then their job will be all the easier."

Riku asked, "Why?"

"Because I know who they're looking for." J answered.

Kairi almost started, then asked, almost eagerly, "Who?"

A pause. Then J answered with just one two-letter word. "Me."

Suddenly, just as J's answer occurred to them, the group was surrounded by Heartless. It wasn't too much to worry about: just a few soldiers and large bodies. Riku and Kairi drew their Keyblades while Joyex got out his chain whip.

"I call dibs on the ugly one!" Joyex called, humorously.

J spoke up, but he didn't seem to be trying to make a joke. His voice remained calm, yet dead serious as he asked, "Which one?"

Without any form of hesitation, the team went into battle. Joyex used his chain whip, Riku and Kairi used their Keyblades, and J used astonishing martial arts skills. He single-handedly defeated six Heartless with well-timed punches and kicks alone.

"Whoa." Joyex said, wide-eyed, "He's good."

As J fought through the Heartless, he and Riku went back-to-back and the Heartless were starting to close in on them. "What now?" asked Riku.

"Leave everything to me." J said, earning him curious glances from everyone around him.

J suddenly made several convulsions and clenched his whole body. For a moment, Riku thought the guy was going to be sick, but it was something entirely different. J's bones started changing in size and shape and his skin grew silver fur. His hands and feet turned into paws. His face elongated, his ears became longer and pointed, his mouth became wider, and he grew a bushy tail. His clothes seemed to have vanished when the transformation happened, becoming one with his skin as he transformed.

This took a lot of time to describe, but it was so fast that Riku barely had time to register it. Where J once stood five seconds ago, there was now a gray wolf, which let out a fearsome snarl.

The wolf dashed forward and pounced on the Heartless, digging its sharp fangs into the Heartless' black hide and wiping it from existence. Riku then came back to his senses and continued fighting.

When the Heartless were gone, Kairi ran over to Riku and nearly screamed at the wolf. She had seen wolves plenty of times at the occasional zoo, but never saw one up close. Riku and Kairi then heard J's voice say, _It's alright._

Riku looked around, then turned to Kairi. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

Kairi hesitated, trying to find the best way to explain the experience. "Yeah...In my head." she answered.

The wolf looked at both of them and then they realized that the voice was coming FROM the wolf. _Take it easy. It's ME._

Kairi stared in awe, her mouth slightly agape, then asked, "J? How'd you get like that?"

_I'll explain later. But right NOW, I've gotta change back._

The wolf made several convulsions and changed back into J. The main difference was that he wasn't wearing sunglasses anymore. When he opened his tightly shut eyes, Riku and Kairi saw that his irises were ruby red. It wasn't exactly scary, but just plain creepy. There was something about them that made them look like they could pierce your soul. J looked at the ground, picked his sunglasses up off the ground, and slipped them back on.

J looked back and forth and put his hood up before speaking in a voice so quiet that he had to stand very close to Riku and Kairi. "I suggest that we get going." he warned.

Joyex ran towards them as fast his legs could carry him. He stopped to catch his breath, then suggested something. "How about lunch?"

J scowled at Joyex, then said, "Whatever! Let's just go!"

As the group took off, Ryan and Scott were observing J from not too far away. "Crikey. He's as good as ever." the Aussie said, impressed.

"And he's still as cold as ever, too." Ryan pointed out, "Did you see what he did when Kairi wanted to shake his hand?"

Scott turned to see that his traveling buddy was giving him a questioning look. "Yes, but he's still WITH us." he made to follow them, then said, "Let's go…"

In another part of the city, Joyex had decided to get lunch at a place J said he used to work at. While they were eating, Riku left his food long enough to ask J the question. "What was that all about back there?"

J didn't immediately answer, but waited for the other three to finish eating before answering. "Joyex, if you met Scott and Ryan, then you probably know about their…differences."

Joyex still had a sizeable mouthful of food, but he proceeded to answer J's question, despite spraying small food particles across the dinner table. "Yeah. Scott can change his anatomical features and Ryan has the power of the sun on his side."

J leaned in closer, trying to keep things secret. He still had his hood up, as though trying to keep a low profile. "Well, I have the ability to acquire the DNA pattern of any creature, or person, I touch and change my form at will. Example."

J extended his left, gloveless, hand and touched Riku's hand with his index finger. A small DNA spiral seemed to flash in his eyes and after a convulsion or two, he was a near-exact replica of Riku, only in J's clothes and with red eyes. When he spoke, however, he used J's voice. "I can turn into any living creature I touch. But only people and animals." he explained, "Plants are beyond my powers."

Riku was a bit weirded out. It was as though he was looking in a mirror, only the effect of red eyes made his appearance…a little more intimidating. "Okay...THIS is weird." he said, backing up a bit.

J turned on him and ALMOST, nearly but not exactly, cracked a smile as Riku's silver hair turned back to black and J was sitting in front of him again. "You really think so?" he asked, then added, "Wait till you see my next one."

J slowly reached out and touched Kairi's hand. In one single convulsion, Kairi felt like she was looking in a mirror…only with his clothes and scarlet eyes. It got weirder when her lookalike spoke, but still had J's masculine voice when it spoke. "The only problem with shapeshifting is that my eye color stays the same as well as my voice."

Kairi jumped slightly at the sound of J's voice. She had been expecting something a little more…feminine than what she just heard. "Okay, I'm officially freaked out now." she said, her eyes wide.

Joyex looked around and noticed something everyone else had failed to notice. "Uh, guys? You're scaring people." Joyex pointed out.

People were, indeed, staring at them. J suddenly changed back, left the money they owed on the table and quickly pulled the hood of his jacket over his head so that it shaded his visage. It was more likely they were staring at Kairi because of her statement rather than J, but he wasn't going to take chances. He also put his sunglasses back on, hiding his eyes. The rest left with him and caught up with the shapeshifter.

"What was I THINKING?" J scolded himself, "Using my powers in front of a bunch of people, they'll know I was there!"

"And you say I'M too flighty with me powers." a familiar voice pointed out.

All four people turned to see that Scott and Ryan had caught up with them. J cocked an eyebrow, still retaining a somewhat cold, yet calm expression. "Scott. Ryan." he greeted, indifferently, "Took your time getting out of Camp Greenlake?"

"Hey, we would've gotten out sooner if you didn't run out on us like that!" Ryan argued.

Kairi turned to J, confused by what the kid said. "What's he talking about, J?"

J brushed back one of his untamed bangs, then said, "I was captured with them and sent to Camp Greenlake, where I was dubbed 'Survivor'. We promised that we would leave together, but when an opportunity came, I left alone. I turned into a poisonous lizard and escaped to the mountains. I then took a Gummi ship up there and here I am for all to see." All this time, J kept the same stern look on his face. It was as though his expression was carved in stone.

"WHAT?!" Riku asked in surprise.

"That's right! He's a double-crosser!" Ryan said, pointing a finger at J.

"I'll have to agree on Ryan with this predicament." Scott said, sternly, then asked, "Why'd you run out on us?! I thought we were friends!"

J huffed, brushing off the shouting that Scott gave him. "Sorry. But caring is one of the luxuries in life that I CAN'T provide." J said, almost coldly, "Besides, I thought a few more weeks would help YOU more than me."

Riku paused. "NOW what're you talking about?"

J turned to Riku, his expression still remaining as hard as ever. "You wanna know WHY we ended up at Camp Greenlake?" he asked.

J's voice changed into a proverbial roar, yet his expression stayed the same. Still, Kairi had enough courage to ask, "Why?"

"It's because Scott's somehow gotten it into his head that his powers automatically make him a comic book hero." J answered, then glowered back at Scott and continued. "He uses his powers at the earliest opportunity and we usually end up being chased later! Usually, we get away. But that one time, we were caught and sent to that nightmare called Camp Greenlake."

J seemed to be talking to both Kairi AND Scott as he said that. The Aussie was completely outraged as he argued, "I keep telling you that…"

The two then started bickering at the top of their lungs and they could hardly make out what they were saying. Ryan seemed to be paying attention, though.

"Hey, Ry, what're they saying?" Joyex asked.

Ryan seemed to listen in on them as he nodded, then proceeded to answer their question as he listened. "Well, from what I can tell, J's criticizing Scott." he answered, "He's saying that he's irresponsible and that people aren't quite ready to know about them, though he is, occasionally, questioning his mental capacity."

It made sense to both Riku and Kairi, but one slot was still open..."And Scott?: Kairi asked.

Ryan listened to the argument a little bit, then answered, "Scott's saying that they have their powers for a reason. He's also telling J that they should use their powers to help people and he's stating that J is too uptight and that he has to loosen up."

After a long argument, J and Scott stormed off in opposite directions. Each one had their own little insult for each other.

"Hot-shot."

"Uptight grouch."

Kairi stared after them, then turned to Ryan and asked, "Should we get them to apologize?"

Ryan waved it off. "Nah, they usually forget and end up back together again. Still, better get going again..." Ryan hovered in the air for a split second before falling to the ground and landing on his seat. "OW! Uh…hehehe. Forgot my powers aren't so good at sunset."

Both Riku and Kairi felt like they had been winded. They had forgotten so soon? "SUNSET?!" they asked in surprise.

Ryan nodded, then explained, "Yeah. Sunset. The time before night, you know? You can also call it dusk or…"

Riku and Kairi ran over Ryan like a pair of cars as they headed towards Merlin's house. When Scott checked up on him, Ryan was on the ground with a footprint on both his stomach AND his face. "Ow…" he groaned.

J

A mysterious shapeshifting telepath who is an old 'friend' of Scott and Ryan's. He left them at Camp Greenlake to try and help Scott get over his idea that he's a comic book hero. He can change into any creature or person he touches, but there are TWO bad turns—one: his eye color stays the same. And two: his voice remains the same, even if he turns into a woman. He and Scott often get into fights, but make up for it eventually.

_YES. I've finally come to Superhuman number THREE. Whaddya think of him?_


	58. You've Got A Friend In Me

Chapter 58: You've Got a Friend in Me

Toy Zone...

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were still in Toy Zone. Sora had gotten used to the odd collection of toys and saw a bit of himself in Woody, especially when he was with some shepherdess doll named Bo Peep. Sora enjoyed playing cards with Hamm, playing with a remote control car named RC (saw THAT coming), and checkers with Slinky Dog. He even got to see Rex suffer a little more at the hands of a frustrating level of a Buzz Lightyear video game for the Super NES.

During a quick card game, Sora placed a hand of cards down and started moving a bunch of checkers pieces towards him before Hamm stopped him. "Uh-uh-uh! Read 'em and weep!" he said.

Hamm apparently had a better hand than Sora, who deflated a bit as Hamm took the pieces. Sora then felt something in his mind. "Uh, guys? I hate to disappoint you, but I think we've gotta go."

As Sora moved out, a little, rubber penguin hopped over to them, squeaking every time he landed on the ground. Woody apparently knew the penguin, because he said, "Wheezy! You're better!"

The penguin, Wheezy, nodded and spoke in a high voice that was truly likeable, squeaking at the s's now and then. "Yeah! That nice shark in the toy box found me an extra squeaker!" he said.

Meanwhile, Sora had to talk to Buzz and the other toys, who had decided to come and give a few goodbyes. "Donald, Goofy, and I have gotta go. So, I guess I'll be seeing you guys." Sora said with a smile.

"Farewell, Sora. Hope to see you soon." Buzz said, seeing Sora off.

Buzz shook Sora's hand, vigorously, and the Keyblade Master soon went over to Rex. "See ya, Rex."

Rex shook Sora's hand with both of his since they were very short. "I'll work on that video game, Sora. That way YOU can give it a try sometime." he pointed out.

"Thanks." Sora said, happily.

Hamm balanced himself on his hind legs, then took his turn with Sora. "See ya, kid. And can ya do me a favor and hone up on your Poker skills?" the piggy bank asked.

Sora chuckled, then answered in the most honest way he could. "No promises."

Now it was Slinky's turn as he took Sora's hand in one of his paws. Sora had to kneel in order to shake the slinky dog's paw. "Alright, bud, I guess I'll be seein' ya. Maybe next time, I'll beat ya."

Woody, it seemed, was a bit too focused on Wheezy. "So, Wheezy, how do you feel?" he asked.

"Wonderful!" Wheezy answered, "In fact, I think I feel a SONG coming on..."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were ready to leave, but they stopped at the word 'song'. A tape recorder named "Mr. Mike" threw Wheezy a microphone and the penguin started singing in a deep, baritone voice, which sounded eerily similar to Robert Goulet. "_You've got a friend in me. You've got a friend in me. You just remember what your ol' pal said, babe, You got a friend in me._"

Sora stopped for a while and actually started tapping his foot to the beat. Goofy and Donald bobbed to the rhythm. "Did you guys know he was such a good singer?" Sora asked.

The toy who answered was the shepherdess doll Woody was often seen with: Bo Peep. "Of course. He listened to all those Robert Goulet numbers, so what would you expect?" she asked.

The group of toys listened for a while before Sora, Donald, and Goofy climbed into the toy box just as Wheezy sang his last line. "_You can see it's our destiny! Yeah, you've got a friend in ME! You've got a friend in me! You've got a FRIEND IN ME! Yeah!_"

Wheezy

A rubber penguin squeaker. He lost his squeaker once, but now he seems to have gotten it replaced. He did a very good imitation of Robert Goulet's version of 'You've Got a Friend in Me'. He first appeared in _Toy Story 2_ 1999.

Bo Peep

Woody's love interest who is often the damsel in distress during Andy's play time. She is very caring for every member of Andy's room, even when the others are fighting. She first appeared in _Toy Story_ 1995.

_In loving memory of Robert Goulet (1934-2007). He provided Wheezy's singing voice in Toy Story 2, but he died on Halloween Night 2007. We shall all miss you so…_

_In the next chapter, some of Scott's personal life is revealed._


	59. Long Lost Love

Chapter 59: Long Lost Love

Radiant Garden...

Sora and co. flew out of the chest and back into Merlin's house to find Riku and Kairi doubled-over with exhaustion. "What's with you? You two look like you've just run a mile." Sora asked.

When Riku spoke, it was between gasps of breath. "No...we didn't...Close, though."

"Well, I'm sure Sakuzy's better by now. Let's see how he's doing." Sora pointed out.

Donald, Goofy, and Riku agreed, then walked out the door, but Kairi stayed behind.

"So where were you? What was the world like?" Kairi asked, curious of the chest's contents.

Sora paused for one second, wondering how Kairi knew that this chest worked. Then, he shook it off and answered. "It was COMPLETELY different. Toys in THAT world are ALIVE."

Sora continued to explain as the two walked out the door and towards the Restoration Committee East Side's base.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Scott was walking down the street. He promised himself as soon as he got out of Camp Greenlake, he'd meet her again. He came up to the door of what he hoped was the right building and rang the doorbell. No one answered. He then kept ringing the bell, jabbing it several times with his finger. Still, no one came, even after he stopped ringing.

Scott sighed to himself, then took off his hat to scratch his mess of brown hair. "Crikey, when will she…"

Before Scott could even finish his sentence, the door flew open and someone embraced him, almost knocking him to the ground. He regained his balance looked down to see a proverbial stream of brown hair, a purple tank-top, and jeans. The girl looked up to show merry, purple eyes and tanned skin. She looked around his age, sixteen, maybe seventeen and had a small earring on her left ear.

Still, Scott smiled as he said, "G'day, April. I'm back!"

"Scott! Come in! My parent's are out!" she said, beckoning him to come in.

Scott followed the girl inside to find a cozy little house. He grinned. This wasn't the first time he had come in here without her parents' knowledge. He then sat down on a Lazy Boy and made himself at home.

"So, what's been up since they carted me off to Camp Greenlake?" Strangely, the girl by the name "April" started crying silent tears, instantly earning a worried look from Scott. "What's wrong? Was it something I said?" he asked, worriedly.

"My-my parents s-said you were d-dead. I tried to believe you weren't, but-but…" she said, trying her best not to sob.

Scott stood up from his chair, walked over and put his hands on her shoulders, his touch soothing her slightly. "April..." he said, gently, "Y'know what I always say--'I am a superhuman and I don't die easily'." he allowed himself a small laugh, then added, "Sure, that nightmare of a camp was an adjustment, but I pulled through easily. PLUS I escaped along with Ryan!"

Scott then kissed her and, for both of them, everything faded away. When it ended, April seemed to be in a better mood, because she answered Scott's first question. "Well, you know what mom and dad are like." she answered, "They like ME and what I can do, but they find YOUR powers a bit…unnatural."

Scott scoffed, remembering that time all-too-well. "Showed it, too. Booted me outta the house after I showed 'em what I could do. I don't think they liked bat wings coming from my arms."

April laughed, but then asked, "So, are you just here for a chat or is there something else you want to tell me?"

"You're right. I'm not here to chat; not by a LONG shot." he answered, "I'm here to tell ya that I'll be going offworld again. THIS time, it's to help some friends I've made. Only one girl is comin' with." he hesitated, then quickly added, "And don't worry, I don't really find her me type."

"Good news." April suddenly folded her arms and asked, "So, you DON'T want me to be with you when you leave again?"

Scott looked down at the ground, then shook his head. "No...Don't want yeh to get 'armed." he explained.

April suddenly looked Scott in the eye and put her hands on her hips. Scott was a good head taller than her, but the fire in her eyes made her seem like a giant. "Oh, no you don't, Mr. Highflier!" she scolded, "You're not going to get your way THIS time. I can take care of myself and I'm coming with you whether you want it or not."

Scott took off his hat and scratched his head before he put it back on. "Yer parents won't be too pleased that you went off with me." he said, trying to find an excuse.

A humorous grin crossed April's face as she pointed a semi-accusing finger at him. "To quote YOU after the time they kicked you out--'I don't care'."

Scott paused, then stifled a laugh as he shook his head. "If THIS was a tennis match, the ball would be in MY court and the score would be You-30, Me-Love." Scott raised his hands in surrender, then said, "Alright. You win. You're coming with."

April gave Scott a quick hug, then said, "Finally, you listen! I'll go pack!"

April jumped into the air and strangely, didn't come back down. She seemed to be suspended on invisible wires of sorts. Then, without another word, she flew into her room as quick as a flash. Scott chuckled. It was worth coming back just to see her this happy. A moment or two passed when she came back with a small suitcase. She then quickly scribbled a note, and walked out the door with him.

The pair were about halfway to the Restoration Committee East Side's base when Scott turned to her and asked "Outta curiosity, what'd you write on that, mate?"

"Oh, just a note for my parents." she explained, "Gotta tell 'em I'm out saving the world."

Scott's eyes widened. That seemed kind of subtle to him. "Will they fall for it?"

When April spoke, it was in a very chirpy voice. "Hmm…Maybe."

April Goodeve

Scott's girlfriend who has the natural ability of flight. She was afraid that Scott died in Camp Greenlake, but she found out that he was alive all along. Her parents don't approve of him, because they find his anatomy changing ability unnatural. Still, she's fun-loving and respectful, but will be strong when she has to be.


	60. Joining Superhumans

Chapter 60: Joining Superhumans

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kairi, and Joyex had finally made it to the Restoration Committee East Side's base. The trio that currently made it up were at a computer, where Blader was sitting at a computer, doing what he did best: hack.

"So, guys, we'll be going again. So…" Sora began, but a familiar Australian accent cut in.

"G'day, mates!"

Scott and April came in, causing Blader to jump. He stood out of his seat and almost fell forward before reattaching his metal leg. "Hey! How'd YOU two end up in here?!" he asked in surprise.

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but I've tracked animals for most of me life." Scott answered, "You think that I can't follow four teens, a Nobody, a dog guy, and a duck?"

Crescent comically scratched his chin, then shrugged. "He wins."

Joyex took in the girl with Scott and scratched his chin in what he hoped was a suave sort of way. "Hey, Scott...Who have we here?" he asked in a silky voice.

"This is…" Scott didn't finish, because April slugged his arm. It didn't really hurt, but he played along and massaged his arm.

"Scott, leave MY intros to me." April informed.

"Sorry."

April straightened herself back up, then introduced herself. "I'm April Goodeve and I'm a friend of Scott's."

Petross turned to the group. "You sure you want to go on this mission?" the medical officer asked.

"Did somebody say 'mission'?" Ryan sprinted through the doorway in the blink of an eye and scared the living heck out of almost everyone in the room. The enthusiasm in his face showed brighter than the sun itself. "I'm coming, too! It's been my lifelong DREAM to be in a whirlwind adventure!"

J sulked in as silent as a ghost and when he spoke, he startled Goofy. The dog-man hadn't even heard him come in. "Might as well come. Just let the record show that I'M in charge of this group of superhumans." he said, trying to get a point across to everyone.

"Yeah, but when YOU'RE not, I AM." Scott added.

J's scarlet eyes darted over to Scott as he threatened, "You're going the right way to getting kicked out."

Scott turned, then challenged, "Like to see ya try!"

April and Ryan sprang in between the two, lightning-fast, with Ryan holding back J and April holding back Scott. "WILL YOU TWO STOP IT!?" they asked at the same time.

Crescent obviously liked J's outlook, because he only commented on things he liked. "COOL! An anti-hero!" he said, cheerfully, "Do you have a cool line like 'Don't mess with me'?" J glared at Crescent through his sunglasses in a manner that meant he wanted to disembowel him personally. On seeing the shapeshifter's expression, Crescent raised his hands and said, "Alright, I'll TRY and keep my yap shut." After a few seconds' pause, he suddenly said, "NOPE! Not working!"

Ryan released J and the shapeshifter glanced at Petross. "We'll help you guys, but on ONE condition from the Restoration Committee East Side."

Petross strummed his large fingers on his forearms as he folded his massive arms, which could probably give a bear a back-breaking hug. "And that would be…?" he asked.

"That all of our criminal records will be eliminated." J offered, then added, "And Scott's girlfriend will have NO criminal record for the rest of her life about her powers."

Sora's eyes widened as he stared at the girl. "She's got powers?" he asked in surprise.

"Yeah. She can fly, like me." Ryan answered, "Only she can do it WITHOUT the sunlight, UNLIKE me."

Sora nodded, getting what the kid meant. But it seemed that Donald had other things on his mind. "ONE problem, guys." the duck quacked, "Our Gummi Ship doesn't have enough room for four extra people."

Blader stood and held up a finger, matter-of-factly. "Actually, I actually made the old Gummi a bit bigger." he stated.

"Why?" Riku asked.

Blader shrugged as he answered, "Because I'm a genius. It's what I do."

Petross nodded, but then focused on the group. "Now, before you go, I'd like to study J, Scott, Ryan, and April's blood. It'd be fascinating to study how your powers work."

Petross reached into his jacket and pulled out a serringe and injected it into J's arm. The shapeshifter didn't make to move away and didn't even wince when Petross extracted a small amount of his blood. When the serringe was full of deep-red blood, Petross placed it on a counter. He did the same thing to Scott, Ryan, and April, though Ryan needed a bit of convincing before he was ready. (By "convincing", that meant Scott had to grab him under the arms.)

Ryan massaged the place where the serringe impaled him and groaned. "MAN! I feel like a dog getting its shots!" he said, massaging his arm a little more furiously.

"C'mon, Ryan, me ol' mate." Scott said, calmly, "Wildlife rangers give animal shots to protect 'em, not to harm 'em."

The group went over to Blader's Gummi Hangar and got a good look at the new Gummi Ship, which completely different in size and color. It was easily FOUR times the size of the one Riku snatched on Skull Island.

"Whoa!" Joyex said in amazement, "Look at the SIZE of that thing!"

"Blader sure can get busy, can't he?" asked Goofy.

When Sora and the new group got into the new ship, they found enough rooms for all of them (if Donald and Goofy shared a room, which they did). There was also a kitchen to rival that of the fanciest restaurant in Radiant Garden "For the next Pure Heart!" Sora called as he fired up the engines.

The World That Never Was...

Randall was clinging to the walls next to Hades, the Green Goblin, Jack Frost, Scroop, Pete, and Maleficent. "Jadis, Dracula, AND Jones." Randall said, counting them off on his fingers, "Those kids are outsmarting everyone we send at 'em!"

"Can it, Boggs, you slime!" Green Goblin roared, then grabbed Randall by the neck and jerked the lizard off the wall with a single movement of his hand, leaving the lizard dangling in the air. Randall's voice was choked and his skin was acid-green, for the Goblin wouldn't let go.

"Alright! I get it! Just drop me, will ya?!" he choked.

Green Goblin did so and dropped Randall, who was three feet above the ground. "Be thankful, Boggs. Now that Dracula's out of the picture, It'll be ME who thrashes you from now on!"

Randall's chameleon eyes widened in utter fright and disbelief. "Oh man, THIS oughta be crummy." he muttered.

Maleficent wasn't paying any attention to the squabbling duo, paying more attention to the green magic that was displaying the worlds and a certain Gummi's next destination. "They're nearing THAT world, are they?" she asked with mild interest, "Time to make our move...Frost!"

Jack Frost stood up, eagerly. He had been waiting for this for a long time, judging by THAT reaction. "Yes, Maleficent?" he asked, eagerly.

"Sora, his friends, those meddlers from the future, and the mutations are nearing YOUR world. You know what to do..." she said, craftily.

Jack Frost saluted as he said, "Yes, milady!" he turned to the exit, then said, in a very dramatic voice, "Jack Frost AWAY!"

Jack Frost made to dash away, but he hadn't even taken a step when he tripped and landed face-first into the ground. Hades simply stared at his failed attempt at being dramatic, then asked, "Jeez, Frost. Chill, will ya?"

Jack Frost sprung to his feet and seemed to be fuming about how he had been insulted. "I INVENTED CHILL!"

Jack Frost stormed off, muttering under his breath about freezing the whole lot of them. As soon as the wintery spirit was gone, Scroop spoke up. "I'm afraid failure is inevitable for Mr. Frost." he growled, glowering after Frost.

Pete turned on Scroop and pointed a finger at him. "Ah, who asked YOU, bug-eyes? Maleficent knows what she's doin', so there's no need to worry."

Scroop glowered at Pete with a snarl, and enough intensity to make Pete back off a couple paces. Maleficent, much to both of their surprise, put her scepter between them, separating the two before ANOTHER squabble began. "Scroop! You are NOT to engage your comrades in combat! Is that clear?!" she scolded.

Scroop turned his glower to Maleficent and kept it there for a while. On seeing it, she spoke up again. "I said 'Is that clear, Mr. Scroop?'"

Scroop's glower continued until he eyed those around him. Hades shook his head, Goblin didn't say anything, and Randall mouthed "no". "Transparently." the bug hissed.

_Care to take a wild guess on which world Sora and co. are going NOW? I'll give you a hint—it's one of the many Disney movies and Frost was in part three of its trilogy and tried taking over a certain holiday. JUST for proof that I wrote this before I joined this site._

_NOW, my team is set and I have voice actors for them. First, you have the usual voices—Haley Joel Osment, David Gallagher, Hayden Panettiere, Bill Farmer, and Tony Anselmo. But, for my original characters, I have a varied cast. For Sakuzy you have Andrew Lawrence, for Joyex you have Shia LaBeouf, for J you've got Jason Griffith, for Scott you have Eric Bana, Ryan you've got one of the Sprouse twins, and for April you've got Kirsten Dunst. If you have any better suggestions, submit it in a review._


	61. North Pole

_Well, D-Dude seperated POH into three arcs. We just finished the first one: The Cure Riku Arc. Now, begins the Save the King Arc._

Chapter 61: North Pole

North Pole...

Sora and co. were deposited in a snow bank. Sora got up and shook the snow out of his spiky hair and saw that most of them changed.

Donald now had a pair of fake buck teeth in his bill, his shirt was replaced by a long, blue cape with white fur as linings, and his hat was replaced by one of those Mickey Mouse hats you'd get at Disney World or Disney Land.

Goofy's hat was replaced by a red one with a white puffball on it and his knight garbs were replaced with his old clothes. The only exception was that his shirt was white, his jacket was red, and his pants were green. But the most radical changes were the ones he saw in himself, Riku, Kairi, Sakuzy, and Joyex.

Sora noticed that J, Scott, April, and even Ryan seemed taller than him. He the saw a hunk of ice and found that he now looked the same as when he was nine or ten years old and had pointed ears. "What's going on here?" Sora asked, a little bit unsure of what to do, "I don't remember being THIS young in years."

Joyex stood up. "Great. NOW I have pointed ears and I'm the physical equal to Kenny Baker (1)." he grumbled.

Sakuzy took in his appearance from his childlike stature to his elf ears and hat. "Boy, this look sure does bring back memories..."

Goofy looked up at his hat and played with the puffball on the top. "Wow. I was wondering what happened to this hat!" he said with joy.

Donald looked himself over and scowled in disgust. "How come I'M the Mouse King again?!" he asked in a disgruntled tone, then folded his arms and huffed. "This is ridiculous!"

April cooed as she tugged at the ears on Donald's new hat, putting a sour look on the duck's face. "Well, you all DO look pretty cute." she admitted.

"And thank Kingdom Hearts that we're still alive!" Ryan said, joyfully. Ryan jumped in the air in an attempt to take off, but he fell to the ground, scattering snow everywhere and leaving an imprint in the snow. He got up, shook the snow off himself, and stamped his foot. "Man! What happened to my flying powers?!" he cried out.

April scratched her head, but unlike Ryan, she managed it easily. She hovered a few feet in the air, then touched back down with relative ease. THIS didn't help Rylan too much, though. "Sure, it'll work for HER, but not ME."

"It gets worse. I can't shapeshift." J pointed out.

"And I can't change me anatomy." Scott added.

J observed the environment as a thought raced through his head. _Hmm…I wonder…_ J made a few convulsions and in his place was a polar bear. J then spoke to them through telepathy, just as he did with Kairi and Riku. _I figured as much. This world neutralizes our powers so that we can't use them unless they're suited to a cold environment._

Scott went along with J's idea and, within seconds, had grown a thick carpet of hair all over his body. He looked eerily similar to Bigfoot or a brown gorilla suited for the cold climate they were in. "Well, that's a 'yes' for anyone."

Kairi looked around the new world they had entered. "Well, wherever we are, we might as well look around." she said with a shrug.

Riku nodded, a very embarrassed look coming across his face at the look of his new look. "Yeah. The sooner we find the Pure Heart, the sooner we can get outta these forms." Right now, Riku was very glad that Sora didn't have a digital camera with him.

The group then took off through the snowy wonderland, eager to find the Pure Heart.

_A sleigh flew around before dropping a giant present. The present burst open to show the words 'North Pole', written in icy words. The words then blew away, turning into snow in the wind._

After a bit of exploration, the group quickly found out that they were inside of a GIANT dome made out of pure ice. The only way out of the dome was through a small hole WAY up at its top. They averted their concentration from the hole to the place they were in and saw a large castle.

"O-kay…who would want this place to be their home?" Sakuzy asked.

"One way to find out." Sora answered.

The group ran over to the castle and slipped through its massive doors. What was inside amazed them. Inside the castle was the biggest factory that any of them had ever seen.

"Whoa…" Sora and Kairi both said at the same time.

The factory was as busy as any other Sora had ever seen, with machines, workers, EVERYTHING. Soon, the whole group found out that the workers were elves similar to Sora, Kairi, Riku, Sakuzy, and Joyex. "Could this be where Santa Claus lives?" Sora asked.

Riku almost laughed, but hid it behind a smirk. "Yeah, right. Is the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy here, too?" he asked.

Goofy ignored Riku and turned to Sora. "But, uh, I thought Santy was in Halloween Town." he said, confused.

"I did too." Sora agreed, "Well, I guess there's only one way to see what this is all about…"

The group maneuvered their way to the tallest tower of the castle/workshop. They almost walked in, but Kairi noticed something and stopped everyone. She put a finger to her lips and gestured to the corner with her thumb. "A security guard! I think that we're safe, because we look like those elves."

"I get it." J whispered, "Those who DON'T look like elves will have to sneak past him."

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Sakuzy, and Joyex walked past, whereas the four superhumans, Donald, and Goofy had to combat crawl past. Ryan then noticed that the security guard was in fact…

"Hey, it's Gary Coleman!" he hissed, excitedly.

The guard, Gary, obviously didn't notice them, because he was chatting on the phone while eating Chinese food. "But the menu said 'Galaxy of Prawns'. THREE prawns are hardly a galaxy!" As the group started sneaking by, Gary seemed to get a little frustrated. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'YOUR HANDS ARE TIED'?!" he asked, frustratedly, "Lemme talk to Mr. Quan."

Ryan stopped for a minute, then whispered to the others. "I wanna see how this turns out..."

J then lifted a cord, which was attached to nothing, and answered in a similar whisper. "The phone's not even PLUGGED IN." he pointed out.

Gary continued chatting away on the phone, regardless of the fact that there wasn't even a call coming in. "Alright, you listen to ME, Quan…Hang on, I got another call." Gary apparently hung up and then continued with a more enthusiastic tone. "Yes, Mr. President! I can be in Washington RIGHT AWAY."

The superhumans snuck past a very "busy" Gary Coleman and into the room that was past him. The minute they entered, their jaws fell open, though Riku's did so more often than everyone else's.

Meanwhile, Kang and Kodos were watching from space in their traditional flying saucer.

"Pathetic human!" Kang said, glancing at his calendar, "Why's he showing a Christmas arc…in February?!"

"Who's talking about Christmas?" asked Kodos, "We already have our Easter decorations up!"

Kodos pointed over to another part of the spaceship to show that there were various Easter decorations around the ship. Some included models of Kang and Kodos eating a bunny and chick, both of which appeared to be screaming at the top of their lungs or trying to escape.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Happy Easter!" they cheered, "AH-HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Gary Coleman

A midget security guard who has an amazingly boyish face. I wanted him in here since I saw him on the Simpson episode 'Grift of the Magi'.

_(1) Kenny Baker is a midget and Star Wars movie veteran. Who does he play? R2-D2, that's who._

_If the conversation with Kang and Kodos made you wonder, yes there WILL be a Halloween Town arc, I just put that part in for kicks._


	62. The Santa Clause

Chapter 62: The Santa Clause

The room that Sora's group had just entered was a large room filled with ornate designs of, not surprisingly, Christmas-themed ornaments and wallpaper. There was a pedestal with a pair of scrolls of parchment.

Sakuzy took the large list that looked like a giant roll of toilet paper and walked over to it. "Hey! It's the nice list! And then, THIS…" Sakuzy pointed to the other list, which was a little smaller than the other list. "This must be the naughty list..."

Sakuzy unrolled them both and started scanning both lists, as though speed-reading. "Let's see...Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and I are on the nice list. Let's see where YOU are, Joyex!"

Joyex rolled his eyes as though the answer was obvious. "Oh, pffbth! Come on! I can't be on the naughty list!" he said, waving it off.

Sakuzy read through the Naughty List, then reached a part and his expression went surprisingly flat. "You're not gonna like this, Joyex." he said, his tone matching his voice.

Joyex's eyes widened as he paused for a moment, then emitted a single, annoyed grunt. "D'oh!"

"Y'know what? I had a feeling that was coming." said Sakuzy. Sakuzy continued scanning the two lists, his eyes darting back and forth like crazy. "Let's see here…Scott and April are on the nice list, Ryan's on the naughty, and J's not in either of them…"

Ryan jumped slightly and pointed at himself with his thumb, trying to defend his reputation. "Hey, how come I'm on the naughty list?" he asked, shrewdly.

J simply answered for him. "Because you're an annoying, hyperactive, little delinquent."

Ryan turned to J, and gave him a flat look. Sarcasm sounded in the youngest member's voice as he said, "You're too kind, J."

Sakuzy had barely finished finding all of them when, suddenly, the door opened behind them and the room suddenly got quiet. Slowly, they turned to see an all-too-familiar face: the big white beard was unmistakable. Sora had no doubts about who this guy was—Santa Claus. It soon hit them that they had caught Jolly Ol' Saint Nick by surprise.

Santa stared wide-eyed at them, then asked, "Hey, what're you doing here?! How'd you get past Gary?"

Scott shrugged and gestured to the door. "Let's just say he's a few prawns short of a galaxy."

Outside, Gary Coleman was doing kung-fu stances while screaming at the top of his lungs. An elf, namely Curtis, walked up to him with a clipboard in hand. "Sorry, Mr. Coleman, there's no longer a place for you." he said, catching Gary's attention.

"What'choo talkin', bout, Curtis?" Gary asked, before he made a pouting face and folded his arms over his chest.

Curtis fell for it. "You look so cute! You're re-hired!"

When Curtis left, Gary chuckled behind his back. "Sucker." he said with obvious satisfaction, "I knew EXACTLY what he was talking about." Gary then propped up his feet on the desk and started sleeping soundly.

Back in the current room, Joyex decided to ask Santa something. "Uh, Santa? How come I'M on the naughty list?!"

Santa turned to Joyex, then said, "Well, for one thing, you succumbed to darkness and became a Nobody."

Joyex smacked himself in the face and spoke as he shook his head, his face still in his hand. "Y'know, I had feeling you'd say that. BUT WHAT ELSE?!" he asked, almost desperate for other reasons. Santa took a list from his pocket and almost read them off when Joyex cut him off. "DON'T answer that." the Nobody snapped.

J's question was bizarre compared to the way he was. His expression was as stone hard as always, but his question was eerily similar to Joyex's. "How come I'm not on either list?" he asked with a raised brow.

Santa raised a finger in a manner that said, "wait a sec", then went to a file cabinet. He opened it up and began fingering through the files until he reached the "J" section. He reached in to pull out a folder, then nodded before putting it back. "Well, to put it simple, you've been doing a number of good things, but the thievery you've committed counteracts it."

J didn't seem to mind. Rather, he just closed his eyes and answered in his usual voice. "I only stole what I had to—clothes, food, and the occasional haircut."

Sora then noticed that Sakuzy was gone. "Hey, where's Sakuzy?" he asked to everyone. Every member of the group was quiet, save Santa.

"Last I saw him, he was edging out the door." Within seconds, the group ran out to find footprints in the snow and it showed that he seemed to be in a rush, because the footprints were far apart, like he was running. Back inside, Santa gave an exasperated sigh as he took a quill and scribbled something on one of the lists. "I'll have to dock this off his nice list..." he said to himself.

While outside, searching for Sakuzy, Scott decided to have a little fun while he could. He rolled up a bunch of snow and made a snowball, which he threw at J. It missed by a long shot, but it was enough for J to turn around with rage burning behind his eyes. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" he snapped.

Scott only gave a playful shrug. "Hey, I grew up in the Outback, it's too warm for snow down undah." he explained, "And when I moved to Radiant Garden, it still didn't snow much."

Scott then dropped onto his back and started making a snow angel. J could only stare as Scott continued to act like a child. "Ryan, memo to me—maim Scott at the earliest opportunity." J said, skulking off to parts unknown.

"Yes, sir." Ryan said, not exactly wanting to get on J's bad side.

Sora remembered what it was like to first experience snow and could barely blame Scott for doing so. He also noticed that April was gently laughing at the way Scott was acting. "We'll leave Scott to enjoy the snow for a while." Sora said to everyone who could hear him, "Goofy and Donald will see what they can do to help Santa. Joyex, you help them so you can try to get yourself on the nice list."

Joyex groaned, then said, "Oh, this won't work..."

Sora ignored him, then finished, "Kairi, Riku, and I will try and find the runaway." Riku cracked a smile as he glanced at Sora, who in turn glanced back at him. "What? Do I have a zit?"

"Nothing." Riku covered up, then said, "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go!"

Riku ran off, leaving Sora and Kairi behind. The two looked at each other, then dashed off after Riku.

Santa Claus

Originally Scott Callahan, owner of a toy store corporation, but the minute he put on the Santa suit, after inadvertently killing the original Santa, he became the new Kris Kringle. He delivers presents at Christmas Eve and checks the naughty and nice lists twice a year. He first appeared in _The Santa Clause_ 1993.

Curtis

One of Santa's most trusted elves. He's intelligent and has invented everything from a jetpack to a cloning machine. However, he can be a bit unprepared for any problems his inventions might cause, leading to problems amongst the elves around him. He first appeared in _The Santa Clause 2_ 2004.


	63. Jack Frost

Chapter 63: Jack Frost

Sakuzy was storming through the North Pole, he knew he was leaving tracks, but he didn't care. Seeing Santa like that reminded him that it was Christmas Eve and that he was all but alone. Because of the Crystalli, EVERYONE he cared about was gone. The last Christmas he had was under siege and a far cry from tradition. He stopped running at the top of a hill and slumped down on it and wrapped his arms around his legs for warmth. He heard Sora, Riku, and Kairi's voices, but he didn't care. The three then found him in the exact same place as if he were frozen.

"Hey, Sakuzy." Sora said, "Why'd you disappear like that?"

Sakuzy murmured something inaudible, but that didn't stop some people. Riku simply asked, "Could you say that again? Didn't quite catch that."

Sakuzy's voice was quiet and barely audible. "Isolation."

Kairi sat down next to Sakuzy, closely followed by Sora and Riku. "You're NOT alone, Sakuzy." she said in a comforting tone, "You have Joyex and you have us."

Sakuzy turned to avoid eye contact with anyone, no matter how hard they tried. "You guys aren't the same and Joyex is just a reflection of the person I once knew."

Sora paused, then asked, "You knew his Other?"

"Yeah."

Sora then gathered up the courage to tell Sakuzy something that was bothering him for a while. "Sakuzy, there are some…things. Things that I want to know the TRUTH about. How do you know those Crystalli hosts? How come you've been acting like my guardian since day one?"

Sakuzy breathed in and then out, creating a frosty mist of breath in the cold air. "Okay. There's a lot to say, and I don't know how to put it. You see, you're…"

Sakuzy never finished his sentence, because a man in an icy-blue tuxedo and spiked, frozen hair appeared in front of them in a gust of icy wind. He had an oddly mischievous gleam in his eye, but it earned a suspicious glare from Sakuzy. "And who do YOU call yourself?" Sakuzy asked.

The icy man gave all four people a questioning look. He reached up and scratched his head of icy hair, releasing a small flurry of snowflakes. "You don't know who I am?" Sora and co. shook their heads and the man of ice tried to kind of jog their memory. "I'm pretty sure you'd know me from that song?"

Sora shook his head as he said, "No idea."

The icy-haired man sighed in defeat. "Oh, forget it." he said, then filled them in. "My name is Jack Frost!"

Something in Sora's brain flipped open at the name "Jack Frost". He had often heard of Jack Frost, but more along the lines of an expression than an actual person. Still, he decided to play along. "Alright, 'Jack Frost', why are you here?"

Jack Frost pointed at Sora with his icy-white finger as he eyed him. "You're the Keyblade Master, am I correct?" he asked.

Sora shrugged as he answered, "I guess so. What else would I be?"

Jack Frost smiled. "That's all I wanted to hear." Without another word, Frost puffed up his cheeks, which turned blue, and when he exhaled, he blew out a wind colder than anyone had ever felt.

"NO!"

Sakuzy leapt between Sora and Frost's icy breath and a moment later, the futuristic Keyblader was frozen solid in a giant ice cube. What was odd was that Sakuzy's eyes still darted back and forth inside his icy prison.

Jack Frost stared for a while, then casually said, "Well, that was unexpected, but still."

Sora would have summoned the Keyblade there and then, but Jack Frost snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flurry of snowflakes. Sakuzy's eyes darted around, but he couldn't move an inch due to his icy prison.

Sora rapped the ice cube with his knuckles and called out, "Sakuzy! Can you hear us? Blink once for yes, twice for no." He blinked once. Yes. "Okay, we'll get you out now! Fire!"

Sora whipped out the Keyblade and a fireball erupted from the tip. It hit Sakuzy's frozen prison, but didn't even scratch it. Nothing worked: Fira, Firaga, Firaga Break, even Mega Flare couldn't thaw him. They heard some sort of muffled groan from Sakuzy, which was pretty much him saying "C'mon".

"Let's try something else." Kairi suggested. She got a good distance from the giant ice cube, then summoned Flowering Strength. She pointed the tip of the blade at the ice cube and shouted one word.

"Light!"

A beam of light, the same one she used in Land of Horrors, hit the icy prison and the cube shattered on contact. Sakuzy was free, but he was shivering, nonstop, curled up in an attempt to keep warm, and his teeth were chattering like a pair of jackhammers. At least now, he could talk. "N-never knew wh-what it was like to b-b-be fro-frozen." he shivered.

"Well, now you do." Sora replied. He turned off and looked at the wild and wintry landscape as he asked, "What's that Frost guy up to?"

"I don't know." Riku answered, "But it can't be anything…"

"Sora! Riku!"

Sora turned on the spot to see that Kairi was pointing at the castle, or at least where it had been. Now there seemed to be a large building, but certainly no castle. Sora turned to check on Sakuzy, but with one problem: Sakuzy wasn't there.

"What's going on?" Sora asked, glancing around at the suddenly-changing landscape, "Where are the others?"

Kairi looked to where Scott and the other superhumans were, only to find that they were NOWHERE to be seen. It was as though they hadn't even set foot on this world...or even the face of the universe itself.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Riku said, suspiciously.

Sora looked over at the biggest skyscraper, then said, "There's only one way to find out what's going on…"

The trio trekked off for the castle, or at least where it once was. The inside of the building looked like a giant mall, but it sure didn't look like the place Sora saw and knew. It was no longer the joyous paradise, but an oddly mechanical and industrial place.

Suddenly, Sora noticed that his miniature drive clothes had changed into something like an office uniform. "What the?" He turned to Riku and Kairi to find them in similar suits, and equally confused.

"Okay. This is weird…" Riku said, inspecting his VERY uncomfortable uniform.

Kairi looked around to see brightly-colored advertisements everywhere from the "Reindeer Petting Zoo" to the smallest Snow Globe stand. "What happened?" she asked.

"I only know one person who knows." Sora answered. Both Riku and Kairi nodded as they understood what Sora meant before he even said it. "Let's find Santa."

However, the group hadn't gone five steps when an elf stopped in front of them. It was Curtis. However, his usually playful attitude had been replaced by an advertising monotone. "Welcome to the North Pole. For your first visit here, I give you this voice-recording pen."

Curtis held out a pen and pressed a button. A recording of the second sentence played as he handed it to Sora. He was about to leave when Kairi stopped him. "Hold on a second. Where's Santa?" she asked quickly.

Curtis, again, spoke in a very flat monotone. "Mr. Claus is in the center of the park. He's a very busy man, so you must follow the schedule and remain in line."

Curtis then walked off, attending his business. Sora studied the audio-recording pen and pocketed it; it would probably come in handy later.

It took forever for the trio to find it, but Sora, Riku, and Kairi found themselves at the center of the mall. Above them was a banner that read "Meet Santa Claus".

"This should be the place…" Sora said. He almost went in when a hand seized his shoulder. He turned around and saw a man with a black coat and a brown-plaid shirt underneath. Oddly enough, this man's face looked familiar…

"Are you going to see 'Santa', too?" he asked.

Sora took a small step back in surprise, because the word "Santa" was obviously a sarcastic remark. "Yes." he answered, uncomfortably, "Why?"

"Sora! It's me!" the man said, seizing Sora by the shoulders.

Sora had just recognized the voice and face of this man when the line had just made way for them. It WAS Santa Claus…sort of. It was the weirdest Santa Claus he had ever seen; his hair was white, but oddly stiff and had a bluish tint in it.

The man glowered at "Santa" as he addressed him as "Frost!"

Jack Frost

A living force of nature with control over ice and snow. He's wanted his own holiday for ages and seems to have finally seized a chance to get it with a combination of Maleficent's aid and his own mischievous nature. He froze Sakuzy, though was aiming for Sora, before Kairi managed to thaw him. He first appeared in _The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause_ 2006.


	64. Santa Frost

Chapter 64: Santa Frost

The resemblance to the smarmy winter metaphor was uncanny now. Sora looked back and forth between this man and Jack. "So, Jack Frost's now Santa Claus?" he asked in disbelief.

"Looks like it." Riku answered.

Sora scratched the back of his now-pointy ears. "If Frost is now Santa, then where's the real deal?" he asked.

The man turned to Sora and answered that. "I'm Santa Claus." he looked down at himself as he raised his arms slightly, "Although, now I'm just Scott Callahan."

Sora was a bit surprised. Right now, he hardly looked like Saint Nick. Scott C. (That's what I'll call him, as to not confuse him with Scott Highflier) pressed his fingers and his thumb against his forehead, racking his thoughts on how to explain. "Yes. I know it's crazy, but it's true." he said, truthfully, "About fourteen years ago, I accidentally killed a previous Santa. I put on his coat to try and fill in, but when I put it on, I became the new one."

Riku stared, but managed to get out, "That's weird… "

"But how did all this happen?" Kairi asked, "How could Jack have traveled through time?"

Scott looked around, then pointed over at a snow globe stand. "You see, every Santa to have ever existed had a special snow globe." he explained, "If any of us ever wanted to quit being Santa, we'd find it and say 'I wish I wasn't Santa Claus'. Then, we would be able to go back in time and stop us from becoming Santa." Scott turned to Jack and appeared to talk to both Sora and co. AND Frosty Claus. "Jack here stole MY snow globe and tricked me into saying the line."

Jack Frost chuckled, as though he heard a ridiculous lie. "Excuse me?" he asked, "But I believe that it was YOU, who said…" A small click rang through the air as Jack Frost finished that sentence. "'I wish I wasn't Santa Claus'. Who else could have done it? Now if you'll excuse me, I have a show to get to…" Jack Frost turned and walked away, a little spring in his step.

Sora's face tightened up and his hands clenched into fists. "Frost, what have you done?" he growled.

"Don't worry, Sora. If you're thinking what I'm thinking, we should have everything I need for my plan to work!" Scott said, clapping Sora on the back.

Kairi turned, confused at what he just said. "Plan?"

Scott held up a pen, the exact same type that Sora had. Then it hit him. "You recorded what he said!" he said, excitedly, "Now, all we have to do is find that snow globe…"

Scott smiled. "Fortunately, I know this place inside out. It may have changed slightly, but it should have the same construction as usual. Follow me!"

The group of four stalked through the whole building with Scott in the lead. He peeked over a corner and saw that there was no one there. "Okay, coast's clear. Let's go…"

Scott turned a knob on a door in the shape of Santa's head and the whole part of the floor seemed to rotate in place. When they saw the other side, all three Keybladers emitted the same, drawn-out word. "WOW..."

The rom they had entered was the color of diamond, and had several snow globes floating in midair. While most of these globes floated around like clouds, one in the middle of the room remained perfectly still. Scott pointed at it with a very hushed, and a hurried voice. "That one in the middle! Grab it!"

Without any hesitation, Kairi made a mad dash to the center of the room and grabbed the snow globe. When she got back, Sora gently took it from her and turned it in his hand. "Now to get this to Frost…" he said.

"No…just give it to me. I'll deal with Frost." Scott said, holding out his hand.

The group walked out just in time to see the door creak open. They stood perfectly still, thinking it was Jack Frost, but when it turned out that no one seemed to be there, they looked down to see Gary Coleman. "Well, what do we have here?" Gary asked as he waltzed over to them and took out his nightstick, patting it on his open palm, "Looks like the biggest rip-off since Webster."

Although Gary barely came to Scott's waist, he was almost as tall as Sora, Kairi, and Riku now. "Please, Mr. Coleman! Don't hurt me, I'm…" Sora suddenly seemed to come to his senses as he asked, "Wait, am I REALLY gonna be intimidated by this guy?"

Scott walked over to Gary and tried to strike meaning into the little midget. "Alright, Gary, we can explain."

Gary sheathed his nightstick, then folded his arms and tapped his foot. "I'm listening." he said, impatiently.

Kairi decided to take up where Scott left off. "Jack Frost is EVIL and we have to set things right, for Santa...er, Scott's sake."

Gary paused for a while, then smiled. "Is that all? In THAT case…" He stepped out of the way and opened the door for them and finished with, "I'll let you guys go."

"Wow. You sure are quick to change." Sora said, slightly impressed and relieved, "Thanks!"

Gary gave Sora his traditional pouty look and folded his arms again. "What'choo talkin', 'bout, kid?"

Riku groaned as he said, "Let that line die already."

Now that they had nothing in their way, all five people ran out of the office, Gary included. The little guy was surprisingly fast for his stature, for he kept up with them easily.

As they were walking down the stairs, Kairi decided to bring up a completely random topic. "Well, I suppose this mission could be worse." she suggested.

Riku agreed as he said, "Yeah, there could be Heartless."

Just after Riku finished his sentence, a field surrounded him, Kairi, Sora, and Gary, leaving Scott outside of it.

Sora turned to both Kairi and Riku and seemed to address both of them. "You had to bring that up?" he asked. Scott turned to look back at Sora, a slightly panicked look on his face. Sora, however, just shouted throught the barrier. "Just go! We'll handle this!"

Scott nodded, then ran off just as Sora summoned his Keyblade and several Heartless of a new kind appeared. They were abnormally stiff, like toy soldiers, with uniforms the color of midnight and bayonets in hand. They were also pretty short: about the size of Gary and also had pointed noses and glowing, yellow eyes. The new Heartless took their bayonets and pointed them at the group like trained military soldiers.

Riku cracked a smile as he brought his Way to Dawn into a defensive position. "Those have got to be the goofiest looking Heartless I've ever seen!" he joked.

Sora simply smiled. "Remind me to take you to Timeless River sometime…"

The Toy Soldier Heartless opened fire, their bayonets firing bullets of pure dark matter. Kairi spun around these blasts with the grace of a dancer while Sora deflected them with swings of his Ultima Weapon. However, the minute he was in striking range of one of the Toy Soldier Heartless, it raised its bayonet to protect from the blow. Sparks scattered across the floor on impact, but Sora immediately discovered the weakness of these Toy Soldiers as he took another swing. These Heartless weren't very mobile and didn't even have the speed to block Sora's next attack. As Sora looked around, Kairi and Riku were also dispatching of these Toy Soldiers with relative ease, easily outpacing them. In seconds, the small group they were taking out had become no more than floating, pink hearts.

Kairi sheathed her Keyblade and wiped sweat off her forehead. "Well, that was easy."

However, Sora suddenly wondered why the shield hadn't died down. His answer came when there was a faint marching noise. He looked behind him to see an ARMY of Toy Soldier Heartless marching down the stairs they came from, numbering in their thousands.

"Looks like you spoke too soon." Riku pointed out.

The first few Heartless began to phase through the energy shield like it wasn't even there and raised their firearms for battle. Upon entering, the Heartless opened fire. Sora blocked several of the darkmatter blasts with the Ultima Weapon, then pointed it at one of the Toy Soldiers, destroying it in a blast of ice: a Blizzara spell.

At the same time, a blade of pure energy shot from Kairi's Flowering Strength and impaled one right through its forehead. But no matter how many Toy Soldiers they took down, another would take its fallen comrade's place.

"Gary!" Sora called.

Gary jumped at the Heartless with a battle cry. He leapt right into the midst of the creatures, then began taking them out with surprising fighting skill than Sora expected. He even took one by the bayonet and used its wielder as a weapon, smashing it into the others like some kind of club. When he finished using it, he disarmed it of its gun and impaled the Heartless with it.

Riku stood there, his Keyblade at the ready, but a look of surprise on his face. "Didn't see THAT coming." he admitted.

Suddenly, just as more Heartless were appearing, there was a flash of white light, and Sora and co. shielded their eyes against it as the whole place was engulfed by it.

When the white light vanished and the group uncovered their eyes, the scene had changed back to the snowy hilltop. Sakuzy was still shivering and the superhumans were playing in the snow.

Sora smiled as he looked down at himself. At least he was out of that stupid uniform. "Good job, Santa." Sora complimented, looking off at the castle, "Looks like this world's back to normal."

Sakuzy's eyes rolled over to look at them and would have cocked an eyebrow, but he was WAY too cold. "Wh-what are you t-t-t-talking about?" he shuddered.

Scott Highflier had noticed Sakuzy's current condition and scratched his head. J, Ryan, and April were easily as confused. "Strewth! What happened to you?" the Aussie asked.

Sakuzy shivered a bit, then shakily answered, "Y-y-y-you don't want to kn-kn-know…"

"Maybe someone should heat him up?" Scott suggested.

Sora smiled, confidently as he readied his Ultima Weapon. "No problem. Fire!"

A fireball erupted from Sora's Keyblade and hit Sakuzy square in the back. He warmed up instantly…and too quickly. "YEEOWWCH!!" he howled.

Sakuzy jumped clean into the air with his jacket on fire, but fell into the snow, which extinguished the flames immediately. After breathing heavily, Sakuzy lay flat on his back, then squinted at Sora and scolded him, still a bit sore. "Man, Sora, THINK before you DO next time!" he growled.

Embarrassment quickly spread on Sora's face as he raised his hands to coax him to calm down. "Sorry." he apologized, "It was the only thing I could think of."

"Looked kinda weird in my opinion." Joyex pointed out, then smiled as he gleefully said, "I should try that sometime."

J's comment was about as sarcastic as you could imagine it. "Yeah, that looks fun."

Sora ran off for the castle with the others in hot pursuit. Only Riku and Kairi knew why, the others simply followed because it was their instinct to stay together.

When the group got back to the castle, they were a bit astonished to see Jack Frost and a bunch of Toy Soldier Heartless at the front gate. J cocked an eyebrow, but did no more than that.

"If I can't get this place for my own, I'LL TAKE IT BY STORM!" Frost roared in a very dramatic-sounding way. He then pointed with an icy-blue finger and barked, "FIRE!"

The Toy Soldiers hadn't even opened fire when a Keyblade buried itself into one's back. Another split one's head open and yet another hacked one's head off its shoulders. The cavalry had arrived just in time. Frost hadn't even ordered a command when the Heartless turned on the threat and fired. The shots were pretty easy to avoid, and though the Soldiers had blades AND guns, they weren't very fast.

Frost stamped his foot in frustration and only stopped to complain. "MAN! Why does Maleficent give me these WORTHLESS HEARTLESS?!"

Back in the battle, Scott had wrestled a Toy Soldier to the ground and broke it in two with surprising strength. However, one had its bayonet aimed to stab him in the back when something swooped down and carried the Aussie away from the line of fire. He looked up into the all-too-familiar face of April and smiled. "Thanks, April."

"You're welcome." she then added, "But you owe me big time for saving your life for the ninth time."

Scott held up a finger to correct her. "EIGTH time. That time with the Nobody Invasion of Radiant Garden doesn't count, as you got me into that mess."

"Oh. Sorry." she apologized.

Back in the battleground, Ryan felt pretty helpless. All his powers had been neutralized the moment he came here, so all he could do was avoid fire and stay out of the way. "MAN! I feel naked without my powers!" he whined.

Meanwhile, Sora saw a Toy Soldier Heartless ready to open fire. He then called the name of the closest person he could find.

"J!"

J heard Sora and growled like an attacking animal as he jumped clean into the air. He came down on Sora's Keyblade, then kicked off with an astonishing jump toward the Heartless. He rolled on impact with the ground, but got to his feet within seconds and tripped up one of the Toy Soldiers. He disarmed another of its bayonet and used the weapon to impale the other on it.

Sora saw that Jack wasn't attacking; rather he was hiding behind this army. THIS thought put an idea in Sora's mind: take out the Heartless and Jack Frost would be completely helpless. Fortunately, Sora had one idea as he took out the Summon Charm with the arrow on it and held it above his head.

"Robin Hood!"

Trees seemed to come from nowhere as a shady figure hopped through the branches like a squirrel. Finally, it leapt out to reveal an anthropomorphic fox with green clothes and a hat with a bright-red feather in it. Strapped to his back was a bow and a quiver of arrows. "Sora! Let's get going!" Robin Hood cheered.

Robin Hood took his bow and strung an arrow. He let the arrow fly and it buried itself deep into a Heartless' chest, causing it to vanish in dark smoke and a pink heart. With just a flick of the fox's wrist, several more arrows were strung and whistled through the air a few seconds later. More of the Toy Soldier Heartless vanished on impact with the sharpened arrowheads until barely anything was left.

"Jolly good." Robin Hood said, clapping Sora on the back and jumping into the air. He reappeared again and turned to him. "Off again for Nottingham!" Robin Hood tipped his hat, then vanished back into his own world. The guy had the Merry Men to lead, after all.

Jack Frost, who suddenly noticed that these Heartless were fighting a losing battle, began to stalk away when someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around and saw Santa right behind him with Sora, the others, and Gary Coleman. "Uh…I can explain?" he said, VERY uneasily.

Gary gave Jack "the look" again and the pouty look. "What'choo talkin' bout, Frost?"

Riku growled in slight frustration, but gave his outburst to Gary Coleman only. "LET THAT LINE DIE ALREADY!" he growled.

A few minutes later, Frost was clad in a straightjacket and thrown into a Funny Farm chamber. "I had a feeling it would end like this…" he said to himself.

Toy Soldier Heartless

Heartless controlled by Jack Frost. They mainly attack with shots from their bayonets and are deadly from a distance. Their main weakness, though, is their lack of mobility.

Robin Hood

An outcast from a place called "Nottingham", but is in that condition for doing good, actually. The fox is cunning, fun-loving, and playful at times and has good archery skills, not to mention he takes from the rich and gives to the poor. When Sora calls, he'll assault the enemy with a blizzard of arrows. He first appeared in _Robin Hood _1973.

_That would be Gary Coleman's Comedy Kung-Fu, J's Genetic Assault, and Robin Hood's Sherwood Shooter._


	65. Christmas

Chapter 65: Christmas

The REAL Santa Claus wiped sweat from his forehead, then turned to Sora and his group. "Well, THAT was a hassle. Frost's gonna be in the Funny Farm for a LONG time." Saint Nick paused, then added, "Or at least until he changes his ways."

"Well, there's something you don't see every Christmas Eve." Sora pointed out.

Santa took in what Sora said and looked at a calendar: December twenty-fourth, then looked at his watch…it was almost nightfall. "Oh my gosh, you're right, Sora! It IS Christmas Eve! I've gotta get ready for business!" Saint Nick walked off for a bit, but suddenly noticed that the group was all alone. He then got an idea and turned back to them. "Hey, for helping me restore this place, how about you guys spend Christmas here?"

Sora and Kairi's eyes widened in happiness as they nodded. Everyone else was up to it, except Gary and J. "Thanks but no thanks. I'm having Christmas at George Clooney's house!"

Gary made to walk away, but Kairi pulled him back. "Gary!" she said with the "evil eye".

Gary sighed in defeat, then went with them. "Oh, alright. I'll come." he said in surrender.

"Pass." J said, simply. The shapeshifter then sulked off, his black clothes sticking out like a sore thumb in the white world.

"What's his problem?" Sakuzy asked, then passed it off, "Oh well, can't all be the same, can we?"

(I'll just let the narrator take over. Try James Earl Jones as the voice, though...)

_And Gary Coleman was better than his word. _Jack Frost walked in on them during Christmas dinner. _As for Jack Frost, he was visited by three ghosts in the Funny Farm and decided to leave Christmas to the present Santa and gave them some snow magic he found in his tuxedo pants._

Jack reached into his pants' pocket and threw something into the air. A cloud floated up to the ceiling and began to let a small snowfall to engulf them. Everyone applauded Frost. "It's okay. Humbug..." the icy man muttered.

Meanwhile, J was sitting on a rock, looking at the sky like he was looking for something...or someone. _And J, who saw what the world would have been like if he had never been born,… _J's mouth twitched, which might have turned into a smile, but it didn't in the end. _Decided to celebrate Christmas and provided the group with a plump Christmas goose._

J walked in on the group's dinner and brought in a well-cooked goose. "You'd better enjoy the goose." he said, his tone cold, "It took me three hours to gun the bird down."

Gary gave J "the look" as he leaned across the table to look him in the eye. "What'choo talkin', 'bout, J?" he asked. Everyone, save J (and Riku), laughed at this. Gary then turned to the reader and asked, "What 'choo talkin', 'bout, EVERYONE?"

_Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Sorry because it isn't Christmas, though..._


	66. Separated Again

Chapter 66: Separated Again.

North Pole...

It was the day after Christmas and Sora and co. were getting ready to leave when Santa stopped him. "What is it, Santa?" asked Sora.

"Uh, listen. Before you leave, Sora, I'd like you to have this." Santa said. He rummaged in his coat pockets, then handed Sora a Pure Heart the color of fresh snow on a winter day.

Sora took it without any hesitation and the joy he had just couldn't be contained. "Whoa! Thanks, Santa!" Sora's tone was that of an eager child.

Santa chuckled. "Consider it your Christmas present. See you next year!"

Sora almost entered the Gummi, but stopped and turned to wave at Santa. "See ya, Scott!"

Scott Highflier responded to this rather than Santa. "Whaddya mean 'see ya'?" he asked, "I'm right here, mate."

"I'll explain later." Sora answered, getting onto the ship.

The Gummi Ship, filled with its usual passengers, took off into the sky and left Santa to smile after them at the North Pole.

Upon entering the room, the whole crew found that they had returned to their original forms and that a Christmas tree right was in its living room. Everyone blinked.

"I doubt any of us saw that coming." Sakuzy said, pointing at the decorations.

Riku looked up at the doorway above Sora and then left with a smile on his face. Goofy and Donald also did so and quickly followed him. Ryan seemed to vanish on the spot and J had also disappeared with extreme suddenness. Sora and Kairi looked around as everyone seemingly vanished into thin air.

Sora asked, "Where's everyone going?"

Scott and April, who had enough courage to stay put, simply smiled as Scott pointed up at the ceiling. Sora followed his gaze to a certain green and red plant suspended in the doorway. Mistletoe.

Sora could feel the blood rush to his face as he suddenly realized that Kairi was RIGHT beside him. He turned to see Kairi with the same color flushing into her face.

"Go on, mates." Scott said, gesturing with his hand, "While we're still young. Some of us intend to use that doorway."

There was no backing out of it now. Sora and Kairi decided, at best, to do it now and get it over with. They gave each other a quick kiss on the lips and parted just as Scott applauded them. "Nice goin', Sora me ol' chum." the Aussie congratulated.

"Nice!" Everyone in the room jumped as Ryan emerged from a nearby corner with a digital camera in his left hand. "Think you'll do it again if I gave you ten bucks?" he asked.

THIS time, it was J's turn to appear from nowhere and punch Ryan across the face, sending him careening to the floor. As Ryan recovered, J snatched the camera, then tossed it to Sora. "Do what you will with it. I'm just glad to be of service."

J then left Sora to deal with the camera himself, while Ryan was furious with him. "HEY! That was MINE!" he shouted.

As Ryan darted off after J, Sora and Kairi went off through the Gummi Ship. They didn't talk about this whole thing, for they had suddenly found themselves in a situation in which neither of them could talk.

A few hours later, Sora and Kairi had found the strength to get back to their usual mood. The whole crew was doing various tasks on the Gummi Ship when the radar went off.

"So, what world's next, Donald?" asked Sora.

Donald pressed a few keys on the dashboard and checked the scanner. "Apparently it's some world called Radiator Springs." he answered.

Suddenly, in a very off-topic question, Ryan's voice rang through the air. "So, how do we use these Summon Charms again, Sora?" he asked.

Sora paused, then answered, "You simply call out their names and they appear. Why?"

Sora turned around to see Ryan with one of Sora's summon charms. The kid was playfully tossing the thing into the air and catching it again like a ball of sorts. "So, you mean all I have to do it thrust my arm up like this..." Ryan did so as he continued, "And shout Bruce…?"

The entire group's eyes widened as Bruce the shark sprang out of nowhere and started wrecking the ship. Pieces of the ship were ripped by his sharp teeth and others were dented by his massive body charging into it. It was basically as though Ryan had set a mad rhinoceros into the area.

"WAK!" Donald squawked.

"Whoa!" Goofy said as Bruce narrowly missed his head.

"RYAN!" everyone else shouted.

"Oops!" Ryan said, dodging the shark.

After Bruce disappeared into his own world, he left a hole the size of a CD in the ship, leaving it barely active and descending into the world below.

Joyex growled in a very frustrated tone. "Ryan, you STUPID SON OF A…"

The Gummi Ship crashed, headlong, into a desert and the next thing Sora knew, he was spinning out of control with Donald and Goofy. Some car was running out of control and a group of cars were watching them from a gas station. The first voice he heard sounded like a hippie. "I'm not the only one seein' this, right?"

In the confusion, Sora knocked over a tower of tires and apparently an Italian guy noticed it. "MY TIRES!" the Italian said in despair.

Goofy barely hit the nearby lowrider, but did scratch him. The voice was that of a black man with a high, scratchy voice, similar to Blader's. "HEY! YOU SCRATCHED MY PAINT!"

"Sorry!" Goofy apologized.

Donald was running around like crazy and ran over a bunch of flowers that looked like car lights and made a nearby person gasp. They were eventually stopped by a police car. Not wanting to hit the guy, they tried to turn, but tripped and ended up tripping over each other until they landed with a CRASH.

Someone spoke, and it was OBVIOUSLY the guy in the police car. "Boys! You're in a HEAP of trouble!"

The group tried to focus on the police car, but soon blacked out.

_THIS is one of my favorite movies. I saw it twice…when it came out in theaters._


	67. McQueen is Missing

Chapter 67: McQueen is Missing

Radiator Springs...

_A tow truck raced in, with the words 'Radiator Springs' on its tow cable. It let go and the words vanished into a sandstorm, blowing away in the gate._

Miles away, a Mack truck rolled towards a racetrack with its precious cargo. When its trailer opened up, it revealed a black Jaguar XK with black-and-white webbing patterned onto its sides and hood as well as a copper-colored Pontiac Solstice. Everyone gasped and the truck turned around. "What? Did I forget to wipe my mud flaps? Hey, who're you?" the driver asked.

Joyex's eyes fluttered open at the sound of the voice. "Could say the same for YOU, bub." he said, disoriented.

Sakuzy got a good look at himself in the reflection of the shiny metal on the Mack's face and his eyes widened. "HOLY CRUD!!"

Back with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, they just came back to their senses to come face-to-face a rusted tow truck with eyes where there should have been a windshield and a mouth at its front with buck teeth.

Said tow truck suddenly smiled and spoke in a goofy, Southern accent. "MORNIN', SLEEPIN' BEAUTIES!"

All three jumped in surprise at this strange welcome and noticed that something changed about them. Sora was now a bronze racecar, but kept his hairstyle and had several heart symbols, keys, and drive patterns across him. Donald was a white Volkswagen Bug with a blue roof and kept his bill as well as his wizard hat. Goofy was a Studebaker, which had his hat, his nose turned into a hood ornament, and he had teeth that were similar to the tow truck's. They also noticed a red racecar that looked like Sora and looked rather frightened.

After taking in their new appearance, the group noticed that the tow truck was laughing at their startled reaction. "Boy, I was wonderin' when you was gonna wake up!"

The racecar panicked as he screamed and shouted, "DON'T HURT ME! JUST TAKE WHAT YOU NEED AND LEAVE!" The racecar tried to move, but there was a parking boot on his upper left tire. There were similar ones on Sora, Donald, and Goofy, too. "Huh? A parking boot?" the racecar asked in confusion, "Why do I have a parking boot?"

The tow laughed, then said, "You're funny! I like you already. My name's Mater." he introduced.

Sora struggled to move with his parking boot, but paused at the mention of the tow truck's name. "Mater?" he asked.

"Yeah, like TUH-mater, but without the 'tuh'!" The truck snorted, then asked, "So, what do folks call YOU?"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other, then back at the tow truck and gave their respective names.

"Sora."

"Donald."

"Goofy."

The racecar seemed a little bit shocked, judging by his next question. "You don't know my name?" he asked.

Mater paused, showing he wasn't exactly the brightest of beings, then answered, "Uh…yeah, I know your name." he leaned in real close and asked, "Is your name Mater, too?"

Sora laughed nervously, then whispered to the other racecar out of the corner of his mouth. "Heh. Now really, buddy. What's your name?"

The new racecar eyed Sora for a while, then answered. "I'm Lightning McQueen, world-famous racecar. Who wouldn't know me?"

There was an awkward silence until Sora broke it with three simple words. "Well, there's us."

Goofy turned to the racecar and said, "Uh, y'know, he's got a point there."

Meanwhile, the four superhumans were cruising around in a vast, unknown desert. They weren't too far from where Sora and co. were, though. Scott turned into a green Wrangler Jeep and kept his hat on his roof. J had turned into a pure black H2 Hummer and was easily the biggest of the group, though he still had red eyes. Ryan had turned into a red 2008 Camarro with bright yellow racing stripes running down his back. And last, but certainly not least, April had turned into a Porsche that was a particular shade of lavender.

Scott looked around the vast desert, eager to take in new surroundings and try to find a new one. "Well, this is unusual, mates."

"Alright, Scott, change the memo." J said, coldly, then eyed Ryan. "Maim RYAN as soon as possible!" he corrected.

Scott glared at J as he asked, "What am I, your secretary?"

Ryan wasn't listening. He was busy checking out his new body. "Hey, I have racing stripes! And check out my model..." he said as he rolled one of his tires to show off.

April, on the other hand, looked herself over. "I always wanted a car, but this is pretty ridiculous."

Scott saw the unmistakeable color of a concrete road and all four quickly got onto it. "Better see if our mates are here..." he said, not much left to do.

The four superhumans...er, cars continued cruising the open road until two pairs of minivans appeared on the horizon. One was a deep green and male while the other was purple and female.

J raised an eyebrow as they neared the pair. "Can we help you with anything?" he asked.

The female minivan, Minnie, seized her chance and spoke in a high-pitched, worried voice. "Yes. Do you know where the interstate is?"

"I'd say I would, but lying's not really me strong point." Scott answered, "shrugging" as best he could.

The male van, named Van, simply shook his head as though saying, "c'mon". "Minnie, we don't NEED directions! I have the GPS. NEVER need a map again." Despite the sound of his voice, J could tell that the vans had NO idea where they were going.

The two then drove off into the distance, leaving four VERY confused people…er, CARS behind. Ryan turned to the pitch-dark Hummer. "Do you think they'll EVER find the interstate?"

J wobbled his front back and forth, which for a human, meant he would have shaken his head. "No. But if they're going someplace, we'd better tag along."

The four continued on their way, following the two hopelessly lost minivans.

Back with Sora and co., Mater towed them off to 'Traffic Court'. Upon entering, they found out that the group of cars were the same ones they saw when they first entered this world. Said cars were shouting at the top of their lungs and throwing their complaints. The four "captives" pulled up in front of the police car, which was the Sheriff.

"Alright, boys, where are your lawyers?" asked the police car.

Sora flinched, suddenly realizing how serious this really was. "Don't have one." he answered, "Guys?"

Goofy would have scratched his head, but could only fidget with his tire a bit. "Nope. Don't think I even have one." he answered.

Donald "shrugged" as best he could as he said, "Never thought that this situation would happen."

Lightning, unlike all of them, scoffed and actually had an answer. "I dunno. Radiant Garden maybe. He's got a timeshare there."

The Sheriff rolled his eyes as he recited. "If the accused does NOT have a lawyer, the court will assign him one." Sheriff turned to the court and addressed them in a strong, clear voice. "HEY! ANYONE WANT TO BE THEIR LAWYER?!"

On hearing THAT sentence, everyone in the court backed off, except Mater. When the tow realized he was the only one who didn't back away, he gladly rolled forward. "Alright, I'll do it."

Mater drove over next to McQueen and the racecar, as well as Donald, would have smacked themselves in the forehead.

"Oh no." Lightning groaned.

Donald agreed as he said, "We're doomed."

"All rise, the honorable Doc Hudson presiding." Sheriff announced.

The lowrider, named Ramone, bumped up as high as he could on the word "rise", which was higher than the rest. The small, yellow car named Luigi, seemed annoyed by this. "Showoff." he grunted.

Sheriff glowered at all the accused as he said, in a low voice, "May Doc have mercy on your souls!"

A very old car, made possibly in the 50's, drove in. All the while, he was talking in a somewhat scratchy voice. "Alright, where are these guys? I'll put 'em in jail until they rot!" All four of them seemed intimidated by this and gulped, but Doc wasn't quite done. "Wait, scratch that. I'll put 'em in jail until the jail rots on top of 'em. Then I'll move 'em to the next jail until that one rots, and then…" Doc then noticed what Sora and Lightning were and seemed to instantly change his mind…and expression. "Get them out of here, Sheriff. I want them out of my courtroom, I want them out of our town!"

While the whole town started throwing their complaints to Doc, others were a bit more pleased. "Well, that was fast." Sora said in relief.

Mater smiled as he said, "Gee, I'm perty good at this lawyerin' stuff!"

Suddenly, the doors swung open as a blue Porsche and a bright red Corvette drove in. The Porsche didn't ring any bells for Sora, naturally, but the Corvette was familiar to Sora, especially with those eyes...It hit Sora like a ton of bricks. "Kairi?"

The red Corvette turned on that name and got a good look at Sora. It WAS Kairi. "Sora!" she said with glee.

Lightning, on the other hand, was admiring the blue Porsche. "Holy Porsche…" he said, admirably.

The blue Porsche, Sally, drove past while Kairi drove towards Sora and co. "Well, I heard that there were some troublemakers around here, but I never thought it was YOU three." she said, earning a nervous chuckle from Sora.

Donald frowned, then turned around to try and look out a window. "We are unavailable for comment at this time."

Meanwhile, at the front of the court, Sally was just below Doc's stand. "Doc, you're looking wonderful!" she complimented, "Did you do something to your front mirrors or…"

Doc rolled his eyes. "What is it, Sally?" he asked.

Sally, realizing that Doc was wanting to get to the point, also went there. "C'mon. Have them fix the road." she begged.

Doc's face looked like it could have been carved from stone. "No. I know what kind of vehicles those two are. Racecars—The last thing this town needs." he grunted.

Sally paused, then seemed to smile an "I warned you" grin. "Okay, I didn't want to have to do this, but you forced me to this."

Realm of Crystalli...

The woman in the orange robes was observing a small pool of water when Amethyst walked over to her. "So, Amber, Chrysallis has everyone except us abroad?" he asked.

"Amber" turned on being addressed, then nodded. "Looks like it, Amethyst." she answered, "Aquamarine has gone to that world with the loot of who-knows how many worlds and Peridot's gone to that castle to seduce that monster."

The purple-clad Crystalli cocked his brow in curiosity as he asked, "Peridot?" Amethyst scoffed. "It would've been better to send Ruby. She's more…experienced in that field, shall we say?"

Amber nodded. "I agree. Besides that, Topaz is helping out that robotic guy…what's his name again?"

"Don't ask me." Amethyst answered, indifferently, "I didn't sign up for that mission."

Amber continued. "Anyway, Ruby's gone to that Coliseum to see how good those fighters are and how easily that place will be brought under Crystalli control."

"Not without a struggle." he seemed to answer the how easily question.

"That's why she took all the good Crystalli." Amber explained.

Amethyst understood full-well, but curiosity still buzzed in his head. "And what of Emerald, Sapphire, Spinel, and Opal?"

"To answer all of those in order, Emerald's gone back to Radiant Garden to give those Restoration geeks some hassles."

Amethyst smiled as he lifted his head slightly. "Wouldn't it be great if he died?" he asked.

Under her hood, Amber was clearly smiling. "It would." she answered, then continued. Sapphire's gone to that place to find that cauldron that turns corpses into zombies, Spinel's gone to the island world to see if she could capture one of those freaks, and as for Opal, she sent that Crystalli Leviathan to that underwater place while she went to that place where everyone changes into monsters.

Amethyst studied a map of the universe and all the worlds around them, then pointed over at one labelled "Radiator Springs". "So, no one's at Radiator Springs?" he asked.

Amber shook her head. "No." she answered, but then raised a finger and added, "BUT I command the perfect Crystalli to send there!" Out of the ceiling, five or six crystals the size of boulders fell out. "Alright, boys! Get going!"

With a wave of her hand, the crystals flew out as though pulled by an invisible cable as a woman in a turquoise robe appeared. Amethyst turned, then greeted, "Hello, Turquoise."

The Crystalli Host called Turquoise spoke in a serious, no-laugh-no-smile voice eerily similar to a goth woman. "Remember that I'M in charge around here, Amethyst." she said to him. She turned to Amber and said, "Amber, you're relieved of your duties. I'm taking over from here."

Amber got up and left without another word as Turquoise sat down in her now-empty seat.

Lightning McQueen

A world-famous racecar known throughout his native world. He wanted to get to California, but, due to events that were out of his control, he ended up in Radiator Springs. He also wrecked the road by accident and is now being forced to repair it. He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

Mater

A rusted-over tow truck who owns a business in Radiator Springs called 'Tow Maters' (rimshot). He's somewhat simple and slow on the uptake, but he's still a nice guy, err...car. He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

Sheriff

An elderly police car who's in charge of law enforcement in Radiator Springs. He caught Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Lightning while they were confused and arrested them. Other than that, he's an upholder of the law and downright serious. He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

Doc Hudson

The doctor and judge of Radiator Springs. He's gruff, but a bit wise, and a bit biased towards racecars. The reason for his bias will be explained later, because he has a secret. He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

Sally

The attorney of Radiator Springs who is relatively new to the town. Lightning has a bit of a crush on her, but, for the moment, she doesn't share his feelings. She first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

_If you're no car expert, you can always look up the group's forms on the internet. Watching the movies "Cars" and "Transformers" have been kind to me._

_What was your favorite song on the Cars album? Mine was, and still is, Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts. THAT song got me addicted to it._


	68. Fixing the Road

Chapter 68: Fixing the Road

Sally was at the front of the courtroom "Traffic Court" and preparing herself for a speech. "Fellow citizens, you are all aware of our town's proud history."

Doc rolled his eyes. He'd clearly seen this before. "Oh, here she goes again..." he groaned.

"Radiator Springs, the fabulous jewel on the necklace of Route 66, the Mother Road. It is our job and our pleasure that we serve the travelers along the road." Sally continued.

The next two cars to speak were a military jeep named Sarge, and a lime-green, flower-patterned van named Fillmore. The jeep sounded like a military sergeant while the van was…a hippie.

"Travelers?! WHAT travelers?!" asked Sarge.

Fillmore rolled his eyes as he said, casually, "Ignore him."

Sally did just as Fillmore said and continued with her speech. "But how, I ask you, can we take care of the travelers if they cannot use our road?" She drove over to Luigi and asked, "Luigi, what do YOU sell at your store?"

"Tires." Luigi answered. He spun one of his tires to get a point across as Sally continued.

"And if people can't get to your store, what will happen?" she asked.

"I won't sell any…" Luigi suddenly realized what he was talking about and his eyes/windshield widened. "Tires…I WILL LOSE EVERYTHING!"

As Luigi bawled to the comfort of a small, blue lift, Sally drove over to a show car, Flo, who was next to Ramone. "Flo, what do YOU have in your store?"

Flo's voice sounded like a black diner waitress, full of spunk and energy. "I have gas!"

Mater and Ramone seemed to think that this was funny, because they started snickering. Goofy and Donald even started laughing when Mater blew a raspberry.

"Okay, guys, quit it." Sally scolded, catching them in the act, then turned her attention back to Flo. "And if people can't buy your gas, what will happen?"

"I'll go outta business and…We'll have to leave town." answered Flo, a sad look of realization crossing her face.

"And what will happen if Flo leaves?" asked Sally. The other cars then stated that they'd be doomed without gas along with a few panicked remarks. "So, don't you think the car RESPONSIBLE should fix our road?" asked the Porsche.

A VERY old fashioned car that was made in the 1920's, or Lizzie, then spoke up. "The only car strong enough to fix the road is Big Al!"

Ramone scoffed as he pointed out, "Lizzie, Big Al left like fifteen years ago."

Lizzie gave Ramone a questioning look. "Then why are you bringin' him up, ya lemon?"

"Oh, he can do it." Sally assured them, "He has the horsepower. He'll fix the road 'cause WE are a town worth fixing!"

All cars roared their approval until Doc silenced them with a pair of honks. "Order in the court!" he barked, "It seems as if I've had my mind changed for me."

Lightning stared in disbelief as he asked, "What?!" Lightning turned to Sally with an angry expression on his face. "I am SO not taking you to dinner!" he said, grouchily.

If this was supposed to hurt Sally in any way, it didn't, not even in the slightest. "That's okay, Stickers, you and your new friends can take Bessie."

"Aw man! You get to work with Bessie!" Mater said, gleefully, "I'd give my left two lugnuts to work with Bessie!"

"Just one question. Who's Bessie?" asked Sora.

Ramone

A lowrider car in Radiator Springs who owns the local body art store. He often likes showing off how high he can go and his paint job. Since he doesn't have too many customers, he often works on himself. He's married to Flo. He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

Flo

A show car in Radiator Springs and owner of the V-8 Cafe, which serves gas. She's married to Ramone. She first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

Sarge

The military jeep in Radiator Springs and owner of a military surplus store. He keeps his lawn evenly mowed. He's also Fillmore's neighbor. He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

Fillmore

The hippie van in Radiator Springs and owner of the local organic fuel store. He, unlike his neighbor Sarge, lets his lawn grow over in order to be 'natural'. He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

Lizzie

An old-fashioned car in Radiator Springs and owner of a souvenir stand. She was the girlfriend of the town's founder, Stanley, and her mind's fading fast. She first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

_I loved Cars. It's a funny AND a moral-filled movie!_


	69. Bessie

Chapter 69: Bessie

_Alright, I bet you're wondering what happened to Riku if Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi are in Radiator Springs. Sakuzy and Joyex were last seen at some sort of racetrack, and J, Scott, Ryan, and April are traveling on some lonely road with two lost minivans. Alright, here's what's going on with HIM._

When Riku entered this world, he had turned into a silver police car and ended up stranded in the desert. He took in his surroundings and couldn't find the road to anything or to anywhere. He clenched his teeth slightly.

"If I ever find Ryan again, I'll KILL HIM!" he threatened. Riku then noticed the situation he was in and started driving away, only hoping to find a road to follow. "Great. Now I'm talking to myself, what next?" he grumbled.

Back in the town of Radiator Springs, Doc showed them a large machine, which was producing liquid asphalt and seemed to be a bit of a steamroller mixed with a rock-tumbler.

"THIS is Bessie: Finest road-building machine ever built." Doc explained, "You'll need to start HERE where the road begins and finish over there where the road ends."

Mater looked over to the area Doc was pointing to and it was a LONG way; easily spanning the area of the town they were in. "HOLY SHOOT!" Mater exclaimed in a redneck sort of way.

"By the by, why are we here again?" Sora asked out of simple curiosity. Sora found out what he did when he saw that Luigi was glaring at him as a blue vehicle for pit stops, Guido, was rebuilding a small stack of tires. "Oh."

"What about me?" asked Goofy.

Ramone rolled over to the Studebaker and pointed something out to him: a thin, white scratch across his hood. "YOU SCRATCHED MY PAINT, MAN!"

Goofy backed away, apologetically, the reason easily showing in his voice. "I said I was sorry!"

A firetruck, Red, saw Donald and moved his flowers and himself away from his view. "What's his problem?" asked the duck mage-turned-bug.

"Oh, he's just a bit shy and he hates ya for killin' his flowers." Mater explained.

Donald laughed shyly as Lightning asked a question. "Exactly how long will this take?"

"Well, if a guy does it right, five days." Doc answered.

Lightning's eyes widened in disbelief. "FIVE DAYS?! I should be in California schmoozing Dinoco right NOW!" he said, desperately.

"Then I'd stop complaining and start working!" Doc responded.

Mater edged towards the four, then said, "This may seem like a bad time, but, uh…you each owe me 32,000 munny in legal fees."

"What?!"

"Mater, let them loose." Doc ordered.

Mater nodded, then proceeded to take take off their parking boots. Sora, Donald, and Goofy stayed where they were, whereas Lightning McQueen took off like his namesake. "FREEDOM!" the racecar cried.

There was a VERY awkward silence as Mater pondered what he did. "Maybe I shoulda hooked him up to Bessie and then…uh…then took the boot off." he said, slowly realizing another way to do it.

"We'll get him if you want!" Sora said, revving himself up.

Well, THAT didn't work as well as he hoped, seeing as Sora, Donald, and Goofy might have been able to swim as fish and walk as quadrupeds, but they didn't learn how to drive as cars. They quickly went out of control, tires screeching on the pavement. "This isn't working out!" Sora screamed as he sped forward, uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, Goofy had just crashed, headlong, into a nearby posterboard, which collapsed on him, and Donald was doing donuts, screaming uncontrollably. Sora had managed to brake mere inches from Luigi's "Leaning Tower of Tires", which earned him another menacing glare from Luigi and Guido.

Mater saw their current situation, then asked, "Can't drive, huh? Shoot. I'll show you guys how to drive, it's as simple as pie…or is it cake?"

After a bunch of unusual lessons, Sora and co. were ready to get McQueen. "Let's go, guys! I think we've got driving downpat."

"Good luck to ya. Oh, wait…NEVER MIND! Miss Sally and Sheriff already got 'im." Mater pointed out.

Sora looked over to the distance to see that Sally and Sheriff were coming back with McQueen, who was barely moving, most likely because he was out of gas. Donald looked over at Goofy and gestured to Mater with his bill. "I told him those lessons were too long!" the duck said, grouchily.

The group of four were hooked up to Bessie and were forced to drag her along, placing new asphalt onto the road. Well, she was a LOT heavier than she looked. It took all of them to drag her along and she was STILL heavy.

Flo then noticed something coming down the road and smiled. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked.

The rest of the town saw what Flo had seen, too: six cars in the distance, headed right towards them. Sally, however, seemed to be more eager than all of them combined. "Customers!" she said, eagerly, "Take your places, everyone!"

Everyone except Sora and co. managed to take their places. The cars were a pair of minivans, a black Hummer, a jeep with an Aussie hat, a red Camarro with a pair of yellow racing stripes, and a lavender Porsche. It wasn't until Sora heard them talking that he knew who they were.

"For the last time, we do NOT know how to get to this…" the Hummer began, only to get cut off by the jeep.

"J, cool it, mate." it interrupted.

"Remind me AGAIN why we're following these guys?" the Camarro asked.

The Porsche shrugged casually as she asked, "I don't know."

Sora squinted at them, then recognized that Australian accent anywhere. "Guys?" he asked.

The jeep turned towards Sora. He squinted as if trying to figure out who it was. And then, it hit him. "Sora, me old chum!"

The Camarro, which was obviously Ryan, perked and said, "Cool! Uh…why are you chained to a road-paving machine?"

The superhumans drove over to the group to get a few answers while Sally drove over to the two vans. "Hello." she greeted, pleasantly, "Welcome to Radiator Springs, gateway to Ornament Valley. How may we help you?"

"Van, ask her for directions!" Minnie begged.

Van shook his head, then assured, "Minnie, we don't NEED directions. I know exactly where we are."

Minnie rolled her eyes. "Yeah. We're in the middle of nowhere!"

Scott drove over to Sally. "Well, sheila, we'll be stayin' for a while. So, be happy." he said.

Ryan's eyes widened as he groaned, "Oh no…"

The rest of the Radiator Springs residents tried grabbing the vans' attention, but they shook them off. They then came to Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Lightning. "Hey, I know how to get to the interstate!" he said, quickly.

"Do ya?" Minnie asked.

"Uh…no. Just listen." Lightning said, then spoke in a VERY quick tone, "I'm Lightning McQueen the famous racecar. You need to call my team so they can pick me up and I can win the Piston Cup! Do you understand?"

The pair of vans didn't answer, all the while smiling a grin that said "Get me out of here", then activated their car alarms before driving off as quickly as their tires could carry them.

"Really, NO!" Lightning cried after them, "You can't leave me here! I'm in Hillbilly Hell! My IQ is dropping by the second! I'M BECOMING ONE OF THEM!!"

Sora gave Lightning an odd look, then said, in a slightly freaked tone, "Lightning, you're scaring people."

Lightning then turned to Mater. "So, let me get this straight. Doc said when I finish the road, I can go, right?" he asked, quickly.

"That's what he done-did said." Mater replied.

Lightning squinted in focus as he said, "Then, make room! I've got a road to finish!"

Lightning then started moving heaving Bessie across the road. Although this process wasn't a very good one in Sora's opinion. "Uh…Lightning?" the Keyblade Master asked, "I don't think that's a good idea..."

Lightning didn't seem to be listening because he kept doing it, leaving a gaping Mater in his wake. A few minutes later, Mater burst into Doc Hudson's office. "They're done!" he screamed.

"DONE?!" Doc asked in disbelief, "It's only been an hour."

Back with Lightning, he was gasping for breath in front of the rest of the townspeople. "Okay, I'm done." he gasped, "Just say thank-you and I'll be off. That's all I need."

A third of the road was fine, because Sora, Donald, and Goofy were in no hurry, but the rest was thin and filled only the cracks and was rough.

"Crikey, what a state." Scott said, mildly disgusted.

J glowered at the scarlet racecar, then said, "I've been over all sorts of roads in my life. So, I know what I'm talking about when I say…THAT IS A SECOND-RATE JOB!"

Mater didn't seem to notice the mediocre job, because he whooped and got ready to get on the road. "Woo-hoo! I'm the first one on the new road!" Mater had a smooth go for a while before the road was causing him to bump around a lot and his parts were flying out of his trunk. "Sure is smooth!"

Kairi, however, found the two words that described the road in an instant. "It's terrible! "

"Well, then it matches the rest of the town." McQueen said, indifferently. All the townsfolk were hurt by this, especially a certain fire truck. Suddenly, Red burst into a loud amount of weeping and drove behind Mater's store. "Hey, Doc said once we finished the road we could go." Lightning said, trying to defend himself.

Sora turned as he added, "And when you say 'we', you mean 'you'."

Doc suddenly appeared on the scene, looking VERY disappointed. "The deal was that you'd FIX the road, not make it worse." he corrected, "Bulldoze down to the part where those three did and start over." Doc turned to Sora, Donald, and Goofy and said, "You three are off the hook and free to go. HE'LL fix the road this time."

Sora blinked twice, then turned to Donald and Goofy and said, "Well, that whole fixing the road was a bit short-lived."

Donald turned on his wheel and said, "C'mon, guys! Let's leave this horrible place and never come back!"

Sora shook his head. "Sorry, Donald. We still need to find this world's Pure Heart."

"He's got a point, Donald." Donald pointed out.

Sora turned to Doc and said, "Sorry, but we'll be staying. Besides, we're still missing a friend."

Doc nodded, but turned his attention when Lightning seemed to stifle a laugh at him. "Whoa, whoa, gramps, I'm no bulldozer. I'm a racecar." he explained.

Doc raised an eyebrow, if he had one, in mock respect. "Oh, Really?" he asked, "Well, then how about we have a little race? You and me."

Lightning actually laughed this time. Was this a joke? "Look, gramps, no offense, but you go like zero-to-fifty, in what, 2.5 years?"

If Doc was supposed to be put down, he wasn't; rather, he was surprisingly calm. "Well, then I guess you've got nothin' to worry about."

Lightning seemed to have a sudden change of heart as he thought about his odds, then said, "You know what? I like that idea. Let's race."

Every inhabitant from Radiator Springs were at a circular track and ready for a good race…except Sally. Sarcasm filled her voice to the brim as she said, "Great thinkin', Doc. Now the road will NEVER get fixed."

Sheriff then started to go on and on about the rules. A few included no road rage and no cutting the path. Then came Luigi to get it started. He took a dramatically long start, which greatly annoyed J.

"If this guy keeps going on and on, I'm gonna..." J said, irritation in his voice, but Scott cut him off.

"Hold that thought, mate. Looks like the race began." The jeep said, gesturing to the area below with his tire.

Luigi had just gave the word and Lightning took off like a bullet, leaving Doc in the dust, who hadn't moved an inch. Everyone looked confused as to what Doc Hudson was doing; he wasn't even trying to move.

"Doc?" Sora asked.

"What're ya doin', man?" Ramone finished for the Keyblade Master.

Doc sighed, then said, "Oh well. Seems like I'm off to a poor start. Ah well, better late than never." Doc turned to Mater and then began to slowly drive away. "Mater, Do ya have your tow cable?"

"I've always got my tow cable, why?" Mater asked, moving said cable to emphasize his point.

Doc simply answered, "Just in case..."

Meanwhile, back on the racetrack, Lightning was dashing across the desert floor like a crimson streak and was doing fine until he came to a sharp turn. He tried turning left, but he didn't turn on the spot like on asphalt, but veered out of control and fell into a ditch filled with cacti. Everyone cringed at the pain McQueen was probably in right now and it was there and then that the whole town realized that Lightning had been tricked.

Doc loomed over the racecar, peering down the hill and jeering Lightning. "You drive like you fix roads—LOUSY! Have fun fishin', Mater."

As Doc drove away, Mater swung his tow cable 'round and 'round, then cast off into the cactus pit and latched onto Lightning with his tow cable. There and then, he chose to say, "I'm beginning to think he knew you was gonna crash!"

As Mater reeled Lightning out of the pit, Lightning's sarcasm could have been heard a mile away. "Thank you, Mater. Thank you."

Luigi

A local tire-store owner with a strong, Italian accent that is the fanatic of racecars of all shapes and sizes. He has hoped to meet one kind of car all his life--a Ferrari from the European circuit. He can be overly-exaggerative at times and often makes a big deal of many things. He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

Guido

A little lift car who is Luigi's partner in crime for the tire-selling business. He only speaks Italian with only two words in his English vocabulary "pit" and "stop". He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.


	70. A New Road

Chapter 70: A New Road

That night, Lightning was removing the asphalt that HE used via a plow attached to his front by Doc. He was murmuring under his breath and pretty soon he was screaming. Sora could only roll his eyes around his windshield. "Something tells me we're hardly gonna get any sleep." He mumbled.

Strangely, Sora and co. got enough sleep to make it through the night. When they woke up, they found that Scott and J were gone. "What's going on here?" He asked to himself.

As Sora took notice of his surroundings, he immediately noticed the road that McQueen probably had worked on, excluding the third he, Donald, and Goofy did. All the cars were already enjoying it, because it was no longer sloppy and bumpy, but even and smooth.

"Look at this road Lightning McQueen gave us!" Mater said, before whooping his lungs out.

Luigi turned to Guido and said, "Look, Guido! This road looks like it was paved by angels!"

Ryan then drove by, feeling the pavement on his tires. It was HEAVEN. "Hey, Luigi. This new road makes your store look like a dump!"

Luigi frowned as he cursed the Camarro. "That crazy little imp!" He said, trying to defend his honor. Luigi then noticed his store and rolled over to it, comparing it with the road. He couldn't hold it anymore; he burst into tears. "He's right, Guido!" The Italian car bawled to his assistant.

"I don't think roads on the moon are this good!" Mater said, doing donuts on the road before spinning off it, slightly dizzy.

"Doc should've thrown him in the cactus a lot sooner, don't ya think?" Kairi asked, receiving a lot of positive replies from the townsfolk.

Goofy looked around and a curious look crossed his odd-looking...hood. "Wait a minute. Where's Scott and J?"

Sora and his friends drove off to the same area where Doc and Lightning raced to see Doc himself, Sheriff, Scott, and J.

"G'day, Sora." Scott greeted, "Donald, Goofy, Kairi."

J simply said one word as a greeting. "Morning."

"Is he trying to make another run for it?" Sora asked the Sheriff.

Sheriff shook his head. "Nah. He ran out of asphalt in the middle of the night and asked me if he could come out here."

Scott thought it best to explain why he and J were there as well. "Ah, thought we might as well watch him in case he tried."

Sora, still trying to get what was going on, asked, "What's he doing?"

J gestured with his right tire just as Lightning failed to make the same turn as before, then answered, "Trying to make that turn again." As McQueen gave a defeated growl and got back to the starting line, J made a vertical line with the same tire and Sora noticed that there were quite a lot of lines to begin with. "That's the eighty-second time he missed." J pointed out.

Doc watched Lightning with mild interest, then spoke. "Sheriff? J? Scott? How 'bout you three get a drink at Flo's? We'll take over from here."

Sheriff paused, then answered, in a very cheery demeanor, "Well, thanks, Doc! I've been feelin' a quart low."

"We've got nothing better to do and my wrist sounds like a cement mixer." J rolled his tire to make a crackling noise that could be compared to screws in a rock tumbler.

Scott, if he was human, would have tipped his hat as he said, "See ya at the town, guys."

Sheriff, J, and Scott drove back to Radiator Springs just as Lightning missed another turn with a cry in defeat.

"Sora, keep score for me, will ya?" J asked, his back to Sora.

Sora waited a while, then made another line next to the most recent one J made. Lightning had some scrub on his head that looked like a Mohawk and it earned him a chuckle from Donald. "Nice hair." The duck teased.

Doc drove over to Lightning, then said, "This isn't asphalt, son, this here's dirt."

Lightning rolled his eyes as he got back on the dirt path. "Look, I don't have time for this."

Sora looked over at Doc, then asked, "So, you're a judge AND a racing expert?"

Doc nodded to Sora, then directed his speech back to Lightning McQueen. "I'll keep this simple. If you go hard enough left, pretty soon you'll find yourself going RIGHT."

Doc drove off as Lightning got back on the road, Sora right behind him. However, Lightning McQueen had apparently heard the older car. "Stupid grandpa car. What an idiot…Hmm…" McQueen suddenly had a change of heart and tried to make sense of what he was told. "Turn RIGHT to go LEFT..." Lightning tried using Doc's advice, but went straight into the same ditch as last time and landed in the cactus. Then, to add insult to injury, a giant Saguaro cactus toppled over and fell on top of him. The cry he emitted could be heard a mile away.

Back at the town, Ryan was watching Lightning, who was now covered in bits of cacti. "Well, I tried to use your advice." Lightning mumbled, "I turned RIGHT to go left, but, you know, this AMAZING thing happened; I turned RIGHT."

"If you keep talking to yourself, people will think you're crazy." Ryan said, earning a sarcastic response from McQueen.

"Thanks for the advice."

Ryan turned to Lightning, a curious look in the eye...windshield. "Huh? I wasn't talking to you."

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Mater were at Flo's diner, watching Lightning suffer. Surprisingly, Sora and his friends never thought that gasoline tasted so good. Sheriff drove over to them, orders at hand.

"Okay, I need you guys to look after the prisoner." Sheriff said to them.

Sora finished his gas, then asked, "Wait, what if he tries to make another run for it?"

Sheriff simply answered, "Wait for him to run out of gas and have Mater tow him back. Just keep an eye on him."

Mater heard the Sheriff loud and clear...or, so they thought. "Yes, sir!" Mater shut one eye and kept the other's gaze fixed on Lightning. Donald could only sigh in disbelief at this truck's stupidity.

Sally then noticed Lightning was covered in cactus and a plan suddenly sprang into her head. The next thing Lightning knew, he was being spritzed by Red. When he thought it was over, Sally pointed something out. "Wait, Red, you missed a spot. See it? On the hood?"

The remaining cactus was RIGHT between Lightning's eyes and he didn't even have time to complain when the spraying continued until the cactus fell off. Red, upon seeing that his job was done, left in an instant. "How about you stay at the Cozy Cone?"

Lightning stared, then asked, "What?" He was surprised that Sally was doing this, especially to the guy who called their town "Hillbilly Hell".

"But first you had to be cleaned and, even here, in Hillbilly Hell, we have standards." Sally said before she drove away. Lightning sighed; at least things were getting better for him. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something on her trunk. "Hey, do I spot a pinstriping tattoo?" He asked, mischievously.

Sally quickly turned around, rear-ended a pile of traffic cones, laughed sheepishly, and reversed into the main room. Lightning then noticed Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Mater were next to him.

"Y'know, I knew this girl, Doreen." Mater said, suddenly, breaking the silence, "Man, was she a looker. She was just like a Jaguar, only she was a truck! I used to crash into her just so I could spoke to her."

There was an awkward silence before Sora asked the question. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

Mater simply answered, "I dunno."

There was a very exploding noise and J was barely driving, seeing as one of his tires exploded. He gave an exasperated sigh as he went over to Mater and asked, "Where can I get tires?"

Mater pointed with his upper left tire, then answered, "That'd be Luigi's place. He makes the best tires this side o' town."

"Thanks." J said, rolling off. However, trouble brewed once he tried getting into the store. J was a Hummer, so he was too large to get through the door without denting himself or knocking off part of his roof. "Out of all the cars I could change into," He mumbled to himself, "Why'd I change into this hulking behemoth of a Hummer?!"

J had no sooner said this when his parts started shifting in a very Transformers-esque way. When it was done, he drove in easily, seeing as he was a smaller car. _Hmm, that's better._ J drove into the store to meet Luigi and Guido, both of which had looks of shock on their face. "I have a busted tire, so could you…"

Luigi and Guido didn't say a word, but fainted on the spot. When the whole group turned to see what the crash was about, J drove out and they all saw that he changed into a streamlined, black Ferrari. Sora and Kairi's eyes widened in shock. "WHAT?" They both said at the exact same time.

Donald and Goofy couldn't really get what was going on. "What's so great about THAT car?" Donald asked, not exactly the auto-mechanic.

Sora turned to Donald and answered it as though it was simple. "J turned from a Hummer, which is pretty pricey, into a FERRARI! Those cost a fortune!"

J looked back at Guido and Luigi, who were still out cold. "What was with Luigi and Guido?" He asked.

Mater went over and answered. "Ah, they always wanted to change the tires of a Ferrari. It's been a lifelong dream of theirs."

Sora also added, "Plus, they saw your transformation."

Scott smirked an "oh" smile as he finally got what was going on. "Looks like our powers didn't vanish, mates." He studied, "They just adapted themselves to the world, just like at the North Pole. Hmm…I wonder…" Scott noticed Ramone bumping up and he, even though he was a Jeep instead of a Lowrider, managed to do the same. "Crikey!"

Ramone noticed that Scott did the same thing and frowned as he mumbled, "Copycat…"

Mater then turned to Lightning, remembering what he wanted to ask them...now that J was simply minding his own business. "Hey, Lightnin'! Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I was put in charge of watchin' ya! How about we sneak out later?"

Lightning shook his head. "Pass."

Mater rolled off to the side slightly, then said, "Okay, Mr. 'I-can't-turn-on-dirt'. You probably couldn't handle it anyway."

Lightning laughed slightly, then pointed out, "Whoa, Mater, I'm Lightning McQueen! I can handle ANYTHING."


	71. Tractor Tipping

Chapter 71: Tractor Tipping

"Mater, I CAN'T do this!" Lightning hissed.

The five were in a field at night. Mater was looking excited, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were looking a bit confused, and Lightning was worried. The field was filled with Tractors that were painted similar to cows.

"Aw, c'mon, Tractor Tippin's FU-UN."

Sora spied the tractors, uneasily. He had heard of cow tipping, but this seemed a bit...different; there was no other word for it. "Well, how does it work?" He asked.

Mater turned to them, then whispered, "Alright, when I say 'go', we go. But don't let Frank catch ya!"

"But who's Frank?" Goofy asked, but it was too late. Mater was already driving, very slowly, towards a nearby tractor. Lightning and the others followed, uneasiness in all of them.

"Alright, here's what ya do." Mater said, making sure not to make too much noise, "You just sneak up on 'em, and then honk. And they do the rest…"

Mater went over to a nearby tractor, lowered himself down a bit, and slunk towards it. He suddenly sprung up and honked his horn, which sounded more like a goose that swallowed a dustbuster. The tractor woke up with a startled low, then tipped over on its backside, and backfired, which sounded like flatulence. THIS earned fits of laughter from everyone.

"Ooh! Let ME try!" Sora said, eagerly. Sora snuck up, but he realized there and then that he didn't have a horn. But Sora quickly thought of an alternative. He revved enough for the tractor to hear him and it tipped over and backfired just like the second one. The backfire kept continuing for some reason until Donald noticed a REAL bad smell in the air.

Donald suddenly realized what happened, then gagged as he hissed, "GOOFY!"

Goofy would have shrugged as he said, "I saw an opportunity and I seized it."

Donald and Goofy waved this off, then drove towards separate tractors and honked their horns. Donald's was small and squeaky while Goofy sounded older and dustier. The tractors tipped over and backfired again, causing Mater to burst into a fit of uncontrolled laughter. "I'm tellin' you guys, tractors is so DUMB!" He said, unable to hold himself.

"Now it's Lightning's turn." Sora pointed out, gesturing at said racecar.

"C'mon guys, I don't even have a horn!" McQueen said, not exactly wanting to take part in this.

Mater smiled his buck-toothed grin, then said, "Baby."

"I'm not a baby!" Lightning said, defending himself, but then Mater did something no one could say "no" to. The tow truck clucked like a chicken and moved one of his back tires in a manner eerily similar to a chicken scratch. "Okay, okay! I'll think of something!" Lightning said, finally giving in to the peer pressure.

Lightning snuck up to a tractor and saw it snoring, then looked over at Mater. The tow truck gestured with one of his front tires, as though saying "go on", then Lightning got down to business. He revved up his engine, but this one was much louder than what Sora did. All the tractors in the immediate area woke up with a surprised grunt, tipped over on their backs, and backfired all at the same time. There was a silence and everyone started laughing their lungs out. The laughing immediately stopped when a loud bellow burst through the air. Mater then said only two words before driving off like lightning.

"That's Frank."

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Lightning hesitated and soon saw what Mater was talking about. "Frank" was a large combine harvester that acted like an enraged bull. They then drove off as fast as they could back into town, not even wanting to look back.

Frank

The leader of a herd of tractors in Radiator Springs. If you go Tractor Tipping, just make sure you don't let this combine harvester catch you. He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

_Yes, I know this chapter's brief, but still funny!_


	72. Three Piston Cups

Chapter 72: Three Piston Cups

The five came back into town, discussing the events that just happened.

"WHOO! You gotta admit that was FU-UN! Tomorrow, we can go lookin' for the Ghost Light!" Mater said, eagerly.

"I can hardly wait, Mater." Sora said, sarcastically.

"Well, better get Lightning back to the Prison Compound." Donald said, trying to drive off to said area, but Lightning corrected the duck-turned-bug mage.

"Actually, Sally invited me to stay in the motel." The racecar pointed out.

Mater grinned and raised an eyebrow as he said, "Oh, I see. Gettin' cozy at the cone is we?"

Lightning shook his head. "No. Sally can't stand me."

Goofy seemed to think differently as he said, "He's sorta like Sora and Kairi."

Sora started, then glowered at Goofy. "I don't really care for HER. She's just a friend, guys!"

"Remember after North Pole?" Donald asked, "Scott and April saw you under the mistletoe."

At that moment, Sora was VERY glad that he was a car, because if he was human, he would have blushed as red as Lightning McQueen's paint. "That was different." He said, indifferently.

Mater wanted to stop the argument, for he admitted, "Alright, you two, I get it…" Mater paused for a while, then glanced over at a spot for a joke. "Hey, look, it's Miss Sally and Kairi!"

Lightning and Sora both acted on instinct, looked over to where Mater had said they were, asking the same question. "Where?"

Mater, Donald, and Goofy started laughing their hearts out and Mater took that moment to tease Lightning. "You're in LOVE with Miss Sally!" He teased, edging close to where Lightning was driving.

Donald and Goofy didn't exactly do what Mater was doing. They knew about Sora's feelings for Kairi from when they first met her. Mater turned around and started teasing Lightning for it. Sora noticed that Mater was driving backwards… "Mater, stop it!"

"Stop what?" Mater asked.

"Driving backwards! It's creeping me out!" Sora said, worried for the tow's safety.

"Yeah, you're gonna wreck or something!" Lightning added.

Mater seemed slightly insulted at that comment. "Wreck?! Shoot. I'm the world's best backwards driver! Just watch THIS lover boys!"

Before Sora or Lightning could even utter a single word, Mater shot backwards, whooping like a cowboy and laughing like crazy. The rusty tow truck raced around the Cozy Cone, did donuts in a clearing, and even went through a small brush forest, doing many other stunts until he came back, untouched. "Don't need to know where I'm goin'. Just need to know where I've been."

Lightning and Sora were completely shocked as to how crazy Mater's stunts were. "That was amazing!" Lightning said in utter shock, "How did you do it?"

Mater tilted his mirrors a few times and answered, "Rear-view mirrors! We'll get ya some and I'll show ya!"

"That's cool." McQueen said, thinking something over, "Maybe I'll use it in my big race."

Sora turned. "What race?"

Lightning, forgetting that Sora was new to him, answered, "The Piston Cup. I've been dreaming about it my whole life! Then, we're talking about a BIG sponsor with private helicopters. No more rusty old cars and…"

"What's wrong with rusty ol' cars?"

Lightning turned on Mater's question, then suddenly realized what he had just said. "I didn't mean YOU, Mater. You're cool and all, but..."

Mater waved it off, then asked, "Say, if you win, how about you give me a ride in one of them fancy 'hellycopters'?" Sora chuckled at the way Mater pronounced it. "I always wanted to ride in one of them fancy hellycopters!"

Lightning thought it over, then nodded and replied. "Yeah, okay."

Mater virtually jumped into the air as he said, "I knew I made a good choice!"

Lightning cocked an "eyebrow", then asked, "On what?"

Mater, in possibly the most heartwarming thing he had ever done, replied, "My best friends." Mater then said, "G'night, fellas!" and made his exit by driving backward and teasing Lightning about his view on Sally. "McQueen and Sally, parked beneath a tree! K-I-S-somethin'-somethin'-somethin'-T!"

Deciding to ignore the tow's remark, the four got into their own "cones", which were actually pretty comfy garages. To a human, it probably wouldn't have made a huge deal, but to a car, that was different. It was home sweet home...

_Meanwhile, somewhere in space, a large, crystal comet was zooming through the vastness of it. It then spoke in a low, gravelly, but wise voice. "Back on task, Sora, or else all hope will be lost!"_

_Sora had an unusual dream. He saw himself in the middle of what resembled Destiny Island, but the trees were replaced by crystals. "What the heck happened?" Sora asked himself, inspecting his surroundings._

_Then, much to himself, something large and milky white walked over to him. It was truly massive, at about thirty feet tall, and each of its footsteps seemed to quake the earth. It peered down at Sora, then spoke in the same voice as the thing in space. "Sora, this is not the time to idle. You must continue collecting the Pure Hearts to revive your king and queen before the Living Crystal comes! Time is short! Hurry!"_

Sora then woke up, the dream still ringing in his head...or in this case, his hood. "What a weird dream...But that thing had a point. We have to continue looking for the Pure Hearts!"

Sora drove out of the motel just in time to hear a very comical exchange. At the sound of a bugle playing a military tune, Sora turned to see Sarge just below an American flag. It continued for the span of ten seconds before a very old-fashioned electric guitar tune interrupted the process and blocked out the bugle.

Sarge finally flipped and turned to Fillmore's little hippie hut. "WILL YOU TURN THAT DISRESPECTFUL JUNK OFF?!"

Fillmore got out of his hut and called back at Sarge. "Respect the classics, man! It's Hendrix!"

Sora suddenly remembered that he still had stuff to do. He, Donald, and Goofy may have been relieved from fixing the road, but not from doing community service. So, he cleaned up some litter people had been throwing out and put them away before waking up Donald and Goofy. Lightning was outside Doc's hospital and kicked a can into a room in the back. "Sorry, must've missed that one." Sora apologized on seeing the look Goofy gave him.

"What's YOUR problem?!" Donald asked Lightning, grumpily.

"I gotta wait before I can get my gas pumped. Sheriff's busy." Lightning said, but stopped on hearing a crashing noise inside and all four of them froze.

"What was that?" Goofy asked, staring at the place the noise came from.

Sora and Lightning drove into the garage while Donald and Goofy decided to head for Flo's. On entering, it turned out that the room was a garage and full of all kinds of clutter. "Whoa, Doc, someone needs to clean out the garage." Lightning pointed out.

Sora looked around, then noticed the shine of a golden trophy with wings on the cup area. It was filled to the brim with various items from pencils to wrenches. "What's that trophy?"

Lightning turned to see what Sora was talking about and his eyes widened. "Doc has a Piston Cup?!" He asked in total awe.

Sora noticed something and moved a couple of boxes to reveal that two more Piston Cups were behind them. "THREE?!" Sora asked, realizing that this was possibly the greatest honor in this world.

"The sign says 'Stay out'!" Both Sora and McQueen started, then turned to see a very disturbed Doc Hudson at the door. Within seconds, the pair was quickly booted out.

"Why didn't I see it?!" Lightning asked himself, then addressed Doc, "You're the Fabulous Hudson Hornet! Oh, c'mon, you've gotta show me your tricks!" He begged.

"That's what I've been trying to do!" Doc said, grouchily, "Now, go back and wait at Flo's like I told you!"

Lightning tried to dig a little deeper this time. "C'mon, you're THE Hudson Hornet! Look at those cups!"

Doc simply glowered at them as he backed into the garage's depths. "YOU look at 'em. All I see are a bunch of empty cups." Before any of them could say another word, however, Doc slammed the doors in their faces.

"What's his problem?" Sora asked.

Lightning's mind wandered, then drove off to Flo's as quick as a flash with Sora in hot pursuit. Sora heard Lightning tell everyone what they just found out and, apparently, the others didn't believe him. He drove over to get a better ear in the conversation, then heard them a bit more clearly.

"I'm telling you, Doc's THE Fabulous Hudson Hornet!" Lightning said, trying to get it through to them.

"Fabulous?" Flo asked, "I've never seen Doc drive over twenty miles an hour. I mean have you SEEN him race?"

"Nah, but I wish I could've." Lightning said, almost imagining things, "They say he was fantastic. He won THREE Piston Cups!"

Mater spat out some oil he was drinking, then asked, "He did WHAT in his cup?!"

Lightning, after realizing he was fighting a losing battle, gave up with every sign of dissatisfaction. Sally put some gas into his tank, earning quite a response from Sheriff. "Sally!" The police car exclaimed.

"C'mon, Sheriff," Sally said, trying to calm him, "you can trust me, can ya?"

"Oh, I trust YOU." Sheriff responded, "It's HIM I'm worried about."

On seeing Lightning's expression, Sally simply said, "Well, I trust him."

Meanwhile, in the desert, Riku was driving through. It had been days since he stopped and he was getting tired and thirsty. He then saw the town and said, "Here goes nothing...If no one's there, I'm done for." Riku blared his siren and flashed his lights.

Sora heard the siren and turned to see the oncoming car. "Hey, guys!" He called, "I think someone's coming!"

Donald quickly turned around, almost doing a complete donut turn, then cheerfully said, "We'll greet 'im! Sally drove off with Lightning, so they can't do it."

The two drove over to the approaching vehicle and Sora instantly recognized the shade of silver. "Riku?" He asked.

Riku's paint was dulled by the dirt and his tires were easily as dirty and so baggy they were almost flat. "Yeah, it's ME." He said, not believing this, "Now, I've been driving for days. I'm tired, I'm thirsty, I NEED a place to stay."

Sora was very worried as he looked between Riku and the town. "I'll go get Mater. He'll tow you over."

The bronze racecar drove off just as Riku shouted, "Who's Mater?!"

Within seconds, Mater towed Riku to Flo's where he got a refreshing drink of gas. He never thought he'd say it, but gas had never tasted so good...in this form, anyway. Red got to give him a little spritz to clean the dirt off, and also cool him from his desert trip. Luigi also got to replace Riku's tires, the baggy ones just inches from going flat.

Kairi had heard the news of Riku's return and drove over to investigate just as Riku drove out of the tire store, good as new, and noticed Ryan. "Uh-oh!" The red Camarro said, his eyes wide in fright.

Riku recognized the voice, then his eyes narrowed as he said, "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this!"

Riku activated his siren again and began chasing Ryan all over town. Fillmore and Sarge watched them as they darted through the town.

"Five-hundred munny says that the officer gets the little man." Fillmore said, hoping to strike a bet with Sarge, who didn't exactly return the favor.

"Don't embarrass me, Fillmore. I don't gamble." He said, being the opposite to the hippie.

As Fillmore and Sarge continued with their little squabble, Kairi went over to Sora. "Let's take a drive." She said, catching Sora by surprise, then said, "Things could get ugly here."

Sora couldn't complain as he drove off with Kairi in the same direction that Sally and Lightning went. The two other cars drove past them in the opposite direction. Sora grinned. This was the first time during this whole journey where it was just HIM and Kairi. They drove until they stopped at some run-down hotel. It was VERY dirty, seeing as there was broken glass and bugs (the car version) were skittering all over parts of the building. "What's this?" Sora asked.

"The Wheel Well." Kairi answered, "They say it used to be the most popular spot on the Mother Road."

A question suddenly popped into Sora's head. "Hey, Kairi, how'd you end up in this town?"

Kairi looked over and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, Donald, Goofy, and I ended up a few miles from here," Sora looked over at the landscape, revealing the whole town and a few miles beyond it. "I heard Scott, J, Ryan, and April say that they were in the desert, and so was Riku. What happened to YOU?"

"Well, it's simple." Kairi answered, "When we got separated, I drove around and searched for you until I broke down near here. Luckily, Sally was there to find me. Doc fixed me up and they all took me in and I was allowed to stay for as long as I needed to."

That made sense, for Sora anyway. He then asked, "Well, what happened to Sakuzy and Joyex?"

Kairi shook her head, responding, "I don't know. But they're bound to be out there. I know that much."

"You're right." Sora said, now aware that Kairi had joined him. "But, what do YOU think of him?"

Kairi mentally shrugged. "Well, he's mainly kept to himself and only shares his secrets with Joyex." She said, trailing off in thought slightly, then came back to the world, "Still, he DID fight against the White Witch and those Crystalli guys. He seems trustworthy. You?"

"Well…I dunno." Sora answered in the most honest way he could. "I WANT to trust him, but I feel like he's keeping stuff from me. He never brought up those things he was going to say in the North Pole because Jack Frost got in the way. He hasn't brought it up since."

Kairi's expression was warm as she said, "He'll bring it up when he wants to."

"But when will THAT happen?" Sora asked.

"Don't worry." Kairi answered, "We'll let that be his decision."

The two drove back to town, but as they went down the road, another thing crept into Sora's mind. The only people they met were the townsfolk and McQueen. "Any idea on what happened to this place? Y'know, the town?" Sora asked.

Kairi nodded. "Sally told me about it. It was a long story, but I'll shorten it out." She took a deep breath, then made it as short as she could. "Forty years ago, cars used to come from miles around to visit this place. But a few years later, the Interstate was built and the town got bypassed just to save ten minutes of driving. Eventually, it vanished off the world's map completely."

Sora's eyes widened in shock as he felt like his heart had dropped suddenly. "Oh my...And all this while we were out in the worlds, just passing right by this place." Sora's mind wandered to the past as he thought, _I wonder what this place would've looked like in its heyday…_

When the two of them returned to town, Mater drove up to them and spoke in a very hurried voice. "Listen, if anyone asks, I was out takin' a cruise, okay?" Mater drove off, leaving them confused why he said that.

Their confusion was soon answered by the fact that many tractors were driving towards them. Riku took notice of them, then drove towards them and got them to tip over via his siren. The tractors continued past Riku and were headed towards Red, but they tipped over via a very loud, firetruck blare from the big guy.

"Mater!" Sheriff barked.

"I wasn't Tractor Tippin'!" Mater said, covering up a very obvious truth.

"Then what're all these dang-blasted tractors doin' here?!" Sheriff asked, the tractors now running amuck.

Ryan, choosing to take advantage of the situation, drove up and flashed a form of solar light from his headlights. The flash startled the wits out of the tractors. "Ka-chow!"

Lightning was a bit disgruntled at Ryan's line, because he called, "That's MY line! Don't plagiarize!" Lightning looked away and happened to notice a tractor driving away. "Hey, guys!" He called, "You missed one!"

It was apparent that no one either noticed or heard Lightnin, because the chaos the tractors were causing was unimaginable. Eventually, McQueen drove off with Sora in hot pursuit. Sora and Lightning tried herding the tractor back, but their attention went from the lost tractor to Doc Hudson, who was at the old race track, all alone.

"What're you doin' in those old race tires?" Lightning asked, almost slyly.

Sora could only stick around and watch. If this was the moment to see Doc race, it was probably now. Doc judged the area, then took a deep breath and heave a huge sigh to relax himself. Doc revved himself up, then took off like a bullet and it was then that Sora could see why he was called the Fabulous Hudson Hornet. Doc was almost going as fast as McQueen could drive and was doing so with utmost pleasure. They then saw Doc go to the sharp turn that Lightning always failed in and slightly panicked as the old car got closer and closer to it. Doc turned his tires to the right and he turned horizontal and went past the turn with ease, kicking up a large cloud of dust at the same time. When he finished the turn and was back where he started, he was panting, but it was more like he had had the time of his life.

"Wow." Lightning said, causing Doc to glance over at them in surprise. "You've still got it..."

Doc glowered at both of them, then left without another word and leaving them with a mouthful of dust.

Sora: Way to go, Lightning. You blew our cover.

The two drove after him as fast as they could, but they soon reached a problem: namely a traffic jam. Mater, Scott, and J were herding several tractors past them in a line of sorts.

"And, Bob's yer uncle, we've got the entire situation under control." Scott said, driving off as Mater and J handled the rest of them. Mater was cracking his tow cable like a whip and J was rolling past as a snow plow, picking up stragglers.

After the tractors passed, Sora and Lightning followed Doc back to the garage. Unfortunately, Doc was anything but happy to see them. "Go away." He grunted.

"Seriously, Doc, THAT was spectacular!" Sora said, incredulously, "You've still got it and I doubt several cars YOUR age could drive like that!"

Doc's voice lacked enthusiasm as he said, "Wonderful. Now beat it."

"C'mon, I'm a racecar, Sora's a racecar, and you're…" Lightning paused to try and find the right word, then continued. "A much OLDER racecar. But, under the hood, all three of us are the same!"

"We are NOT the same!" Doc growled, now getting very irritated as he started to drive away.

"How could a car like you QUIT at the top of your game?" Sora asked, but soon figured that was the wrong thing to say.

Sora's statement stopped Doc right in his tracks and he turned around to face them with a stern expression on his face. "You think I quit?" Doc's voice had gone ominously quiet and his eyes were narrowed.

Doc flipped on a light and on the wall it lit up, both saw an old newspaper ad. Its front page showed a very beaten-up looking Doc Hudson with battered metal and smoke coming from his hood.

"Oh right." Lightning said as he stared at it, "Your big wreck in '54."

"THEY quit on me." Doc said, anger bubbling in his voice, "When I finally got put back together, I went back, expecting a big welcome. You wanna know what they said? 'You're history!' And they moved on to the next rookie standing in line." Doc closed his eyes, then slowly opened them again. THIS was a clearly painful memory as his voice went from angry to a bit more melancholy. "There was still a lot left in me. I never got a chance to show them. I keep that to remind me to never go back. I just never thought that that world would find me like this."

Sora stared at the pic and thought to himself that he'd probably be hurt if THAT happened to him. However, he turned back to Doc and tried reasoning with him. "Look, Doc, we're NOT them, we're not!"

"Really?" Doc asked, then demanded, "Name one time that either of you have done something for someone other than for yourselves. Name me one time, and I will take it all back."

Lightning thought hard, but in the end, he couldn't think of an answer. Sora, on the other tire, had an answer already at the ready. "I've done something for someone other than myself more than once!" He said, his voice going strangely stern, "I've traveled to different worlds to save the people I care about and even risked my life for one. I even helped collect things to help Riku!"

Doc didn't listen to Sora, only paying attention to Lightning's lack of a response. "I thought not. Now these here are good people who care for one another. I don't want them believing in someone they can't count on."

Lightning glowered at Doc, then came back at him with his own response. "Like, what, YOU? You've been here how long and your friends don't even know who you are." THAT saying made Doc back-track a bit and Lightning continued. "Who's only thinking about himself?"

"Just work on the road and get outta here!" He said, gesturing for them to leave.

Lightning stayed put for a brief minute, then returned to his business. Before Sora left, however, he turned to scowl at Doc, then drove off with McQueen.

_Happy Heroes Day, everyone! Today, the third season of Heroes airs!_


	73. Route 66

Chapter 73: Route 66

Mater was drooling freely in his sleep until he snorted, stretched, and drove out of his business station. He noticed that all the newcomers from Sora to Riku were looking dumbstruck; and he soon saw why. The rest of the road was finished and it was perfectly paved. Doc drove towards them, also looking at the now-finished road.

"He's done." April said, looking out on the freeway that the road led to.

"Must've finished while we were sleepin', mates." Scott said, equally shocked.

"Good riddance." Doc said, driving away with every hint of satisfaction.

The rest of the townsfolk drove over to join Sora and co.

"So, the road's done and Lightning's gone." Riku said. People had sort of explained the whole situation to Riku shortly after he had arrived, so it was no surprise that he knew now.

"Well, we wouldn't want him to miss that race of his." Sarge said, making a reasonable point.

Despite what everyone had originally thought, they were all starting to miss Lightning McQueen. Even though he started trouble and was a jerk when this whole ordeal began, he sort of grew on them. Sheriff was stifling tears, but not his sniffles.

"Oh, dude, are you crying?" Ramone asked the Sheriff.

Sheriff instantly tried to toughen up as he answered. "NO! I DON'T HAVE TO WATCH HIM EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY ANYMORE! I'm GLAD he's gone!"

Red instantly burst into tears and he drove behind Mater's business. Lightning then drove up to Mater. "What's up with Red?"

Mater, completely unaware as to who spoke, just said, "Oh, he's just sad cuz you left town and went to that big race that you dreamed of your whole life, to get that big sponsor and all them fancy 'hellycopters' you was talkin' about." Everyone, except Mater, realized that Lightning had never left in the first place. Mater suddenly realized who he was talking to... after about ten seconds of letting it come to him. "WAIT A MINUTE!! I knew ya wouldn't leave without sayin' goodbye!"

"What're you doin', son? You'll miss that race!" Sheriff said, preparing to drive off, "C'mon. Riku and I will give you a police escort to make up for lost time!"

Riku huffed as he reminded Sheriff, for the umpteenth time, "For the last time, Sheriff! I'M NOT A POLICE OFFICER!"

Lightning shook his "head", then added, "Well, I would, but I'm not sure these TIRES can get me to California."

Luigi and Guido noticed the emphasis on the word "tires" and perked up in an instant. "Pit stop?" Guido asked.

"Yeah, do you know when Luigi's opens?" Lightning asked.

Lightning was quickly shepherded to Luigi's store where he was saying things like his first real customer in years, what a momentous occasion it was, and various other things. "Alright, Luigi, set me up with the best set of blackwalls you've got!"

This really seemed to disgruntle Luigi, because he said, "No, you don't know what you want. LUIGI know what you want." The yellow Italian drove over to a wall that was curtained, as though it was saving something special. "BLACKwall tires, they blend into the pavement but THESE…" Luigi pulled back the curtain to reveal several whitewall tires. "WHITEwall tires shout out, 'Look at me! Here I am! Love me!'"

"Alright," Lightning said, succumbing to Luigi's advice, "I'll take them."

_(Insert Route 66 here, preferably the one by Chuck Berry.)_

Guido quickly took off McQueen's tires and replaced them as quick as a flash. When he was finished putting on the new tires, Lightning looked them over in a mirror.

"Well," Luigi asked, "What did Luigi tell you?"

"Wow. You're RIGHT. These tires DO speak out." Lightning said, taking in their appearance, "Better than a Ferrari, huh?"

The music stopped, momentarily. "Uh…no." Luigi said, flatly.

Sora and co. couldn't let Lightning have all the fun, so they decided to help the rest of the townsfolk. Donald and Goofy checked out Lizzie's curio stand. Lizzie quickly slapped bumper stickers on them that said 'Kingsmond', 'Barstow', and 'San Bernadine'.

Scott was drinking a tank of some of Fillmore's Organic Fuel. After taking a sip, he nodded in approval. "Nice juice there. Tastes like almonds. How come I've never heard o' this stuff before?"

"It's a conspiracy, man!" Fillmore burst out, "The oil company's got a grip on the government! They're feedin' us a bunch of lies, man!"

"Oh." Scott said, then added, "I can take a case."

J was at Sarge's Surplus Hut and had a pair of night vision goggles on. "Hmm…not bad." He actually admitted.

Sora was helping Mater's business, which was helping people who needed a tow and salvaging stuff out of the canyon. Mater suddenly got a hook on something at the bottom of a nearby canyon. "You got something, Mater?" Sora asked.

Mater reeled up his tow cable to reveal a light-blue hood, devoid of rust...well, most of it anyway. "It's my hood! Well, DADGUM! I ain't seen this thing in TWENTY YEARS!" Mater slapped the hood onto his radiator, and when he spoke, it sounded as though he was having nasal problems. "Still fits perfectly. How do I look?" He asked, but suddenly, the tow sneezed and sent the piece of metal flying down to the canyon below. "Aw dang."

Lightning went over to Ramone's Body Art shop and had Ramone do a new paint job on him. At dusk, Sally was driving by and all the cars pretended to act casual around the entrance of Ramone's, but the Porsche was onto them. "Alright, what's going on?" She asked.

Mater got to the front, then announced, "Ladies and gentle-cars! May I present the new Lightning McQueen!"

The line at the front of the store parted and Lightning drove out, his red paint now had a new tint to it and was devoid of "stickers" as Sally called them. He also had a silver streak on each of his sides and a lightning bolt down each streak. "Radiator Springs looks pretty good on me, doesn't it?"

Sally was VERY impressed at McQueen's new look, then said in a very proud tone, "Well, looks like you've helped everyone in town."

"Well," Sora said, his voice somewhat hinting something, "Not QUITE everyone."

"Really? Who?" Sally asked.

"We asked Ryan to do something for us." Kairi hinted, but being a little vague on details.

"Do what?" Sally asked again, actually starting to sound eager.

"We'll explain later. Besides, isn't it getting a little dark out?" When Lightning asked the question, he was being a little loud, as though hinting someone about something.

Lizzie started, then asked, "What?"

"Maybe I should say it again." Lightning then spoke a little louder than last time. "IS IT GETTING DARK OUT?"

Lizzie racked her thoughts, trying to remember what was supposed to happen. "Now, what was I supposed to do when he said…"

Red improvised by bumping Lizzie's old radio and the song "Sh-boom" played as every neon signs lit up. Only NOW, they were new and improved.

Sally turned to Ryan, then said in pure joyous shock, "You fixed everyone's neon."

Ryan chuckled, then took a bow of sorts and said, "All credit to me. I bet ya didn't know I'm an expert at neon."

J rolled his eyes. "I didn't know you were an expert at ANYTHING."

"YOU, I'm ignoring." Ryan said, grudgingly.

As Sally watched, every car in Radiator Springs...except Doc, were all driving down the road, only now they had a bit of spring in their drives. Flo and Ramone were driving together and the lowrider went low enough to scrape the ground. Mater saw him do it and tried it himself, but the guy failed to know that it was a lowrider trick only and sent sparks everywhere. Riku was cruising solo as was J (though the shapeshifter didn't have any spring, period), their silver and black paint didn't exactly fit. Sally went with Lightning on a cruise while Scott was cruising with April, looking happier than usual. Ryan was zipping around the road as fast as he could and avoiding crashes whenever he could. Sora decided to stay with Kairi and simply took in the look of this town.

"I talked to Lightning about this. Turned out Sally wanted to see this as well: what Radiator Springs looked like in its heyday." Sora explained.

"It's beautiful." Kairi said, as there was no other word for it.

The two actually leaned close to each other, but Flo interrupted them just as romance was in the air. "Is that what I think it is?" The diner-owner asked.

Sora snapped out of it, as did Kairi and both saw that Sally was snuggling up to Lightning. "I don't know, Flo, but I'm going to find out…" She said out of pure ecstasy.

Flo turned to Sally, then corrected her. "Not that. THAT!"

Flo had pointed to the road and Sally saw what could only be described as several headlights heading towards the town.

"Customers?" Sally asked.

"Customers, everybody! And a LOT of 'em!" Flo shouted to everyone in the town.

A light suddenly came down on Lightning and everyone stood back in surprise. J's mouth never changed, but his eyes did widen a bit. Mater, on the other hand, was petrified in fright. "It's the Ghost Light!" He said, fearfully.

"Seriously doubt THAT, mate." Scott said to the quivering tow truck.

In reality, the "ghost light" was the searchlight of several helicopters hovering above them. "We have found McQueen! We have found McQueen!" They said to mikes near their mouths.

The headlights that Flo had spotted belonged to several reporters from every news station in this world. Sora saw them interviewing Mater, who was still next to Scott. "Was McQueen your prisoner?" One of them asked.

"Nah. He and I are best buddies." Mater answered, simply, "Not to brag or nuthin', but I was in charge of huntin' him down if he tried to escape."

Scott whispered something to Mater out of the corner of his mouth. "Mater, somethin' tells me that this ain't helpin' the town one bit."

At that moment, Mack, the truck who met two cars at the beginning part of entering Radiator Springs, drove up to Lightning. "Lightning! Thank the manufacturer you're alive!" He said.

Lightning looked over at the large big-rig and called, "Hey, Mack!" The racecar was obviously the truck's main man.

"Sorry about losin' ya!" Mack said, sounding somewhat apologetic, "Besides, two guys are in the back and they haven't budged one inch!"

His trailer opened up and Sora saw a black Jaguar XK and a copper Pontiac Solstice. He instantly recognized who they were when the convertible spoke up. "Hey, Sora."

"Joyex?" Sora asked, "Sakuzy?"

The Pontiac said, "Hey, Sora. Yes, I AM a Pontiac Solstice."

The two drove out and Joyex asked, "Hey. Been a while, hasn't it?"

Sora gave Joyex an odd look, then answered, "It's only been about four days."

Joyex blinked, then asked, "Point?"

Sora gave up on the Nobody.

Sally drove over to Lightning, then gave her little goodbye to him. "I hope you find whatever you're looking for."

Before Lightning could even return the favor, he was quickly forced into getting back into his trailer. Mack took the wheel, then drove off, followed by the reporters and helicopters. However, a female reporter stopped when she saw Doc Hudson, who finally came out of his garage ever since Lightning stayed a little longer. "Are you Doc Hudson?" The reporter asked.

"Yes."

"Thanks for the call." She said, then drove off to join the rest.

Sora drove over to Doc, a look of shock on his face. Kairi's face was similar, only she managed to muster the strength to speak. "You CALLED them to take Lightning away?" She asked, not wanting to believe what she had just heard the reporter say.

Doc turned to Kairi, an unusually satisfied expression on his face. "It was necessary, Miss Kairi." He told her, "It was best for everyone."

J's face clenched as he said, "Yes, it WAS best. Best for YOU."

The rest of the townsfolk were looking dumbstruck as they realized what Doc had just done. "I never even got a chance to say goodbye." Mater said, crestfallen.

Riku straightened himself back up, then said, "We'll find him, guys! You can be sure of that!"

"Yeah," Sakuzy threw in, "Let's ride!"

All people not from the town drove off in the same direction Lightning had been taken. Sora started to drive away, but then stopped to turn on Doc as the other cars returned to their work stations. "Y'know, Lightning was right, Doc." Sora said in a cold voice, "You DO only care about yourself."

Sora then turned back around and took off after his friends, leaving Doc all alone as the neon signs flickered off, the only light remaining being a flickering traffic light.

Meanwhile, near a stadium, six boulder-sized crystals landed just outside its main gates.

Red

A large and overemotional fire truck. He doesn't talk much, but when he cries, he bawls every ounce of air out of his lungs. He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

Mack

Lightning McQueen's cargo man…er, truck. He carries him from place to place and knows virtually EVERYTHING about auto insurance. He tried going to California into the night, but he fell asleep at the wheel and accidentally let him out. He's also a bit of a worrywart. He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.


	74. Crystalli Dashers

Chapter 74: Crystalli Dashers

It didn't take long for Sora and co. to find the interstate. They followed it to California and managed to find the stadium easily, for it wasn't exactly easy to miss. Virtually every inhabitant of this world was packed into the stadium. "So, THIS is where Lightning's racing?" Sora asked.

"I heard a couple advertisements on that OLD car's radio." Riku said, "The whole world has virtually closed down to watch this race."

"Yeah, McQueen's up against two other cars called The King and Chick Hicks." Joyex filled in, "The winner could possibly be the main racecar of the Dinoco gas company. And here, that means a LOT."

The group drove into the stadium, though they were only allowed to pass because Riku was a police car. Sakuzy did get suspicious about the five or six boulder-sized crystals outside the stadium. Sakuzy would only attack IF the Crystalli attacked first; it was the way his master taught him BEFORE the Crystalli attacked.

The King, it turned out, was an electric-blue racecar with a tailfin. He looked like he was modeled in the 1970's, but he had a calm look in his eyes. Chick Hicks, on the other tire, was a lime-green racecar. He had a metal plate where a mustache was supposed to be, but he looked a little more greedy than the King.

"Well, I heard Lightning's one of the best racers in the world. Let's see how he does." Riku said, lifting an eyebrow.

Riku took everyone to their seats just in time, for the race had just begun. Near the beginning, Chick was apparently gloating to Lightning, but then Sora noticed that the scarlet racecar's mind was obviously in a different world. When the race began, The King and Chick had already taken a huge lead. Lightning came back to his senses, then awkwardly started chasing them both down.

"Uh-Oh!" Goofy said, "Looks like trouble…"

"Ah, he'll catch up. Give him time." Sakuzy said, obviously not worried about him.

Well, Lightning had virtually no problem catching up to the two, but he had barely caught up when Chick sharply moved in front of him. Lightning lost a lot of ground and he had to start all over again.

Sora immediately noticed something was wrong and solemnly said, "I have to agree with Goofy. This isn't good."

It was bad enough, but it soon got worse. Lightning was in the process of trying to catch up when his mind wandered again. In the process of daydreaming, he accidentally veered off-course and spun out of control, only increasing the distance between him and the other two.

"He misses his friends." Kairi said, finally finding out what was wrong. On seeing a confused look on Sora's face, she added, "His mind keeps wandering to them, so he's losing his focus. If he doesn't find a way to get his will to win back, there's no hope for him."

"You're right. Let's see if we can get down there with Mack…" Sora said, then led the others out of their seats.

Sora and co., with a little help from Ryan and April, flew to the center of the track. No sooner had they gotten there when they discovered the inhabitants of Radiator Springs as Lightning's pit crew and Doc Hudson as the crew chief. Apparently, Lightning discovered this as well.

"Guys, you're all here!" Lightning said, excitedly over his intercom.

"Well, I knew you needed a crew chief." Doc said, then added, "But I didn't know it was THIS bad."

Lightning was just about where they were, then said, "I thought you said you wouldn't come back."

"Well, I didn't really get a chance. Mater didn't get to say goodbye." Doc admitted.

Mater waved his tire, to McQueen as he shouted, "GOODBYE!!" Mater suddenly returned to a much calmer tone. "Okay, I'm good."

Sora revved his engine to get their attention and called, "Hey, guys!"

Mater turned to meet Sora with a happy grin. "Sora! Yeh made it! But who're yer buddies?" He asked.

"I'm Sakuzy. I'm a friend of Sora's."

"And I'm Joyex. You saw us when Mack dropped us off."

After Mater understood who the new sports cars were, Sora looked up at Doc, who was on his seat. "Doc," He said, "sorry about what I said before I left. You see…"

Doc cut Sora off, but not to be rude. "No, Sora, you were right. I was thinkin' about myself, no one else." He said with a wise smile, "After you guys left, I got a couple guys together to help Lightning."

Doc then turned to Lightning, who had pulled in for a pit stop from Sarge and Fillmore. "If you can drive as well as you can fix roads, then you can win this race with your eyes shut. Now get back out there!"

The look on Lightning McQueen's face was just as good of a "thank you" as anything and he drove off faster than fast, ready to win this race AND the Piston Cup.

"Okay, kid, you know what to do." Doc said over his com-link, "Find a groove that fits ya and hope it sticks. NOW GO!"

Lightning eventually got his lap back, but he was still a good ways behind. The road was long and steep, but he slowly caught up to Chick Hicks. Chick didn't seem too impressed, though. "Oh, kid's tryin' to be a hero." The green racecar said to himself, "Well, whaddya think of this?" Chick bumped Lightning from behind, causing him to spin. Chick laughed, but was MORE than surprised to see Lightning driving BACKWARD and pass him. "WHAT?!"

"Whoa!" Mater exclaimed, "Git-R-Done!!" Lightning winked at Chick before turning back around to regain his composure. Mater turned to some of Chick's pit crew. "I taught him that. Ka-Chow!" Mater used his rearview mirrors to flash light at the pit crew, who shielded their eyes at the intense light.

Back in the race, Lightning was doing well, especially after losing a lap. Chick was still a bit outraged as he tried to pass him, but the red racecar simply moved in front of him and blocked his procedure. Chick eventually brushed up to him and blew his bottom left tire. "Doc! I'm flat!"

Sora took Doc's comm, then asked, quickly, "Can you make it to the pits?"

"_Yeah, no problem!_"

Doc quickly took the comm back just in time to spot something. "Wait…" Doc had noticed a yellow car on the track with a yellow, flashing signal. "We got us a yellow. Don't tear yourself up this time. Guido…it's TIME."

The little blue leverage car took a dramatical, dutiful posture. McQueen slowly got to the pits, all the while, Chick's team was teasing Guido about his size and stature. When Lightning pulled in for the pit stop, Guido threw four tires into the air and detached Lightning's tires all the while replacing them as soon as the spares fell. Within seconds, Lightning was up and raring to go.

Kairi stared in shock and said, "That HAS to be the fastest pit stop I've ever seen."

Chick's pit crew stood there in utter shock and, one-by-one, their metal mustaches fell off with a clatter. Guido glanced over to them and emitted two words. "Pit Stop."

As the three cars neared the last few laps, the status was: Lightning in first, The King in second, and Chick in last. But within seconds, the race changed in an instant.

At that time exactly, the crystals outside the stadium shifted. The inner parts of them shifted and moved to form other parts. They balanced themselves on their hands, then flipped themselves to their feet. When they were finished, the Crystalli had sleek bodies, with some of their joints elongated into points. They had an unusual head that split into a trident formation, three-clawed hands, and their feet had wheels attached to them. It looked like the ones you would find on roller skates. The voice of Amber then spoke to them, though no one else could hear it.

_Get rid of those Keybladers. But bring the one who looks like Sakuzy back. ALIVE._

The Crystalli simply nodded before leaping into the air and landing on the track and started to glide across the concrete. Sakuzy instantly saw them when they entered. "Oh no, Crystalli Dashers!"

Mater turned on Sakuzy's outburst and asked, "What?"

Sakuzy turned, then quickly explained to Mater. "Creatures who basically want to serve something called The Living Crystal. And that includes wiping us all out."

Sora turned. He had never heard that outside of Chrysallis. "So, the Crystalli are just servants of something?" He asked.

"Yeah, but we'll have plenty of time to chat AFTER we trump them!"

Scott smirked and nodded. "Then, how's 'bout we have a good ol' fashioned brawl?"

J drove into the arena and, in a flurry of shifting parts, changed into a Buffalo Minesweeper with an extendable claw arm and a jagged, rake-like claw at the end. J got ready to attack, but Sakuzy stopped him at the last second.

"Not now!" He shouted, "We're gonna need to get the people…I mean cars out of here! We can't risk them getting attacked!"

Sora looked around to see the spectators looking on in total fright, then said, "Point taken."

Sora raced off to the intercom station. He managed to get rid of the guy in charge, then spoke to the inhabitants of Radiator Springs through the microphone. "Attention, everyone! THIS is an emergency. I suggest you all leave before ANYONE gets hurt."

Everyone was soon in a panic, but they were headed for the exits, and that was a VERY good thing. The Crystalli Dashers, however, were still causing all kinds of mayhem. They actually ruined the race when one of them charged through all the racers save Lightning. A while later, Sora returned to the rest of the Radiator Springs residents AND his friends.

"Alright, you guys make sure that the crowd is safely evacuated if you can!" Sora commanded, but it seemed one car had an objection.

"Not me." Mater said in a worried tone, "I gotta help in any way I can! My best buddy's in there and he could get hurt, too!"

Sora gaped at Mater's astounding loyalty, then nodded. "Alright, let's go!"

Scott changed his tires to those that resembled a monster truck's. "Alright, the guys who'll help fight will be Sora, Riku, Kairi, meself, Sakuzy and J. Everyone else, join the guys from the town!"

"Alright!" Donald said, quickly taking off.

"We'll make sure every car in the stadium gets out safely!" Goofy said. He made to back out, but suddenly backfired, fixed himself up, then sped away.

Ryan looked crestfallen as he moaned, "Aw man! Why do I have to miss out on the action?!" After a glower from J, he quickly thought otherwise and raced away to join Donald and Goofy.

April looked a bit worried, but brushed it off and said, "Be careful, Scott."

Scott shook his head. "Relax. I'm a superhuman. What could happen?" He asked. April could only smile, then flew out of the stadium.

The group then charged into the battle. The Crystalli Dashers were faster than any other Crystalli Sora had fought, even those Neo Soldiers. They were easily as fast as the racecars, possibly even faster. And Sora hadn't exactly gotten used to fighting in this form. He couldn't even use the Keyblade do to lack of appendages to use one.

One of the Dashers had actually chased down Riku and bashed him in the side with its claws. Riku was okay, but he spun out of control only to be saved by Mater. "Don't worry, buddy, I gotcha!" He said as he set Riku straight.

Mater then got an idea. He swung his tow cable around like a lasso, then threw it at a Dasher, hooking it on the leg just between. With a little tug, the Dasher fell on its face as Mater started dragging it around, flailing. He then made a sharp turn and crashed the Crystalli into the nearby wall, smashing both into pieces. "Sorry! I'll pay for the damages in good time!" He called out, seeing the damage he had accidentally caused.

J easily destroyed his pursuer because he managed to hook him on a special arm of the Buffalo he took the form of. The arm seized the Dasher by the forearm and the two spun around like dancers. J went with the spin for a while, then pulled a hard brake and released the Dasher in time to send it skidding to the ground only to get crushed by Scott's monster truck tires.

Sakuzy then pointed out a major weakness with the Dashers. He didn't destroy it instantly, but had it chase him instead. Sakuzy looked like he was going to crash into the wall, but then he made a sharp turn and the pursuing Dasher smashed into the wall, smashing its front in and falling to the ground.

_MAJOR problem with the Dashers—they can't turn easily._ Sakuzy thought to himself.

Riku found another weakness with them. He managed to circle one and caused it to fall over due to loss of footage. Strangely, it seemed pretty helpless, because it couldn't get back up. It flailed its clawed arms and its legs, cursing until Riku crushed it under his tires.

"Another problem with Dashers—if you knock them over, they're helpless!" Sakuzy shouted to anyone who could hear him.

Kairi and Mater worked together to fight off their Dasher. Both were chased by the speedy crystal being and even split as it tried to swipe at them. One actually caught Kairi's bumper with its claw, barely clipping it, but carving right through it. She hated to think of what would happen if the claws were just a little closer. "Mater!" She called.

"Git-R-done!"

Mater swung his tow cable and actually caught Kairi just below the bumper. The two were still a good distance apart, so the result was that the tow cable was suspended between them. Both had the same idea and suddenly hit the brakes. The Dasher couldn't stop in time and their sudden stop brought the tow cable into its legs. Adding its forward-going momentum to the suspended wire, the Dasher flew forward and landed into the ground with a CRASH. It barely had time to register that had fallen when Mater threw Kairi forward, sending her flying into it and snapping the Crystalli in half.

Mater unhooked his cable and Kairi said, "Thanks, Mater."

"Shoot, it was nothin'!"

As the fighting went on, Lightning had just encountered one of the Dashers. It was coming at him full-on from the front and Lightning couldn't afford to turn away. Sora saw it, then shouted the first thing he came to mind. "Lightning! Do that thing we saw Doc doing at the town!"

Lightning immediately got the idea and grinned. He made a few quick shifts and was soon driving sideways, earning a very proud look from Doc Hudson. The Dasher coming at him from the front ended up tripping over him and landed with a CRASH to meet Sora's front. Sora smashed into the Dasher and turned to crush it between him and the wall. "OW!" Sora said, feeling like he had just gotten punched in the face. He shook the pain out of his head, then continued.

Sora's Dasher, on the other hand, seemed bent on chaos. Though it was the last Dasher, it was skating around the stadium and smashing everything in its path. The blue car in front of him, the King, was quickly sent flying with a blow of the crystal being's arm. Sora managed to trip the Crystalli up and crush him, but the King was badly injured and a complete wreck. Lightning then noticed the King's condition and stopped mere inches from the finish line. Chick Hicks, on the other hand, drove past, whooping and not giving a care to The King's health.

For a while, there was silence, then Doc realized what Lightning was doing.

"What's he up to?" Sakuzy asked.

Lightning reversed until he came to the King and started pushing him to the finish line. The older car coughed, but managed to speak in a Southern accent. "You just gave up the Piston Cup. You know that?"

The way Lightning spoke, he was probably shrugging indifferently. "Ah, some grumpy ol' car once told me something—it's just an empty cup."

Lightning got King across the finish line as people all over the world, whether it was watching from the sidelines or TV, cheered until they were hoarse. Meanwhile Chick zoomed out to the escaped crowd for his Piston Cup. "C'mon, baby! Bring on the Piston Cup!" Someone slid Chick the "hard earned" Piston Cup, though with little enthusiasm. "Hey, where's the chicks and the confetti?" He asked, with obvious enthusiasm.

Joyex was in the crowd and he noticed that they looked EXTREMELY angry. He rolled his eyes, then said, "Fire at will."

The crowd fired the confetti, only it was directly AT Chick rather than around him. "OW! Easy with the confetti. C'mon, how come the only person celebrating is ME? I've gotta go sign my deal with Dinoco! C'mon, say it with me! Ka-Chicka! Ka-Chicka!" The crowd, much to Chick's displeasure, was booing and hissing. Joyex was tossing various Chick Hicks fan items at the green car with immense pleasure. Chick grabbed his Piston Cup, then slid away from the projectiles. "THIS is the start of the Chick Era!"

Joyex pointed out, "Yeah. And end of it, too!" He then proceeded to join in the booing and cursing.

Back with Sora and co. they were watching the guys from Radiator Springs laughing at some jokes from a pair of old-looking cars. No one but Donald and Goofy got the jokes. Doc then drove to Sora. "Hey, Doc, or should I say Hudson Hornet?" He asked, earning a chuckle from Doc, "I forgot to tell you that we won't be leaving until…

"Until you find that special thing." Doc finished, "Well, if that's the case, I guess this is goodbye."

Sora raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why do you…"

Sora never finished his question, because Doc held out one of his Piston Cups. Sora knew, from the date on it, that it was the one with the pencils and wrenches in it. A steel-grey heart flew out of it and went into Sora through the driver's door. "YOU are the guardian of this world's Pure Heart?"

"Never you mind, kid. You got yourself some good friends there. Keep an eye on 'em, will ya?" Doc asked. Sora nodded, then Doc added, "Now, get your friends and get back to that quest you're on!"

Sora didn't ask how Doc knew, but simply had the Gummi Ship beam him and his friends back up. He figured he'd have to find out about THAT later.

Crystalli Dasher

The fastest form of Crystalli, capable of reaching the speed of racecars and have sharp claws and terrifying skill. They may move fast, but they have two main weaknesses. One, they can't easily stop and two, they can't afford to fall over.

The King

Dinoco's main mascot in the Piston Cup races. He retired after this race and had to get repairs done to him, no thanks to a Crystalli Dasher. (He has a wife that fans call "Mrs. The King". He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

Chick Hicks

Hostile Takeover Bank's main mascot in the Piston Cup races. He only races for one reason, and one reason only—to win. He won the Piston Cup because he took advantage of the King's condition and Lightning was too good to let the old racecar stay wrecked. He first appeared in _Cars_ 2006.

_That would be Mater's Cable Chaos._

_If you're wondering what a Buffalo Mine Sweeper is, it's that vehicle form for the Decepticon Bonecrusher. Who's Bonecrusher? He's the guy who tackled Optimus on the highway._


	75. Forced Apart

Chapter 75: Forced Apart

Sora and co. were sailing through the cosmos yet again and the entire group was looking at the metallic Pure Heart in his hand.

"Crikey, we've already gotten our second Pure Heart." Scott said, looking over at it.

"If we keep up the good work, then this little quest should be done in no time!" Ryan said, "Now, to make things perfect, I'll have to find the soda stash..."

As Ryan went off to turn the Gummi inside-out, Sora noticed that Sakuzy was sitting on his chair, staring at his feet. Sora walked over to him and took a seat next to him. "Sakuzy?"

"Yeah?" He asked, looking up.

"Remember that conversation we tried having back at North Pole?" He asked, hoping for more response.

Sakuzy did respond with a slight chuckle. "How could I forget? I got turned into an ice cube. Remember?"

Sora got back to business, however, and said, "Well, I'd like you to come clean. Tell me how you and the Crystalli know each other and why you've been acting like my guard dog since this whole thing started."

Sakuzy didn't answer, but stood up and walked to his quarters. He didn't even look back.

Sora sighed a defeated sigh, then asked, "Why'd he walk away?"

"Sora, come here."

Sora turned on being addressed to see Joyex gesturing towards him. He walked over to the Nobody and flopped down next to him. "I am NOT allowed to tell you why Sakuzy's been acting like your guardian, he made me promise." He started, but then added, "BUT I can tell you part of the reason why he and the Crystalli know each other, or knew each other at one time."

Joyex reached into his pocket, then pulled out a keychain with a small ball with little spikes on it surface. Sora stared at it in total awe. "A Keychain? You're a Keybearer?!"

Joyex shook his head. "No. My SOMEBODY was a Keyblader, but when I was created, I lost it." He then pocketed the keychain and continued with his promise. "As for the hosts, the Crystalli came seemingly from nowhere and started picking off everyone in our Keyblade Order before the Heartless could. If we don't stop them, they'll out-compete the Heartless at one point."

Sora shuddered at the thought of Crystalli, then asked, "Keyblade Order?"

Joyex nodded. "Yeah. In the future, the Keyblades are more common than just you and your friends. In fact, YOU are its foundation."

"Me?"

Joyex pointed at Sora again, then said, "Yes. You. Who else did you expect? Anyway, the Crystalli either killed the Keybladers or converted them into Crystalli Hosts. When that happens, a Keyblader loses his or her ability to wield a Keyblade and also sees it as junk. The only one who survived or resisted the Crystalli attack was Sakuzy." Joyex stood from the bed and gave Sora a stern look. It was strange, because most of the time, Joyex was the funny boy. "He's the last Keyblader in the future and he wants to fix it so that he can stop it from happening."

J was listening in on the conversation, but didn't butt in. All the information he needed was in the conversation, he only had to look hard enough. To him, it all seemed clear.

"OH, CRIKEY! GUYS! GET OVER HERE!" Scott's sudden outburst surprised EVERYONE on the Gummi Ship. It startled Donald right out of the bathtub, dressed, but soaked. The whole team looked out the window and saw the vast reaches of space.

"Well, it's not THAT exciting…" Joyex pointed out.

"Not that, mates. THAT." Scott said, pointing at another viewport.

The group looked out, and their jaws dropped as they saw several Crystalli flying towards them. Their bodies were shaped like a bird of prey's, but they had a pair of pterosaur-esque wings that looked like blades and no feet at all. The 'wings' had three finger-like digits at the point where it sharply curved backward.

"Oh, great!" Joyex said in fright, "Crystalli Hawks!"

The Hawks flew at the Gummi like fighter planes and opened fire on the ship with blasts of electric-blue energy that came from the tips of their pointed snouts. The ship jerked violently as each member tried to get a good hold on something that was secure enough to hold them.

Crystalli Homeworld...

Amethyst and Turquoise were watching the whole scene in a pool of a giant crystal. Amethyst clenched his teeth in fury as he turned to Turquoise. "What are you waiting for?!" He asked, impatiently, "Destroy them!"

Turquoise simply answered without even turning to face Amethyst. "We want Sakuzy alive. Remember?" She asked. "Chrysallis said…"

If Amethyst didn't know any better, he would have backhanded Turquoise right on the spot. Instead, he simply cut her off by snapping back at her. "Scrap Chrysallis! Destroy them!"

Turquoise clicked her tongue a few times before glaring at Amethyst with electric-blue eyes. "I refuse to do so. But I will report you for back-sassing him like that."

Gummi Ship...

Sakuzy ran in just as the ship regained its balance from a sharp jolt. "What happened?!" He asked in surprise.

"Hawks!" Joyex answered as Scott tried to avoid their fire.

Sakuzy smacked himself in the face and growled in frustration. "Great. We're barely out of a Crystalli encounter when we have ANOTHER one." He said, furiously.

"Yeah, but they're causing MAJOR damage to the ship." Riku said, checking up on the ship's main computer. "They've already caused severe damage to the main hull! If we don't do something, we're done for!"

"Well, then I got bad news. There aren't any weapons on the ship!" Sakuzy shouted as the ship bucked again.

"WHAT?!" Donald shouted at the top of his lungs.

"This ship was built for travel purposes only. And I should know! Blader and I constructed it!" Sakuzy said, then muttered, "Only one option left…"

Sakuzy reached over, broke a glass container, then slammed his hand on the button inside and a four-way split in the ship appeared. One side had him and Sora, the other had Joyex and Riku, the next had Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and J, and the last one had Scott, Ryan, and April.

"Sakuzy, you idiot! What are you doing?!" J snarled as his part started to slide away.

"Splitting us up! It's the only option we have left!" Sakuzy answered quickly.

"Kairi!" Sora reached for Kairi's hand and she for his, but the moment that they made contact, they were forced apart by a wall of Gummi blocks made to cut off the vacuum. The four ships separated and then took off in separate directions to different parts of the Gummi. Sora looked out the viewport and stared at the Gummi with Kairi on it until it was out of sight. "Not again..." Sora said quietly as he slowly accepted it.

Sakuzy decided to draw Sora's attention off Kairi for a minute and knew just what to say. "The next world with a Pure Heart is kind of out of reach for our Gummi Ship. I doubt we'd have enough fuel to do it in just one go."

Sakuzy's plan worked, because Sora turned away from the viewport to face him, then asked, "Well, if it's out of our reach, how can we reach it?"

Sakuzy grinned as he answered, "According to history books of the future, it was around this time that the RLS Legacy took off."

Sora thought it over, then remembered something. "And they are. I saw a sign in Radiant Garden that said they were looking for crew members."

Sakuzy took the controls of the ship, then said, "So, let's hitch a ride! We're headed back to Radiant Garden!"

Sora and Sakuzy's ship took off for Radiant Garden, ready for a fantastic voyage.

Riku and Joyex's ship...

Joyex had Riku seemingly immobilized in a headlock and was giving him a good old-fashioned Dutch rub. "C'mon, just say it!" Joyex teased as he gave Riku a noogie, "Who's your daddy? WHO'S YOUR DADDY?"

"Let go!" Riku growled as he struggled. This Nobody sure had a good grip...

"Not until you say it!" Said Nobody teased. Riku, irritated now, improvised by stomping on Joyex's foot. Joyex released Riku and hopped up and down, clutching his toe. "OW!" He exclaimed, "OR you could do that."

Riku massaged his sore cranium, then asked, "Let's just get to the point—where's the nearest Pure Heart from where we are?"

Joyex stopped hopping on one foot, then checked the ship's scanner. After a few keystrokes, he studied the map to find which world was the closest. "Some world called Gamma Quadrant."

"Well then," Riku said, taking the Gummi's yoke, "Let's get going..."

Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and J's Ship...

J leaned against the wall of the Gummi with his eyes shut. Long ago, he had learned to keep calm in certain situations; this was no different. Kairi, on the other hand, continued to look out the viewport at the place where Sora and Sakuzy's ship flew off. Donald and Goofy were simply sitting at a table, playing checkers. So far, Donald was winning.

"Why'd Sakuzy just separate us like that?" Kairi thought out loud, her voice quiet.

"Beats me." Donald said with a shrug, "Sure he already did it once, but at least it was just him and Joyex."

Goofy moved a piece a few times, jumping some of Donalds, then said, "King me." As Donald stared in disbelief, Goofy got up and put a hand on Kairi's shoulder. "Sakuzy said it was the only way to get away from them Crystalli Hawks. I'm sure that if he could have avoided it, he would have." On seeing Kairi look at the floor instead of the ground, he added, "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll see our friends again."

J had finally gotten out of his position and ended up at the scanner with a few strides. On studying the map, he said, "The next world with a Pure Heart is called Beast's Castle."

Kairi relaxed after thinking Goofy's words over, then turned to J, whose back was still turned. "J, I have a question." J didn't answer, but he was clearly listening, judging the way he straightened up. "How come the only times I've seen you use your powers was to fight? And when we were at the North Pole, you only changed into a polar bear as a test. Why don't you change into anything cute?"

J walked towards her and put his face close enough so that Kairi could see past the lenses of his sunglasses. "Kairi, let's get ONE thing straight—I don't DO cute!" He said, almost in a snarl, "I do vicious or stealthy. I use them to fight, get away, or blend in. Get it?"

J put the ship on autopilot, then returned to his unknown business, leaving a stunned Kairi staring after him. "O-kay. Maybe I shouldn't have asked..." She said to herself.

Scott, Ryan, and April's Ship...

Scott was at their ship's scanner, April was hovering (literally), and Ryan kept pacing around the ship. "Great! I'm stuck in a spaceship with an Aussie and a girl!" Ryan complained, "WHAT COULD BE WORSE?!"

"Ah, quit yer bawlin', Ry. It could be worse. You COULD be stuck with Donald and Goofy." Scott pointed out from the wheel.

Ryan thought it over, then replied, "Good point."

April hovered over to Scott, then asked, "Any Pure Hearts?"

"Yeah. Only one." Scott said, pointing out the navigation screen, "BUT it's the homeworld of a few old friends of ours, Ryan."

Crystalli Hawk

A Crystalli form of aerial attack. They may seem a bit cumbersome on land, but in the air, they're deadly. They fly with the skill of F-22s and have the accuracy of homing missiles. They hardly miss.


	76. A Legacy

Chapter 76: A Legacy

Radiant Garden:

Sakuzy and Sora landed in the Radiant Garden just on the edge of the city. They ran through the city until they found what appeared to be a docking bay of sorts for spaceships of all shapes and sizes. Sakuzy glanced up and pointed at a ship that Sora had never seen before: it looked like a cross between spaceship and galleon.

"C'mon, Sora," Sakuzy said, rushing over to the galleon/ship thing, "This is the ship we're looking for!"

Sakuzy clambered onto the ship with Sora in hot pursuit. The next Pure Heart was so close, yet so far...

Meanwhile, a scarlet, bug of sorts was scuttling along and he noticed Sora and Sakuzy. "Well, well, the Keybearers have arrived. Maleficent WILL be pleased with this." The bug quickly scuttled away onto the RLS Legacy, trying to look inconspicuous.

Sakuzy and Sora got onto the ship and signed up for various small jobs. Sakuzy had to clean the deck and Sora had to help someone in the kitchen with the cook. As Sora went down to the kitchen to find a kid with a black jacket, pale green shirt, and brown hair tied back in a ponytail like Joyex. He also found an older man with dog-like features, a red overcoat, and a pair of glasses. "Uh, excuse me? I'm Sora and I'm new on this ship." He asked.

The dog man turned on being addressed and politely shook Sora's hand. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Sora my fine lad." He greeted in a British accent, "I'm Dr. Delbert Doppler and this fine fellow is Jim Hawkins."

Jim didn't seem to be the talkative type. He simply waved and said, "Hey."

Right behind the group was a man that looked like a man made of gray stone. The rock man had an admiral's hat on his head, three-fingered hands, and a British-looking coat. "Greetings, newcomer. I am Mr. Arrow and I am in charge of this ship when the captain is not around." He introduced, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Okay." Sora said, a bit uneasily.

The trio walked downstairs and saw someone working in the kitchen, scrubbing a pot of sorts. "Mr. Silver!" Arrow called, catching the man's attention.

The man, called Silver, had a couple cat-like features and a metallic leg, arm, and eye, all of which were on his right side. "Why, Mr. Arrow, sir." He said in a thick, pirate accent, "If I'd known that you were bringin' such lovely people into me galley, I'd have tucked in me shirt." Silver did so and Jim simply stared at his mechanical parts. When Jim spoke, it was barely audible to Sora. "The cyborg..."

"Silver, these two are the ones who'll be working with you." Mr. Arrow informed.

Silver went over to Sora and held out his metal hand. "Why, 'allo there, Sora chum." He greeted as he shook Sora's hand in his iron grip. Sora felt like he was going to have to loosen up a bit around this guy.

"Uh, nice to meet you too, Mr. Silver." Sora said as he finished shaking Silver's hand.

Silver then turned to Jim. "Jimbo." The cook then got ready to shake Jim's when he noticed that the fingers were various sharp objects. He noticed the mistake, then changed it back into a metal hand. Jim stared at it and Silver shook his head. "Ah, don't mind this piece of hardware." Silver said, "Took a while to get used to, but it comes in handy from time to time."

He then did several culinary moves with the arms until he made a soup. Some of them included, cracking eggs, chopping vegetables, and heating water. When it was finished, the cyborg took a swig of the stuff and grinned. "Try some of me stew. Old family recipe." He suggested, serving up a few bowls and handing them to all three visitors.

Sora tried it and liked it. It had a bit of twang in its taste, but all in all, it was very filling. "That's good stuff. I don't think I've had anything like it." Sora admitted as he tried a bit more.

Doppler almost tried his sample, but then he noticed an eyeball in its contents. He freaked a bit and almost dropped his bowl.

"In fact, that was part of the old family!" Silver laughed at his own joke, then took the eye and shot it into his mouth.

Jim nearly tried it, but the spoon he was holding ate the stew he scooped up. It then turned into an amorphous pink blob with eyeballs and a small mouth. "Ah, Morph! So, THAT'S where ye got to, you little blob of mischief!"

"Morph" as it was called, changed into a red and yellow drinking straw and sucked up the rest of the soup. He looked extremely satisfied, then belched.

Sora couldn't help but stare at the thing as he asked, "What is this thing?"

Morph flew over, repeated Sora's words in a high-pitched voice, then changed into a miniature version of Sora as Silver answered. "He's a morph." Morph immediately changed back into the pink blob and flew to Silver, who cuddled it with his finger. "I saved his life on Proteus I. We've been together ever since."

As Morph rested on Silver's shoulder, Arrow spoke up. "Well, Silver, Sora and Jim are under YOUR instruction for the voyage."

Sora, Jim, and Silver made some attempt at argument, but it didn't get through, because Arrow walked up the stairs.

"Ah well," Silver sighed in defeat, "Can't all have the fair treatment, can we?"

Jim went over to a barrel full of some purple fruit of his. "Guess not. Y'know, these purps look just like the ones back home…on Montressor. You ever been there?"

Silver paused for a while and Sora seemed a bit confused as to why Jim would question him like that. "Hmm…Montressor? Nah. Can't say I have, lad." He answered.

Jim tossed the purp up and down as he crossed the room. "Y'know, I met someone who was looking for a...cyborg buddy of his." Jim pressed his free fingers against his forehead as he struggled to remember. "What was that old salamander's name?" He asked to himself. Jim paused for a few seconds as Sora eyed him suspiciously. "Oh yeah, Bones. Billy Bones." Jim remembered.

"Bones? BONES…Never met a feller like that." Silver answered once more, "There are a handful of cyborgs out in the universe."

Sora hissed something audible only to Jim. "Are you questioning this guy or something?" He asked.

Jim turned to Sora, then answered in an equally quiet vocie, "Someone came to my mother's inn, claiming to have met a cyborg. I just wanted to check."

Silver heard only muttering, but couldn't understand it. It clearly wasn't cheerful, so he thought of something. "How about you two see us cast off? I got only cookin' to do, so why not?"

Sora and Jim didn't want to turn down the offer, so they immediately headed up the stairs. As soon as they were out of earshot, Silver handed Morph a cracker and spoke in a worried voice. "Morph, we're gonna need to keep an eye on those two. They might be up to something."

Dr. Delbert Doppler

The dog-like scientist who joined the R.L.S. Legacy with Jim to find a long-lost treasure of sorts. He knows many words, but often tends to get them mixed up when he feels insensitive. He also tends to be a bit over-prepared. He first appeared in _Treasure Planet_ 2002.

Jim Hawkins

Something of a juvenile delinquent. He got on the R.L.S. Legacy to help his mother rebuild her inn and prove himself worthy of trust. Before he left, he was told to 'Beware the cyborg' by a dying pirate by the name of Billy Bones. He first appeared in _Treasure Planet_ 2002.

Mr. Arrow

The rock-like second-hand of the R.L.S. Legacy and proud of his position. He keeps everything ship-shape when the captain's at bay and will follow the captain's orders without question. He first appeared in _Treasure Planet_ 2002.

John Silver

The cyborg cook on the R.L.S. Legacy. He's in charge of Jim and Sora's behavior and is a good friend of Morph. He has a generous nature, but he seems to be hiding something that he'd rather not show to the public. He first appeared in _Treasure Planet_ 2002.

Morph

A somewhat annoying morph from Proteus I. He and Silver have been together for years because the cyborg saved his life. Morph is a strange creature that can change his shape to anything from a boot to a miniature person. He first appeared on _Treasure Planet_ 2002.

_I saw this movie just before Christmas. LOVED IT! Saw it more times, recently, and it helped this plotline along._


	77. Scroop

Chapter 77: Scroop

Treasure Planet...

_Several green lights zoomed past along with shooting stars. The stardust and lights formed the words "Treasure Planet" before vanishing in an explosion of cosmic dust._

Sora and Jim got to the deck of Legacy to find Sakuzy mopping it. Sakuzy looked a bit disgruntled as he swabbed the deck, muttering under his breath. "I can't believe it. A Keyblader, poised to becoming a master, lowered to a janitor." He muttered to himself, "Who'd have thought it?"

Sora looked down below the railing of the ship to see that they were sailing on nothing. The vastness of space never ceased to surprise Sora, no matter how much he had seen it. Suddenly, Arrow walked over to Sora and Sakuzy. "The captain would like a word with you two, along with Mr. Hawkins and Dr. Doppler." He informed them.

Not one to disobey orders from a big, rock man, both followed him into the captain's quarters. Sakuzy was expecting to see a rough and tough man, but was more than surprised to see a cat-like woman in a blue captain's jacket on top of a white uniform. She had neck-length reddish-brown hair and knee-high, black boots as well as a straight posture.

"Captain Amelia." Mr. Arrow addressed.

Amelia glanced at the two, then spoke in a firm, English voice. "So, you two are the stowaways who got onboard?" She asked, then took a breath and added, "I certainly would have expected something other than just walking on without us knowing."

Sakuzy started at that remark, but Sora nudged him. In seconds, he cooled down a bit. "Now, technically, we are NOT stowaways." Sakuzy pointed out, "I signed us up about a week ago."

Amelia eyed the futuristic Keyblader with a cocked eyebrow, then looked at the list. She pointed her finger back and forth between him and Sora's names and eyed them both. "You said there would be a party of eleven. Where are the other nine?" She asked.

Sakuzy scratched the back of his head nervously, trying to explain things. "Well, due to events out of our control, we had to shorten the number to two." He answered, honestly.

"I see." She said, then held out a hand. "Jim, the map if you please?"

Jim rolled his eyes, then reluctantly pulled out a bronze orb of sorts from his jacket. It was small, barely the size of a softball, but it was enough to catch Sora's eye. "What's that?"

Doppler: Oh, that. THAT is a map, but it's not just any map. Jim, if you may?

Jim pressed three buttons on the orb, then twisted it a couple times in a manner that reminded Sora and Sakuzy of a Rubix Cube. To everyone's surprise, a burst of green light shot out of the orb's top and flowed outward like light-made water to form a wire-frame pattern that reminded Sora of the Space Paranoids' sky. Then, much to their surprise, tiny holograms of planets appeared in the air around them and Jim reached out to touch the world that was Radiant Garden. In an instant, the map moved until it stopped at a planet that had four rings similar to Saturn's.

"Is THAT what I think it is? I've heard the stories of the loot of a thousand worlds, but I never knew it was REAL!" Sora said, eyes wide like an eager child.

Jim turned to Sora and nodded as he answered, "Yup."

Sora and Jim both said the same three words at exactly the same time. "It's Treasure Planet!"

The map deactivated and Amelia took it from Jim's hand. She then took the bronze orb and placed it in a closet, inside a box.

"When you address me, Mr. Hawkins, you will refer to me as Captain or Ma'am. Do you understand?" She asked as she prepared to lock it up. Jim remained oddly quiet as he rolled his eyes behind her back. Amelia turned and asked, in a firm voice, "Mr. Hawkins?"

Jim looked her in the eye, then said, "Yes, Ma'am."

"Doppler, I don't think that we should discuss this in front of the crew you assigned us. They're…they're…" She struggled to find something to say. "I said something REALLY good about them earlier, just before coffee. What was it, Mr. Arrow?" She asked her second-hand.

"A ludricous parcel of drivelling galoots, ma'am." Arrow answered, as though he had heard it a hundred times.

Sakuzy scratched his head and asked, "He remembered all that?"

On being dismissed, everyone returned to their jobs and Sakuzy was back, mopping the floor. He then noticed some of the crew members, one of which was a rather fat guy with long, gray hair and beard. He immediately noticed that Sakuzy was staring, then asked, "What're YOU lookin' at, weirdo?"

The guy's head head got up on its hair, which was actually a bunch of tentacles and scuttled off, leaving the body by itself. The so-called "body" had eyes and a mouth on the place where a human chest should be. Strangely, the body spoke in a somewhat nerdy, high-pitched voice. "Yeah, weirdo."

Sakuzy winced, then sighed to himself. "Looks like I've just signed Sora and me up for the world's biggest traveling freak show."

Sakuzy suddenly spied the red and black bug thing as it scuttled past. He had red claws, pincers, legs, face, and underbelly. Everything else was black, save two braids of grey hair. He also wore a tattered, brown jacket. His mouth was extended and had several fangs in it and his large eyes were a bright orange. "Speaking of which, there's a giant tarantula here!"

The "tarantula", otherwise known as Scroop, heard Sakuzy and rounded on him with a snarl on his face. He looked about ready to kill Sakuzy on the spot. "Cabin boys should learn to mind their own business." Scroop's voice was low and snarling, yet as quiet as a snake's hiss.

Sakuzy scowled at Scroop, then shot back, "So should bug-eyed crustaceans."

Scroop snarled, grabbed Sakuzy by the collar of his shirt, and banged him up against the Legacy's mast. "Your ears must not work too well." He hissed.

Sakuzy waved his hand in front of his nose as though someone forced him to smell a rotten egg. "Well, unfortunately, my nose works just fine, because you have a SERIOUS case of B-O." He said, adding even more to the insult.

Scroop looked ready to run Sakuzy through with his claw when a stranger wearing mostly black appeared. He kept his body and most of his face hidden with a long jacket and a high ruff and was wearing a rather large pirate hat. His eyes were aqua green and peered at both of them with a patch over his left eye.

The man went over to Scroop, then spoke in a pirate accent and a very deep voice. "Scroop, have ye ever wondered what happens to this purp…" The man held out the small, plum-like fruit similar to the one Jim had earlier, and rolled it around in his fingers before grabbing Scroop's forearm and twisting it around his back. "WHEN YOU SQUEEZE IT HARD ENOUGH?!" He sharply added.

Scroop snarled in pain, releasing Sakuzy, then turned to the black-clad guy with a raspy hiss. "This is none of your business, Manta!" Scroop said, aiming his claw right at Manta's neck.

"What's all this, then?" Both turned to see Arrow walk over to them, a cold glare from his eyes. "There will be NO brawling on the captain's ship! Am I CLEAR, Mr. Scroop?!"

Scroop glowered and he saw Silver's mechanical eye release a bright-red light that got him in the eye. The black-clad guy, Manta, gave the smallest nod. In the end, Scroop simply said, "Transparently."

Scroop scuttled away, growling some curse under his breath and Sakuzy turned to Manta. "Thanks for saving me from that Spider Psycho." He said.

Manta gave a half-smile, but no more than that. "No problem, matey."

Scroop grumbled as he scuttled into his private quarters and looked into a mirror where the form of Maleficent showed. "Can't I just bring out the Heartless NOW and get rid of the Keybladers already?" He asked, impatiently.

Maleficent pondered the thought, then asked, "Is the princess with them?"

"No. It's just Sora and the copper-haired meddler from the future." Scroop answered, "No duck, no dog, no silver-haired one, no princess, no mutations, and no Nobody."

Maleficent smiled as the plan suddenly came to her mind. "So, they've separated themselves? How very…interesting."

Scroop smiled with her, but for a different reason. "The princess is not with them. Can I have the Heartless destroy them?"

Maleficent turned back to Scroop, then answered, "Not now. There are too many people here, and not until you get your hands on the treasure. Am I understood?"

Scroop slowly nodded as Maleficent's image faded. Scroop then growled before scuttling off, muttering under his breath. Patience was never his strong point, but he had to play along...for the moment.

That night, Sakuzy had returned to mopping the floor with Morph for company. The blob had turned into a miniature mop and was choosing to try and give the boy a hand. He eventually turned back into the pink, floating blob and hiccupped, emitting a few bubbles in the process.

"Yeah, getting on here was a REAL smart move. FIRST I meet an uptight rock guy, then some pirate cyborg," He said, talking to Morph, who had immediately caught onto him, "And finally that spider psycho."

Morph then turned into a small version of Scroop and repeated the same two words in a high-pitched voice. "Spider psycho! Spider psycho!" He said, imitating the bug almost perfectly.

Sakuzy chuckled, then suggested, "A little uglier."

Morph changed into a creepier version and laughed like a crazed cartoon, causing Sakuzy to snicker a bit. "Good imitation." He complimented.

Sora walked up and leaned on the railing on the ship. Jim was sulking elsewhere. Sora then spoke to Sakuzy without even looking back at him. "Joyex told me about what you've been through."

"Leave me alone." Sakuzy said, pretending to return to his business of mopping. Big mistake.

"Y'know, it's pretty funny." Sora said, mock-laugh in his voice, but then he got to his point, "When you're around me, you want to be left alone and when I'm gone, you show up. Why's that?"

Sakuzy dropped the mop, then turned to Sora with an EXTREMELY irritated look on his face. "If you've been through the stuff I have, you'd understand!"

Sakuzy growled and continued mopping the floor, like the wooden tiles had done him a deep, personal wrong. "THAT guy has issues." Sora said to Morph, who nodded in agreement.

Manta sulked past Sora, glanced at Sakuzy, then back at Sora. "Yeh have no idea." He said.

Silver was talking to Sakuzy and Jim. Sora jumped over; maybe he could get some more information on him. Sakuzy leaned over the railing of the ship and was joined by Jim.

"Yer paps weren't the teachin' types?" Silver asked.

Jim shook his head, then answered, "No. My dad was more of the 'leave and never come back' type."

Sakuzy had a similar response. "And mine was more on the lines of 'fight aliens and get killed on the battlefield' type."

"Oh, well that's too bad." Silver said, pity apparent in his expression. He scratched his chin with his metal fingers, then got an idea. "Well, the two of yeh and yer friend will be in MY sight! The three of you won't be able to sleep, eat, or even scratch yer bums without my say-so!"

Sora turned on that, then asked, "What?!"

"Now, I say yeh get back to yer quarters before I report you!" Silver threatened, pointing his flesh finger at them and flaring his mechanical eye at them.

Sakuzy cracked a smile as he hastily went back to his quarters.

Later that night, Silver returned to the rest of the crew, which included a variety of aliens, Scroop, and Manta. "Pardon me for speakin' plainly when I say…" Silver's voice went into a roar as he asked, "ARE YOU COMPLETELY DAFT?!"

One of the aliens cowered under the table while Manta and Scroop glowered at each other. "Don't look at ME, cap'n. At least I did better than the Spider Psycho here." Manta growled, pointing a finger at said bug.

"I'd watch your mouth if I were you, Manta." Scroop snarled back, "I have THESE on my side, remember?!"

Scroop raised a claw, then summoned several insectoid Heartless. Manta paused, then cackled at the top of his lungs until the rest of the crew stared at him. Manta then took out a pistol and shot a Heartless, causing it to disappear in smoke and heart. "You THINK that I'm ACTUALLY afraid o' some Heartless?!" Manta asked, jokingly, "I possess a power that neither YOU or your pitiful Heartless could even HOPE to get!"

Manta then turned his pistol to a crewmember, one that was bluish green and had its eyeballs in its mouth, and pulled the trigger. The alien fell to the ground, dead. Almost instantly, Silver shot to his feet. "Be your brain rotten, Mr. Manta?! Why'd you shoot one of yer own mates?!"

Manta shrugged. "Scroop threatens me, the rest of you pay. I know that this won't make sense to a Jolly Roger, like you, so I'm heading back to me quarters." Manta strode out with a smoking pistol still in his hand, then pocketed it.

Scroop, however, turned to Silver and asked, "Where did you find that person…thing?"

Silver shook his head, then answered, "He said he had something we needed. Them crystal things sure were useful."

Scroop growled, then asked, "Then, why need me?!"

"I have me reasons, Mr. Scroop." Silver answered calmly, "As for the boys, I'll run 'em so ragged, they won't even have time to think."

Silver walked out, his metal leg padding the surface of the ship, as Scroop glowered after him. "And he calls ME a psycho."

Captain Amelia

The feline captain of the RLS Legacy. She likes everything ship-shape and loves the fact that Arrow keeps everything that way. She's also a nuisance to Doppler and many others. She first appeared in _Treasure Planet_ 2002.

Scroop 

Referred to some as a spider psycho, this insect is nonetheless part of RLS Legacy's crew. He's allied himself with Maleficent in order to gain the treasure of Treasure Planet. His Heartless are just like him; murderous, creepy, and insect-like. He first appeared in _Treasure Planet_ 2002.

Manta

A very mysterious guy who keeps virtually every part of his body hidden. He helped Sakuzy in a confrontation with Scroop, but he was happy enough to blast a hole through one of his fellow shipmates. Maybe he has a split-personality complex or maybe it's…something else.

_Here's a new OC, you'll find out who he ACTUALLY is later._


	78. Black Hole

Chapter 78: Black Hole

Sora and Jim enjoyed their time with Silver. Sora never knew his dad, seeing as he left before he was barely five. He only remembered that his mom said that he got his dad's hairstyle. THAT was hardly enough information on his behalf.

Jim, on the other hand, knew his dad. He would often leave for weeks at a time and come home only to go the next day. Then, one day, when Jim was only nine, his dad left. He tried to tell him not to go, but it was too late (1).

Sakuzy enjoyed listening to the old space tales Silver would weave. They made him laugh, cry, get nightmares, or even let him join in. Sakuzy managed to tell a different version of his encounter with Davy Jones, making it more futuristic. Only he had the way how he got rid of Jones as a hard fought battle near the starboard. Manta scoffed at this story, like he knew better.

Their journey went smoothly until, one night (Sora THOUGHT it was night, you could never tell in space), the ship bucked like an enraged bull. Sora and Sakuzy ran up to find Doppler looking through a spyglass and looking utmost horrified. "That star! It's going supernova!" He shouted, pointing it out.

Sora and Sakuzy glanced at where Doppler was pointing to see a fireball exploding in several shockwaves of fire. Fireballs shot from the exploding star like meteorites and some even began to tear right through the solar sails.

"Save the sails!" Amelia barked. "Tie them down!"

Mr. Arrow quickly heard his mistress, then shouted, "Secure ALL Solar Sails!"

Sora and Jim were in charge of keeping the Lifelines, ropes that tied the spacers to the ship. Sakuzy was one of the people who were fastening the sails. The spacers managed to fasten the sails easy enough, but Jim and Silver had to get one just on the stern. Suddenly, a piece of fiery debris burned right through Silver's lifeline and he almost fell over. Fortunately, Jim made a mad dash and seized the remaining lifeline and heaved Silver back up.

"Thanks, lad." Silver said as he and Jim got the last line for the sail.

Sakuzy had just secured a lifeline when he saw that Doppler had a fearful expression on his face. Right in front of the ship was a MASSIVE piece of debris, which was enough to make the weapons specialist run away with a shriek. Sora saw it too and his eyes widened as he said, "Oh no…"

Sora braced himself for a fiery death, but the fireball never hit. It seemed to move backward suddenly. As the fireball shrunk away, Doppler's fearful expression suddenly grew about ten times as the fireball disappeared. In a sea of open flame was a small, but ever growing closer, black portal of sorts. "It's de-evolving into" Doppler gasped as he said three words with pure terror, "A BLACK HOLE!"

Sakuzy cocked an eyebrow. Astronomy was never his strong point. "What?"

Everything seemed to stop in place for the short conversation that followed. "What? You never heard of it?" The dog-like scientist asked.

Sakuzy shrugged. "Actually…no. I'm a zoologist, NOT an astronomer."

Doppler sighed, then pulled down a rather complicated science chart. "A black hole," He explained, "Is caused when a star 'dies'. When that happens, it becomes a vortex where anything sucked into it is instantly crushed."

"Oh."

As things suddenly came back to speed, Dr. Doppler's chart was instantly sucked into space by the sheer gravity of the black hole. "NO! That cost me five hundred and sixty-seven munny!" He cried as he reached out for it.

"WHO CARES?!" Sakuzy shouted above the solar wind, "WE MAY DIE HERE, TONIGHT!"

Suddenly, a wave of solar energy caused the Legacy to buck forward and knock several crewmembers to the ground. Captain Amelia, who was at the ship's wheel, was trying with extreme difficulty to get a good hold on things. "These waves are more trouble than they're worth!" Amelia strained, "They're extremely erratic!"

"No, they're not." Doppler pointed out, studying a computer screen nearby, "They're actually coming rhythmically. There's going to be another one in about forty-four point forty-five seconds, followed by the biggest explosion yet!"

Amelia's eyes suddenly widened as she realized what this meant. "Brilliant! And we'll use THAT to get out of here! Arrow! Sakuzy!"

Sakuzy and Arrow ran over to listen to what she had to say. "Yeah, Captain?" Sakuzy asked.

"Did you secure the sails?"

"Sails have been secured, ma'am!" Arrow said, saluting.

"Then untie them!" She barked.

Both paused, then obeyed her orders. "ATTENTION! Release ALL sails!"

The crewmembers obviously saw this as a MAJOR inconvenience, but hopped to it nonetheless. Sakuzy and Arrow had to do it by themselves.

"Sora! Mr. Hawkins! Secure their Lifelines!" Amelia ordered over the roaring solar winds.

Sora and Jim checked Arrow and Sakuzy's Lifelines.

"Lifelines secured, captain!" Jim called.

Back on the mast, Sakuzy and Arrow managed to let down the solar sails. What amazed Sakuzy, though, was that Scroop was doing it too. He would have to keep an eye on him...

"Sails are untied!" Arrow called out.

Suddenly, things took a turn for the worst; a shockwave of solar energy from the black hole jerked the ship very suddenly. Sakuzy got a good hold on a part of the mast, but Arrow slipped and his hat flew off. He tried climbing up and Sakuzy, not one to leave a man behind, went down Arrow's lifeline to rescue him. "Don't worry, Mr. Arrow! I'm coming for ya!"

Sakuzy caught Arrow's hand to help him up and they started climbing up until a shady figure was right at their lifeline. Sakuzy glowered when he knew that the shadow belonged to a certain insect thing hovering above: one he was NOT pleased to see. Scroop grinned a malevolent grin as he took one of his knife-like pincers and snapped their lifelines with a "snip" and another "snip". Sakuzy's glower quickly changed into a mixed expression between surprise and fear while Mr. Arrow screamed in pure terror. The two fell into the dark depths of the hole and Sakuzy's scarf flew off his neck, which Scroop caught.

The entire ship would soon fall into the depths of the black hole. Darkness was closing in on them and fast. If this wave was coming, NOW would be a good time.

"The last wave! HERE IT COMES!!" Doppler shouted above the roaring vortex.

"Good! Brace yourselves, everyone!" Amelia called over the noise.

Out of fear, Morph turned himself into a rope and secured himself to part of the ship, all the while looking like a quivering worm with large eyeballs. Silver covered Jim and prepared for the worst, while Manta covered Sora as the darkness began to engulf the ship. "I thought you had an obsession with Sakuzy!" Sora shouted.

"Don't worry. He can take care of himself, can't he?" Manta asked, still braced for everything that could happen.

The ship fell into the depths of the black hole and disappeared into the darkness. Fortunately, it was only temporary, because a second later, a massive explosion of solar energy raced through the entire vortex and raised the Solar Sails to full power. The ship rocketed out of the vortex and back into the depths of space. THAT was too close for comfort...

_(1) I don't REALLY know the deal about Jim's dad, but I just made the best guess I could._


	79. Mourning for the Lost

Chapter 79: Mourning for the Lost

The entire crew was celebrating, having escaped the clutches of the black hole. Morph, on the other hand, returned to his original form, then fell to the floor with a ker-splat.

Amelia got off the wheel, then said, in a proud voice, "Well done, all of you!"

Dr. Doppler, looking a bit confused, asked, "What? I didn't do anything...did I?"

"Actually, doctor," Amelia pointed out, "Your knowledge on the solar waves saved us all. Congratulations."

Doppler stammered for a while, trying to find what to say, but decided to keep it simple. "Thank you."

Sora scratched the back of his head on Amelia's congratulations to him. "Ah, it was nothing." He said, humbly.

"I guess we should be thanking YOU, Silver." Amelia said, pointing out the cyborg.

Silver quickly stowed Morph away in his hat when he started mimicking her, then asked, "Why's that, ma'am?"

"Sora and Mr. Hawkins ARE your cabin boys. You've trained them well." answered Amelia, "Now, to make sure nobody's been hurt. A roll call, Mr. Arrow!" There was no response and Captain Amelia looked around, thinking he hadn't heard her. "Mr. Arrow?"

Sora then noticed that someone else was missing from the ship. "Hey, where's Sakuzy?"

Scroop scuttled forward with a "somber" expression on his face and two items in his claws. "I'm afraid that they've both been lost." Scroop held out his claws, one had Arrow's hat and the other had Sakuzy's scarf. Both Amelia and Sora's eyes widened, not to mention Jim's. "Their Lifelines weren't secured."

He handed Amelia the hat while Sora snatched Sakuzy's scarf and stared at it as though it was a dying animal that was precious to him. "No way!" He said, not wanting to believe Scroop.

"Yeah! We secured those lines nice and…" Jim said, going over to the mast to inspect the lifelines. However, when he got there, he noticed that the lines for Sakuzy and Arrow were gone.

"I don't get it!" Sora said, shaking his head, "We got them nice and tight, too!"

Amelia simply looked at the two with a haughty expression on her face before walking to the other crewmembers. "Arrow and Sakuzy were fine spacers. But they knew the risks, as do we all." She said, solemnly, "Now, return to your posts."

That night, Sora and Jim were looking at the rim. Sora was slouched with his arms over the railing and tears falling down and hanging as eternal orbs of liquid in space. Jim was simply scowling at the vastness of space.

Sora didn't COMPLETELY trust Sakuzy, but it was still…weird that he was gone. He'd gotten used to Sakuzy's copper hair that split into a trident, his blue drive clothes, his irritation with Joyex, and trying to ignore Ryan Syrus' constant antics. He had become virtually a brother to him. Sora then took Sakuzy's scarf and tied it around his neck. "Sakuzy WON'T be gone as long as I remember him! His scarf will be mine now." He said, though crying, he had never felt stronger.

Jim turned to Sora with an irritated look on his face. "You're talking out loud, you know that?" He asked.

"Yes. Next question." Sora answered with an equally irritated snap.

Before they could get into an argument, Silver walked up to the two. "What're yer problems, lads?" He asked, in possibly the warmest voice he could.

"Sakuzy was like my brother." Sora answered, still looking out into space, drying tear streaks on his cheeks. "Sure, he's kept stuff from me, but still…he earned my respect for being my protector."

Silver nodded, then answered, "Oh, I see...What about you, Jimbo?"

Jim turned sharply, as though trying to shake pain from his head. "You don't get it! For a second, I thought that I didn't screw up…for once!" Jim shouted. Now tears were coming from HIS eyes. "All my life, I've been nothing but a disappointment! I wanted THIS to prove to my mom that I could DO something that no one would be ashamed of, but…"

Jim's words trailed off as tears trickled down his face. He turned his face away again in shame...that is until Silver put his arms around both their shoulders; his mechanical one over Jim.

"Now, that ain't no way to act, Jimbo!" Silver said in a strong voice, "Same with YOU, Sora! You've gotta chart yer OWN course and set your sail to go wherever you want." He then put his flesh finger over Jim's heart, then did the same with Sora. "You two have the makin' of greatness in ya. And I hope to catch a bit o' yer greatness when yeh get there."

Sora thought this over, then couldn't help but smile as he walked away. Jim, on the other hand, suddenly seized Silver in a hug. Silver seemed a little unsure of what to do, but returned Jim's hug with his own. When Jim walked off to join Sora, Morph came out of Silver's hat. "Got in too deep, Morphie. If the rest of the crew found out, they'd say I've gotten soft."

Silver walked away, but failed to notice that Scroop had overheard the whole conversation and quickly exited the scene. Unbeknownst to the rest of them, Manta was looking over the ship.

"You have to stop mourning Sakuzy." Manta said to himself, but this time didn't use a pirate accent. He removed his hat to reveal the bald-headed form of a certain Crystalli Host that was at Port Royal. "If the other Crystalli find out, they'll say that I've gone soft." The man quickly put his hat back on and became Manta again before disappearing into the ship's interior.


	80. Revolt

Chapter 80: Revolt

Sora and Jim woke up, early in the morning. The loss of Sakuzy and Arrow was now drilled out of their heads by Silver's words. Sora pulled his jacket over his black, sleeveless shirt and Jim reached for his second boot, which hopped away, causing Jim to fall over. "Morph!" He shouted after the blob in disguise.

The boot flew into the air and blew a raspberry at Jim, then hopped away as though a rabbit was inside it. Jim chased after it, laughing, and Sora was quick to follow. Jim was rummaging somewhere when Morph, still in boot mode, appeared right behind him. Sora stifled laughter, because he had a good idea on what was going to happen. Morph levitated in the air, reared back, then kicked Jim in the seat, sending the cabin boy falling forward. Sora burst out laughing…before Morph kicked HIM, too, this time in the calf. Sora hopped up and down, clutching his leg, and Morph made his getaway just after he changed back. Jim and Sora chased the amorphous blob…that is AFTER Jim found his actual boot.

Sora went on-deck to find him and tried to grab the floating pink thing, but Morph went into a nearby vent made for sunlight to enter the lower deck. "Get back here, you little blob!" Sora called, humorously.

Morph emerged from a hole in the vent, as a miniature form of Sora's head. "You little blob!" He mimicked. Sora tried to catch the mollusk, but Morph simply split into smaller versions of his head that slipped between the Keyblade Master's fingers. "You little blob! Little blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob!"

Sora darted below deck, then caught Morph in his hands as Jim stroked the little creature with his finger, earning a purring noise from the thing. The little fella never ceased to amaze both of them. Suddenly, there was the all-too-familiar sound of footsteps coming right at their direstion.

"Sora!" Jim hissed, catching his attention, "Someone's coming!"

Sora heard the noise too and his eyes darted around for a place to hide, then both eyed the barrels of purp fruits. Both ducked into separate barrels and Morph flew out of Sora's hand and into Jim's.

Most of the crew was now down in the lower deck. There was Silver, Scroop, Manta, and every other alien except Doppler and Amelia. Manta growled in anger, then wrapped his fingers around Scroop's thin neck and started throttling him. "You blind-stinkin' bug! Yeh have three seconds to explain to my WHY you polished off Sakuzy!"

Scroop simply grabbed Manta's head in his claw and forced him down. The two pirates were soon in an all-out, no holds barred, fist/claw fight. Silver managed to get Manta in a full nelson, who still struggled to try and kill the bug.

Sora was confused. Why was Manta defending Sakuzy? He didn't seem to pay much mind to him before. _What's with this Manta guy? _Sora thought to himself.

Back outside the barrel, Silver had finally managed to restrain Manta. "You two keep out of a scrap for as long as possible! Manta, you are NOT going to blow another crewmate's brains out! As for YOU, Scroop, if you so much as pull a stunt like what you did to Mr. Arrow," Sora's eyes widened as he now understood what happened; Scroop severed their lifelines! Silver continued and added, "I'll keelhaul yeh!" After saying the last word, Silver had seized Scroop around the face and threw him into Sora's barrel, rattling him inside.

"I doubt you can keep us safe anymore, Silver! You're goin' soft!" Scroop snarled. Scroop reached into Sora's barrel, searching for something, and narrowly missing Sora's head. Sora held up a purp, which Scroop picked out of the barrel barely missing Sora. Scroop took the fruit and pricked a hole into it, causing it to burst in a deep pink juice.

"What're you talkin', bout?!" Silver asked in disbelief.

"Don't play dumb with me. I overheard you talking with that cabin boy and Keyblader last night." Scroop answered, a fleck of pride in his voice.

Sora's eyes widened as he heard what the ugly bug had just said. _How does HE know that I use the Keyblade?!_

Back outside, Silver paused, then took on a much more stern voice. "I don't know what yer talkin' 'bout, Mr. Scroop!"

"Don't play dumb with ME, Silver. I heard the whole thing." Scroop spoke in a mock-voice that probably would have made anyone grouchy. "You two have the makin' of greatness in ya!"

Silver's pause easily signaled clenched teeth, then he said, "I only said that to throw them off our trail. I don't care about them!"

Manta snorted in disbelief. "Yeah, right."

The pirates abandoned the scene just as Sora and Jim got out. Unfortunately, Silver spotted them before they could get out.

"I guess ye two heard all that conversation?" He asked in slight surprise.

Sora's expression was so cold, it probably could have rivaled J's constant glare. "Maybe we did."

"You think that this is some sorta game, boys?" Jim fingered a dagger that he picked off of the table as Silver's metal arm silently shifted into a pistol behind his back.

"Yeah, it's all a game." The cabin boy answered, hiding the dagger behind his back.

"Y'know, I was never too good at games." Silver said, quietly, "I always hated losing."

"Yeah…ME TOO!" Jim sprung at Silver and drove the dagger into the joint in Silver's leg. Air hissed out as Silver suddenly lost his balance and screamed at the sudden loss. "RUN!" Jim shouted.

The two ran out of the quarters and continued running through the ship until they got out of the lower deck and barricaded the door. Sora's eyes then bulged as he noticed a distant planet with two rings around it. Both paused and stared at the sight. "Treasure Planet." Jim said in awe.

"Wish Sakuzy could see this!" Sora said, but his joy was short-lived, because Silver burst through the door and readied a laser cannon. "Uh-oh!"

Sora and Jim ran for the captain's quarters without even turning back to see what was going on. Silver looked ready to fire, but didn't. He growled in frustration, or the fact that he failed to do something, then blew a whistle and catching. "Change in plan

Sora and Jim got into the Captain's Quarters and started barricading themselves in with Doppler and Amelia. "Sora! Jim! What ARE you two doing?!" Amelia ordered in surprise.

"Well, to make the story short, sweet, and to the point, Silver's leading the rest of the crew in a revolt! And to make it worse, the whole crew are pirates!" Sora said in a hurried voice.

A blast then came through the door and singed one of Sora's spikes. The air immediately began to stink of burned hair. "Too close."

"In THAT case…" Amelia said as she got into her closet and tossed the bronze orb to Jim. "Guard this with your life."

"Yes, ma'am."

The captain took out three blasters and threw one to Jim and Doppler, taking one in her own. "Do you know how to use that, doctor?" She asked.

"Uh… I have seen similar tools, so I..." Doppler accidentally fired the gun and fried a lamp on the wall. "No. No, I don't."

Sora summoned his Keyblade as the pirates started breaking through the door. "Stop!" In a flash of light, the crew of aliens froze in time just as they burst through the door. The Stop spell was so strong that even the splinters flying from the door were frozen in midair. "That bought us a bit of time. Let's get out of here!"

Sora, Jim, Doppler, and Amelia then started running through the ship towards the landing boats. It was either get off this ship or else they would be captives or corpses.


	81. Treasure Planet

Chapter 81: Treasure Planet

Sora and co. were running through the ship, away from the revolt that was taking place behind them. They had just made it to the docking bay when Scroop got in the way with a hiss. "Give us the map, cabin boy!" Scroop said, taking a snap at Jim. It narrowly missed him.

"How about I give you THIS instead?!" Sora said as he pulled out the Summon Charm with the sword on it. "Dave!"

In a flash of light, a muscular guy with long brown hair, a large sword with a lady's face on its shaft, and red animal skins appeared. "Ba-Jabbers!" The guy said. Dave raised his sword, named Lola, and aimed it at Scroop. Oddly enough, the sword spoke. "Let's get this over with." She said, crankily.

A blue beam of energy shot from Lola's tip and hit Scroop square in the chest. It didn't kill him, but it did leave a nasty burn in his chest and sent the spider psycho into the wall. Dave flexed his muscles to make a good impression until there was a squeak. Dave emitted an abnormally high-pitched shriek at the sight of a mouse, then ran off and vanished back to his own world.

Now that Scroop was taken care of, the group ran for it again as Scroop gained consciousness and summoned the Heartless he threatened Manta with earlier. They had six spindly legs, yellow eyes similar to Scroop's, pincers for jaws, and crab-like claws, which they clacked like castanets. "Get them!" Scroop commanded.

The Heartless obeyed Scroop's orders, then scuttled after Sora and co. Despite their looks, they were VERY fast and maneuverable. One jumped at Sora only to get a Keyblade stuck in its chest and vanished in a puff of smoke and a pink heart. Jim took the blaster that Amelia gave him and aimed it behind his shoulder to try and blast one of them. One Heartless was toast, but the other Spider Heartless clambered onto a wall and seemed to defy gravity as it scuttled along the walls. This Spider Heartless sprang from the wall and knocked Jim to the floor. Jim struggled against it, maneuvering away from its clacking jaws and claws. Sora turned and saw Jim in trouble, then turned and threw his Keyblade in a boomerang fashion: the Strike Raid. The spinning blade hit the Heartless in the face, stunning it and giving Jim enough time to escape.

Just when the four, five if you counted Morph, got to the docking bay, they came face-to-face with Manta. The cloaked pirate was holding a loaded pistol, looking ready to shoot something. "Don't move!" He barked.

The entire group froze in place, but hadn't raised their hands when Manta fired a blast from the pistol and it destroyed the last two Spider Heartless. "Manta, you confuse me. Whose side are you on?" Sora asked, suspiciously.

Manta lowered the smoking gun. "Both and neither." He answered, then ordered, "Get going. The boat's good to go."

"Uh…thanks." Sora said before running away.

The group ran towards the boat and got in just as Manta said two words. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Jim asked.

Manta suddenly turned around and fired a blast at them. It hit Amelia on the arm. It didn't do anything serious, but it still looked like it hurt a lot. "That."

Jim hadn't even untied the last rope when Morph suddenly took the orb map like a dog with a tennis ball. "Morph!" He cried.

Jim made to grab the little critter, but Morph darted away, then took the orb into a pile of rope. Jim quickly reached into the pile and pulled the map out. "Too close."

Manta quickly picked Jim up by the collar and threw him in before blasting the ropes off, sending the skiff to the planet below with a damaged Solar Sail. "And sorry for that, too!"

The skiff landed with a crash on the ground of an alien planet that could only be Treasure Planet. When Sora could get a good look at it, it turned out that Treasure Planet had grassy plains and mushrooms as tall as trees. Sora looked up at the R.L.S. Legacy, which still had a ways to go before they reached the planet's atmosphere. "Just our luck!" Sora cursed, "Pirates are in control of the ship!"

"Jim! The map!" Amelia commanded.

Jim held out the map and smiled in victory. The victory, however, ended when the map giggled and turned back into Morph. "Morph!"

Sora checked his pockets…nothing. "But if HE was the map, then where's the REAL map?!"

Morph thought for a while, then split in two like an ameba. One part of him turned into the map while the other turned into a pile of ropes. The mini-orb lowered itself into the rope's depths and it hit both Sora and Jim. "IT'S BACK ON THE SHIP?!" They both asked.

"THIS is a bit of a problem, isn't it?" Doppler asked, his hand stroking his chin.

"'A bit'?!" Sora asked in disbelief, "Manta thinks that WE'VE got the map and I'm not sure we can trust him, so he might tell Silver or Scroop!"

"Maybe not brighteyes, Sora." Jim pointed out, "Remember, we saw them fighting."

"Jim! Sora! Try and find some shelter!" Amelia barked, before leaning back on the skiff's remains.

"I'll see to that arm, Amelia." Doppler said, but suddenly realized what he had said, "Oh, what am I saying?"

Sora and Jim then walked off into the jungle of the planet's surface. It turned out, however, that the "grass" was actually more like the mold on old food. Little did they know that they were being watched by a strange...thing. Sora heard something rustling in the bushes and beckoned to the area with Jim. The Keyblade flashed to life while Jim took out his pistol. Both SLOWLY went over and someone with copper hair jumped out.

Dave

A barbarian from Udrogoth who claims to be a great hero, but is really a bloody coward. He comes whenever Sora calls and will use his magic sword, Lola, to fire blasts of magic at enemies. He first appeared in _Dave the Barbarian_ 2003.

Spider Heartless

The Heartless controlled by Scroop. They're tall, have spindly legs, spindly legs, crab-like claws and venomous fangs. Unfortunately, they were polished off easily by Sora and co.

_That would be Dave's Lola Laser._

_Guess who's back._


	82. HalfCrazed Castaways

_Well, both characters have been submitted to be in the story later. From SugarHoneyIceTea, is her Harry Potter OC, Riri. (The female witch smiles and waves) From Mrfipp, is his OC Tanith!_

_Tanith appears and looks at Crescent._

_Tanith: Touch me and die._

_Crescent: Well, ya see that's the problem. I CAN'T DIE!_

_Me: I know, fighting an opponent who won't die drives ME crazy, too._

_  
Tanith: But, it can also be FUN!_

_Tanith lunges at Crescent and starts beating the tar out of him. Riri looks confused._

_Riri: Is she insane?_

_Me: Yes._

_Riri: And she's gonna be my partner?_

_Me: Once again, yes._

Chapter 82: Half-Crazed Castaways

The figure with copper hair jumped out with a cry of joy. He had a five-o'clock shadow and was wearing garments made of various leaves, not to mention he grovelled at their feet. "Sora! Jim! I knew you guys would come for me!" The castaway said.

Sora and Jim were looking pretty worried because of the castaway's look. One of his eyes was twitching on a regular basis and he had a rather insane half grin. "Uh…do we know you?" Sora asked.

The castaway felt his five-o'clock shadow. "Oh. The shadow, sorry." He tore it off to reveal his real look, then screamed in pain. "OW! I forgot I really GREW that shadow." He cried out.

With the shadow gone, Sora recognized the castaway. Everything from his auburn hair in a trident to his blue eyes. "Sakuzy?"

Sakuzy, for reasons uknown, said, "Speaking."

Jim scratched his head and pointed at the leaf garments. "What's with the get-up?"

Sakuzy shrugged, then said, "Well, being separated from society with no one to talk to except some half-crazed robot has made me…" Sakuzy suddenly burst into a shout and finished, "A LITTLE NUTTY!"

Sora paused, then asked, "Half-crazed robot?"

Sora's answer came when out of the bushes sprang a copper-colored robot with a flat top head, skinny arms and legs, and wires coming from the back of his head. He also had lamp-like eyes that were a bright shade of green. "Hello! My name is BEN!"

Jim paused for a second. "BEN?"

The robot nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, B.E.N! It's short for Bio-Electronic Navigator! Sorry if I'm a little strange, but after being separated from civilization for a HUNDRED years, YOU GO A LITTLE NUTS!"

Sakuzy gestured to them, then made a spiral motion next to his head. "He's as nutty as I am now."

The wires in B.E.N's head sparked as he seemed to have a spasm. "Yeah, 'cuz I'VE LOST MY MIND! You haven't found it have you?" B.E.N searched Jim's pockets. That was BEFORE Jim got him off.

Sakuzy beckoned to the back of his head as he explained. "He lost a hunk of his memory, so…HE'S NUTS!" Sakuzy, for reasons yet to be explained, burst into insane laughter and ran around in circles. Morph changed into a cuckoo clock and did to coo-coo deal three times before Jim "shut" him off.

"Yeah, he IS crazy." Sora said, agreeing with Morph.

Sora marched over to the future Keyblader, then slapped Sakuzy across the face. He immediately stopped laughing and massaged his face. "Thanks." Sakuzy replied.

"Anyway, how'd you survive the black hole? You should be DEAD." Sora asked, still not believing what was going on.

Sakuzy put up his index finger, matter-of-factly. "First thing's first, it was NO accident! I mean Humpty Dumpty was PUSHED, in THIS case cut. My line was cut by SCROOP!"

Sora scowled. So the bug had tricked Amelia after all. "Okay, Scroop cut your lifeline, but how'd you survive?" Sora asked, again.

Sakuzy summoned Eagle Feather, then lifted his Keyblade above his head, then vanished. He reappeared one second later behind Sora. "A simple Warp spell! Just before I was CRUSHED like a pea, I activated it and teleported myself here!"

"Yeah, and he's been living with me ever since. And, I'm telling you, he's a REAL grouch just like Flint." B.E.N. rambled, unaware of Jim, who had paused on the word "flint". "I think he suffered from mood-swings, personally, but I'm no therapist…LET ME KNOW WHEN I'M RAMBLING!"

Jim turned to stare at B.E.N., then asked, "You knew Captain Flint?"

Sora turned and gave a confused look at Jim. "Captain Flint?"

Jim nodded. "We're looking for HIS treasure, the one we call 'Treasure Planet', the Loot of a Thousand Worlds."

"Oh."

"Anyway, we've been looking for shelter. Know any place?" Jim asked.

"Yeah! Just across the corner!" B.E.N. answered with a nod. The crazed robot moved some high grass and pointed to a large tree…thing in the distance. They took in Amelia and Doppler while Sakuzy stood in the corner, chewing on something that looked like bark, and getting an bewildered stare from Doppler.

"I am glad that Sakuzy is okay, but has he lost his marbles?" Doppler asked, pointing at the weirdo.

"Pretty much." replied Jim.

"He's been all alone, save B.E.N., and anyone living with him would go crazy after the first twenty minutes." Sora pointed out.

Sakuzy momentarily took his attention off the bark of the tree and commented on this. "He's right, y'know."

Sora noticed the garbs of leaves and how they were starting to fall apart. "Sakuzy! Put some REAL clothes on."

Sakuzy looked down at his fragile outfit, then sighed. "Oh, alright! If it'll get you off my back…" He complained. Sakuzy pulled off the leaves to show himself completely naked, except for his undergarments: a pair of boxer shorts. THIS earned him stares from EVERYONE, even BEN. "Say, is there a draft here or…uh-oh." Sakuzy looked over at another part of the tree and blushed more than Sora after the North Pole incident with Kairi. "Oh yeah, my clothes are over THERE!"

Sakuzy ran over to another part of the tree, and put on his REAL clothes in seconds. He looked himself over, then scratched his head. "Where's my scarf?" He asked.

"Oh, sorry. I was wearing it because I thought you were dead." Sora said, fingering the scarf.

Sora pulled off the scarf and handed it to Sakuzy who tied it around his neck. "With my clothes back on, I just might…GET BACK MY SANITY!" Sakuzy, again, burst into hysterical laughter (try Homer Simpson laughing). Morph sighed, then turned into a hand, imitated Curly from the Three Stooges, and slapped him across the face. "OW! Thanks." Sakuzy thanked the little blob.

Morph's speech was a bit garbled, but sounded like, "No prob."

Sora saw someone stumping up the terrain. He didn't have to be a genius to know who would make metallic noises on a wooden surface. "Silver." He said, under his breath.

B.E.N. popped virtually from nowhere and held up his metal finger as he said, "Gold."

THIS earned BEN a bop on the head from Sakuzy. Both recoiled with BEN clutching his head and Sakuzy clutching his throbbing hand. Sakuzy continued speaking, trying to shake the pain out of his fist. "He's not talking about precious metal, ya copper faced nutjob, he's talking about that cook we liked so much."

B.E.N. screwed up his face, then got the idea. "Oh, RIGHT! I think I read about someone with the name Long John Silver in this book!"

B.E.N. held out a leather-cover book that read "Treasure Island" on its front cover. Sakuzy growled slightly, then took the book and tossed it behind his back. "FORGET ABOUT THE BOOK!" He hissed.

Sora eyed the cyborg outside, then noted he was waving a white flag of sorts: a ceasefire. He meant no harm. "Wait..." Sora said, a fleck of hope in his voice, "How about if Sakuzy, Jim, and I go down and talk with him? Maybe there's a non-violent solution to all this…"

The trio got out of the tree and met up with the cyborg outside. His metal arm had turned into a crutch to support his body with his malfunctioning leg. Silver noticed them coming and waved with his flesh hand. "'Allo, Jimbo and Sora! I wanna word with you!"

Sakuzy dashed forward, then added, "You have a word with him, you have a word with me, you glorified can-opener!"

Silver cocked the eyebrow over his mechanical eye, then asked, in total shock, "Sakuzy? I thought you were dead."

"Can't kill me with your overgrown bug/crab thing. I don't die easily!" Sakuzy said, referring to Scroop.

Silver scowled, then waved Sakuzy off, as though telling him to go away. "JUST Jim and Sora, not YOU!"

Sakuzy's expression screamed with disbelief, then he burst out, "You miserable toaster man!"

_Several household appliance insults later…_

After the insults were exchanged, Sakuzy eventually walked off, muttering something about dismantling Silver personally. Silver simply looked after him until Morph flew over to him with an excited purr. "Morphie! So, that's where you got to! I've been worried sick!"

Morph flew over to Silver's face and cuddled up to him. Jim and Sora were looking coldly at the cybernetic spacer. "Look, about that stuff you two overheard on the ship was just…a game." Silver said, trying to be reasonable.

"Strange." Sora said with a cold look, "But I thought you hated losing."

"The rest of the crew would've thought that I've gone soft otherwise." Silver tried to explain, "Then, it'd be the end for all of us."

Jim paused, then simply said, "Too bad you taught me a lesson."

"Yeah, NEVER TRUST A CYBORG!" Sora's voice was calm at first, but then it turned into a very angry roar.

Morph screamed and floated behind a nearby rock as Silver stammered, then regained his more fierce side. "You two still don't know how to pick your fights carefully!" He gestured to himself, "That treasure will be mine, BY THUNDER!"

"Well, without our map…" Jim began, his tone to match Silver's.

"You won't get a single DOUBLOON of OUR treasure…" Sora added.

Sora and Jim both finished at the same time. "'BY THUNDER'!!"

Silver pointed at both of them, his metal arm turning into a shotgun. "If yeh don't give me the map by tomorrow, I'LL USE THE SHIP'S CANNONS!"

Sora scoffed, "Like to see you try."

Silver scowled, then barked, "Morph! Keep an eye on 'em." Morph screamed at his old master's tone and flew over to Jim and hid behind his shoulder.

The two stormed back to the tree.

"So, how'd it go?" asked B.E.N.

Sora leaned up against the wall of their little hideout and answered, "They want the map."

"I take it that's a BAD thing?" Sakuzy asked.

"Yeah, because it's on the ship and they don't know it." Jim said. Normally that would have been a good thing, but in the current situation, now wasn't a good time.

"And if the pirates don't get it by tomorrow, they'll blow us to bits with the ship's cannons." Sora added, pointing up at the Legacy.

"If we stay, we're dead." Jim looked outside at the camp of pirates, which was now a small fire in the distance. "If we try to escape, we're dead. If we try to fight…"

Morph finished by eagerly repeating the words, completely oblivious to the fact of the danger ahead. "We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead!"

Sakuzy gulped, then asked, "What's with this scene and death?"

B.E.N. scratched his metal head, creating a small amount of sparks to slide off his noggin. "Y'know, I'm in the mood for fresh air. How' bout I just open the back door?"

There was a sudden pause and Jim slowly turned around. "Back door?"

Sora started at "back door", then turned to Sakuzy, who held up his hands. "Don't look at ME. He never showed me."

B.E.N. nodded, then answered Jim's question. "Yeah, the back door!" B.E.N opened a hatch in the floor that looked eerily similar to a manhole cover, and Sora, Sakuzy, and Jim looked down to see that it was like a tunnel made of metal.

"What IS this?" Jim asked in surprise.

"You mean the miles and miles of machinery going into the center of the planet?" B.E.N. asked, then answered in his casual, stupid way, "NOT A CLUE! I've always gotten a wonderful breeze, though."

Sora turned to the others, then said, "If this works, we could settle this in an instant." He then turned to Doppler and Amelia. "Alright, Jim, B.E.N, and I will go to the ship, Sakuzy…"

Sakuzy held up a hand to stop Sora from saying too much. "Stop right there. I'm NOT staying here and doing nothing! I want to settle the score with Scroop!"

Sora paused for a while, then nodded uneasily. "O-kay." He said, then continued, "Doppler, you stay and try and keep the captain in good condition."

"You can be sure of that, Sora." The doctor said with a nod.

Sora and Jim jumped into the hole. B.E.N., on the other hand, got into a cannonball position the instant he jumped. "Geronimo!"

Sakuzy followed with a similar outburst. "Cowabunga!"

Morph then floated into the hole after them. The secret of Treasure Planet was just in their sights and they knew it...

B.E.N

A shortened form of Bio-Electronic Navigator. He was marooned on Treasure Planet by Captain Nathaniel Flint and had a hunk of his memory processor removed. Now, he's nuts and probably drove Sakuzy bonkers, too. He first appeared in _Treasure Planet_ 2002.

_I liked what happened to Sakuzy. Writing about him gone nuts was a pleasure! BTW, that thing at the beginning was in the original fic, I decided to put it in for a laugh._


	83. Onboard the Ship

Chapter 83: Onboard the Ship

Sora and co. got onto the ship after sneaking past the sleeping pirates. B.E.N nearly woke them up about five times on the way there, but the spacers were certainly heavy sleepers. Anyway, they had successfully snuck onboard the RLS Legacy. When Sora spoke, it was in a hushed whisper. "Alright. B.E.N. and I will go and disable the ship's cannons."

"And Jim and I will squish Scroop like the bug he is!" Sakuzy growled, smashing his hands together and rubbed them like he was smearing something...that is until Jim gave him a glare.

"NO." Jim whispered, flatly, "We're going to find the map."

Sakuzy huffed, then folded his arms. "Fine." Sakuzy growled before muttering, indistinctly.

Sakuzy did a lot of indistinct muttering as he stalked with Jim to the docking bay. B.E.N. and Sora went to try and find the control room.

"Yo-ho! Yo-ho! A pirate's life for me!" B.E.N. sang as he and Sora started to walk away.

Sora almost jumped as he turned at B.E.N., then pointed a finger at him and spoke in a hiss-like scold. "Stop singing!" Sora hissed, "You'll wake the whole ship!"

"Sorry." B.E.N. apologized, returning to try and find the controls.

Meanwhile, with Sakuzy and Jim, the group snuck around and found the map in the pile of the ropes. Jim tossed it up into the air like a ball, then caught it.

"Well, that was easy." Sakuzy said, grinning from ear-to-ear. "Heck, I was expecting that…"

Sakuzy turned to leave, but suddenly came face-to-face with Scroop. The bug looked ready to disembowel Sakuzy as he clacked his claws menacingly.

"Cabin boys!" Scroop snarled.

"Scroop." Sakuzy said with a slight snarl, "We meet again!"

Sakuzy and Scroop went up and were virtually touching faces.

"How did you survive the black hole?" Scroop asked. It was a rhetorical question, but Sakuzy answered anyway.

"Does it matter?" Sakuzy asked before stating "But, Mr. Scroop, I must inform you that, even though you TRIED to kill me and virtually drove me to madness, revenge isn't an idea my master promotes." Sakuzy summoned his Eagle Feather Keyblade and pointed it at Scroop like an accusing finger. "Fortunately, my master isn't here," Sakuzy noted, "IS HE?!"

Scroop simply snarled and jumped at Sakuzy, who blocked and kicked back. Sakuzy then pulled out a Summon Charm with a lightning bolt, but before he could use it, Scroop slapped it out of his hand. Sakuzy started running. He had a plan…sort of.

Meanwhile, with Sora and B.E.N, the two had reached the main controls and found something that appeared to be a giant fusebox.

"So, all we have to do is pull a wire." Sora said to BEN.

"How hard could it be?" BEN asked, but when he opened the box to show many wires crisscrossing and jacked into different plugins. "Oh, mama…"

"Judging by that, VERY hard." Sora stated.

B.E.N, going out on a limb, pulled a wire and all the lights went out. Everything was darkened, save the robot's lamplike eyes.

"O-kay, wrong wire." Sora replied.

"Back you go…" BEN grunted.

The lights went back on, only they were a tinted red.

Back in the docking bay, Sakuzy lost sight of Scroop the minute the lights came back on. Scroop was gone…for now

"Oh, perfect." He said, sarcastically.

Sakuzy silently tiptoed through the engine with Jim, who took his pistol out. Suddenly, Sakuzy felt something behind him and sent a blast spell flying behind him. The blast spell almost hit, but still exploded, narrowly missing Scroop.

The explosion below was enough to woke up Manta, however, who was sleeping in the crow's nest. The pirate's sea-green eyes narrowed in a smile as he descended from his loft.

Back with Sora and B.E.N., the robot tried pulling another wire that didn't work. It did, however, tilt the ship to the right. B.E.N. clambered to the outlet against the smooth surface and snapped the wire back into its socket. As soon as the ship tilted back into place, Sora took a stand.

"We're not getting anywhere with you pulling the wires! I'm pulling the next one!" He shouted.

"Fine by me!" Replied BEN, folding his arms.

Sora pulled out a wire and everything started to float into the air. Apparently, he had just pulled the artificial gravity wire.

"DON'T say anything."

"WRONG PLUG!" B.E.N. shouted.

"WHAT did I just tell you?!" Sora asked, a little angry at the robot's ignorance.

Sora tried putting the wire back, but couldn't; it was too far out of reach. He just unplugged one and nothing happened.

"So…are the cannons disabled?" Sora asked.

Sora turned to see that Sakuzy and Jim were floating in midair, but looked like they were swimming at full speed. Sakuzy had the same look on his face that he did during the Brontosaurus stampede on Skull Island.

"What's chasing you THIS time?" Sora asked.

"Talk later!" Sakuzy shouted, "Run…I mean FLOAT NOW!"

Sora turned and saw that a very ticked off Scroop was scuttling after them. The antigravity didn't affect the bug, because he could simply skitter across the ceiling.

"Didn't I blast you with Dave?" Sora asked, trying to tease the bug.

Scroop simply growled and 'snapped' his claws as several Spiders appeared again. The Spider Heartless glowered at Sora, snapping their pincers viciously.

"Wait…is that physically possible?" Sora asked.

"I DON'T know! Ya can't snap a claw!" B.E.N. replied.

"Get them!" Scroop commanded.

B.E.N screamed as he swam away at surprisingly high speeds. Sora sighed as he summoned his Keyblade and started leading them away from BEN. The artificial gravity would have to wait.

THIS was a challenge now. Sora had never fought in zero gravity, the closest thing being underwater in Atlantica. He swung his Keyblade at a Spider Heartless only to spin in midair and miss. The Spiders were lucky, however, because they could cling to the walls and to the ceiling. One took a snap at Sora, who jerked his body to send himself flying backward. Suddenly, another snapped at him with its pincer-like jaws, and Sora swung his Keyblade. THIS time, however, he caught it, but that strike was more along the lines of luck rather than skill.

Sora had one trick left that would only help him for a second. He cast a gravity spell that encircled an area around him and caused him to fall to the floor. Sora had to act fast now, because that Graviga wouldn't last long, and he'd soon be floating around aimlessly again. Sora threw his Keyblade in a Strikeraid and struck down two Heartless, knocking them off the walls they were clinging to and destroying them in the process.

Sora had just caught his Ultima Weapon on its return trip when the Graviga wore off and he was soon floating back into the air. A Heartless reached for him with its clacking claws, but Sora spun to avoid it and aimed his Ultima Weapon at it and fired a Blizzaga at it. The Spider Heartless turned an icy blue as it floated up to the ceiling and shattered. Now there was only one Spider left. He swung his Keyblade at it, but it dodged and jumped at him. Both floated to the ceiling as they struggled. The Spider sank its fangs into his arm and Sora screamed in pain before taking the Heartless out with the Blade Spell he used in Land of Horrors.

"B.E.N…wait for me!" Sora said, gasping for air, his voice sounded oddly weak as he swam, weakly, after B.E.N.

Back with Sakuzy and Jim, Scroop had chased the two onto the deck. Sakuzy floated up to the crow's nest and managed to grab hold of the flag while Jim grabbed part of the mast. Scroop grinned as he got good footing and got out his pincer. Then, slowly, he started to slice the rope, using his claw like a knife.

"Boy, this scene looks familiar…" Sakuzy muttered.

Sakuzy then noticed Jim.

"Jim!" Sakuzy shouted, activating the Limit Break.

"Take THIS!" Jim shouted as he took the pistol he brought and fired a blast of blue energy into Scroop's back.

The crustacean/insect thing flew up on impact and caught hold of the wood as Sakuzy did the same. Scroop caught Sakuzy by the scarf and the future Keyblader noticed that one of Scroop's pincers were on the rope to keep himself on it. Sakuzy summoned his Eagle Feather Keyblade and threw it down to Jim.

"_That Keyblade's only good for ONE slice with you, so we won't get a second chance!_" Sakuzy whispered.

Scroop suddenly jerked at Sakuzy's scarf, cutting off his oxygen and the Keyblader started to gag.

"Do say hello to Mr. Arrow for me, brat." Scroop chuckled.

Sakuzy, on instinct, brought his elbow up sharply into Scroop's chin and the creepy creature released his scarf. As soon as Sakuzy had a good hold, Jim acted.

"Tell him yourself!" Jim shouted.

Jim brought the Keyblade into the rope, severing it in an instant, and Scroop started floating away. He tried reaching for the mast, but the flag caught him. By the time Scroop freed himself from the flag, he saw that it was too late. Sakuzy waved with a grin as the bug floated away.

"Happy trails, bug eyes!" Sakuzy shouted after Scroop.

Scroop screamed as he floated into the vastness of space, completely helpless as he entered the airless vacuum.

Meanwhile, below, Manta discovered the artificial gravity wire was out and put it back into its socket. As he did, his feet touched ground and he wiped sweat from his forehead.

"Glad that's over…" he sighed, completely calm.

Meanwhile, inside and outside the ship, everything fell back down as gravity returned to the ship. Sora was just behind B.E.N and seemed to be gasping for breath. The robot gasped as he took a dramatic pose of fright as he rushed to Sora's side.

"SORA! What happened?!" BEN shouted.

"Spider…Heartless…" Sora gasped.

B.E.N screamed as he slung Sora's arm over his shoulders and started dragging him away. Outside, Sakuzy and Jim fell to the ground, using the mast like a fire pole. They laughed as they saw that Scroop was NOT coming back and gave each other the knux. They then saw B.E.N dragging a half-conscious Sora across the floor.

"Sora!" Sakuzy shouted before asking B.E.N., "What happened?!"

"Don't rightly know. From what I can tell, a Heartless got him." B.E.N. replied.

"Don't worry, Sora, I'll help ya." Sakuzy said, figuring the best thing to do.

While Sora was gasping for breath, Sakuzy pulled out a small bottle and forced his mouth open to find his throat red and swollen.

"Constricting the throat. Spider Heartless poison." Sakuzy stated like it was one of the simplest things in the world.

"You've met those things before?" Jim asked.

"Not quite." Replied Sakuzy as he held out a handbook that said 'Field Guide to Heartless'. Sakuzy then poured the bottle's contents into Sora's mouth. Sora almost choked on the stuff, but then his breathing eased up a bit. He then fell to the ground and B.E.N. was at his side in an instant, weeping dramatically.

"OH NO! SORA'S DEAD!"

B.E.N. continued his loud crying until Sakuzy hit him on the head with his Eagle Feather Keyblade.

"Quiet, BEN. He's just sleeping." Sakuzy stated in exasperation "That's what happens when your body recovers. Now, how about we get this guy to the base?"

Sakuzy heaved Sora onto his shoulders and the three dragged him away.

Manta was observing him. When he heard that Scroop was gone, he smiled under his scarf and spoke with anything BUT a pirate accent.

"Now that the Spider Psycho's gone, I've got free reign." He said to himself.

_That would be Jim's Seeker Shot._

_Rest in peace, Paul Newman, voice of Doc Hudson in Cars. Died at 83 to cancer._


	84. Centroid

Chapter 84: Centroid

Sakuzy, Jim, and B.E.N dragged Sora back to the cave. They had no sooner put him down when he woke up. "Ugh…What happened? I feel like I've been hit by a train…" He moaned, feeling like his arms and legs had lead weights strapped to him.

"You were poisoned by the Spider Heartless." Sakuzy explained before saying, in quick succession "I cured you, we've got the map, and Scroop is halfway to Olympus Coliseum by now."

"Well, THAT'S good to know!" Sora said, really relieved.

Their euphoria was short-lived, seeing as Silver and the rest of the crew were there to meet them. They turned to go to the back door, but survivors of the alien crew were blocking their path. Morph opened a large mouthful of teeth and sank them into a large alien's rear end. It screamed in pain, then gave Morph a glare that was so intimidating that it made the blob to fly behind Jim with a shriek.

"Oh…THAT AIN'T RIGHT!" Sakuzy shouted.

Within minutes, the whole crew was taken into custody and Jim was forced to lead them to the treasure. That orb didn't emit a wire-frame map anymore, but emitted a beam of emerald-green light that pulsated every now and then.

As the pirates left in solar sail ships, Manta observed them and snapped his fingers. In a hail of crystals, several Crystalli Mariners stalked over to him. "Find that treasure, Crystalli. Chances are that there'll be a Pure Heart there…" He commanded.

The Mariners bobbed their heads eagerly, then trekked across the planet's surface on all fours, like malevolent, crystal primates.

The map's trail had led the crew, pirates and non-pirates, to a small cliff that pretty much looked over the whole planet. Sakuzy looked around…there didn't appear to be anything too important here, but the map ended here.

"…Well, THIS stinks!" Sakuzy shouted again.

"Is the map defective?" Sora asked.

"Don't think so." Jim replied as he tinkered with it a bit.

Suddenly, BEN's wires began to spark as he began to yammer uncontrollably like a malfunctioning robot. "Centroid of the mechanism! C-Centroid of the-the mech-mechanism!" B.E.N. said, earning a few weird glances from the pirates.

"Centroid of the mechanism?" Jim repeated to himself.

Jim couldn't answer the question, but he instantly noticed a small crater that was easily the size of the bronze orb. Before anyone had even thought of it, Jim inserted the orb into the hole. Green circuitry coursed across the landscape and a created a large, triangular portal of sorts. It was easily the size of a mountain as the green light that made it up parted, showing a purple sky and several castles.

"Radiant Garden!" Sora said in total awe.

Silver stood there, his eye wide in amazement. "But that's back where we came from!" He said, equally surprised.

Sora noticed the bronze orb and was more than surprised to see what it had done. The orb had floated into the air and created a hologram that showed various worlds all across the universe. He touched one part of the map that looked like an island and the "door" flashed closed and when it opened, Destiny Island was right where Radiant Garden was.

"My home!" Sora said in surprise.

"Mine, too. Just from this time period." Sakuzy added.

Silver growled as he shoved Sora aside and went over to the map. "COME ON! WHERE'S THE TREASURE?!" He growled.

Silver kept touching different points of the map and various other worlds appeared as the door closed and opened again and again, each one with a different world. There was Twilight Town, Land of Horrors, Marshlands, Port Royal, Camp Greenlake, The World That Never Was, a large castle on a hunk of rock, and Skull Island (there was a V-Rex that looked ready to attack them and it was enough to scare the wits out B.E.N.). Jim, however, couldn't help but smile.

"So, THAT'S how Captain Flint managed to get his treasure!" He said, the whole process starting to make sense, "He just pressed a place on this map and he could get anywhere and vanish without a trace!"

"Cool." Sakuzy and Sora said at the same time.

"So, where's the treasure?!" Silver demanded, again.

"Centroid of the mechanism!" B.E.N. shouted, again.

Sora suddenly turned, frustrated at the robot and asked, "Why are you saying that over and over again?".

B.E.N. pointed at his head, then told an obvious answer. "I keep telling you! I've LOST MY MIND!"

While Sora was trying to make sense of BEN's yammering, Jim was deep in thought… "Centroid of the mechanism…this whole planet's like a machine, so the treasure must be in the center of the planet!" Jim said as everything became clear.

The rest of the crew started digging only to hit metal and dent their tools.

Sora finally got what Jim was getting at, then pointed out, "You won't find it like that." He drew out the word "that" to sort of tease the pirates.

"Just press the right place!" Jim added as he pressed the world that looked like Treasure Planet and the door closed again. When it opened, a large, spheroid of treasure appeared before them. It was like a small moon made of pure gold. Sakuzy's jaw dropped, and so did Morph's.

"Wow." Sakuzy sighed.

The whole crew, excluding an alien, Amelia, and Doppler, ran into the gate to find that it was a portal of sorts. However, Silver didn't even notice activating a laser tripwire right at the entrance.

When he was sure that the other pirates were out of sight, Manta darted in with his Crystalli.

Silver got inside and saw enough gold to probably finance TWELVE space stations for the next six months. He then got onto his knees and picked up two handfuls of the loot. "Finally, I can touch it!" He said, a lifelong dream finally coming to fruition.

Sakuzy searched through all the gold, then picked up a locket that nearly matched the one he carried the half of Joyex's heart in and pocketed it. You never know when a decoy might come in handy.

Sora, on the other hand, had something else on his mind. He searched through the treasure until he found an emerald green heart. "The world's Pure Heart!" He shouted to the Sakuzy.

Sora had no sooner said the word when a crystal hand suddenly snatched the heart out of Sora's hand. Sora closed his hand and stared at the spot, before turning on his heel.

Sakuzy saw it all and shouted, "Crystalli!"

Manta had appeared at the crow's nest and took off his disguise. Sakuzy recognized every feature from his hairless head to his jewel-encrusted heart. He also had the green heart in his hand.

"Aquamarine!" Sakuzy said, his voice easily replacing an accusing finger.

"Sakuzy. It's been a while since Port Royal, hasn't it?" He asked.

"Another Crystalli Host, I take it?" Sora asked.

Sakuzy nodded as he answered, "Exactly."

"Normally, I'd kill you, but this time, I'll give you a sporting chance." Aquamarine said, the hint of a smile on his face, "Before this world splits apart, you can look for the heart and get off here, but don't expect a fair game. I play dirty."

Aquamarine took the Pure Heart and tossed it as far as he could with a single heave. Sora and Sakuzy cocked an eyebrow as they pondered what this meant.

"What did he mean by 'before this world splits apart'?" Sora asked.

By that time, Jim had entered the scene and overheard him. "I don't know." Jim asked.

The trio got onto the ship that Aquamarine was on to see a skeleton in captain's clothes. It was an…unusual skeleton. It had an elongated snout, four eye sockets, and razor-sharp teeth.

"Is that…?" Jim asked.

B.E.N. seemingly popped from nowhere and pointed eagerly at Captain Flint's remains. "Captain Flint!" He answered, "In the flesh! Well, without skin, organs, or anything that RESEMBLES flesh, but still…"

Sora noticed something bronze in the skeleton's cold, dead, skeletal hand. Meanwhile, behind him, B.E.N. had a fist pushed into his "forehead". "There's something that I remember about this, but I just can't put my finger on it. What is it?!" He cried out, straining his thoughts.

Sora cocked his brow, then said, "B.E.N., I think I've found your mind!"

Sora took the copper thing out of Flint's dead hand and put it in a hole in the back of B.E.N.'s head. The wires inserted themselves into sockets in the object's back and fixed it into BEN's head. His eyes temporarily went blank, showing nothing but binary numbers (1's and 0's.)

"Loading, loading, loading…" B.E.N. said in a computer-esque monotone. When the robot's eyes came back into focus, they were blue instead of green. Suddenly, his electric-blue eyes widened as thought came back to him. "NOW I remember!" He exclaimed, "Flint removed my memory chip, so no one could find out about his BOOBY TRAP! And WE triggered it! This world's gonna go KA-blooey!"

There was a split second as Sakuzy suddenly realized something. He didn't scream, but instead remained oddly calm, as though the answer was under his nose the whole time. "Oh, so that's what Aquamarine meant by 'Before this world splits apart'."

The entire spheroid of treasure shook like a fault line. It was almost as though a ten on the Richter scale had just hit where they were. Then, everywhere, certain power generators had turned into powerful beams of energy and were beginning to cut through the surface of this treasure core, taking unfortunate pirates to their doom.

"We've gotta find that Pure Heart, quickly!" Sora said, the urgency in his voice. The trio quickly searched and Sora found the Pure Heart buried in some gold coins. "Score!"

Sora's celebration was short-lived, because the shark-like Crystalli Mariners surrounded him just as he issued that single word. "Oh, darn it."

Meanwhile, Sakuzy didn't know that Sora found what they were looking for, so he was still searching frantically. He saw the treasure pile split in half, sending two or three crew members into an extremely painful and hot death, via a pit of lava. There was suddenly a war cry and Sakuzy quickly rolled to the left. Aquamarine had tried to ambush him, but Sakuzy had dodged and almost sent him off the ledge. Now he was dangling from a single hand, his arm blades had dissipated almost instantly.

Sakuzy caught onto his arm just as the Crystalli Host had let go. "Consider us even, you two-faced jerk!" He strained. He then brought Aquamarine up before kicking him away before a falling stalactite could kill him. "And that's the SECOND time I saved your sorry life!"

Sakuzy then threw Aquamarine into the wall, but the host simply warped away in a burst of sea-green light before he even made contact. He decided to let it go and called out to the others. "Sora! Jim! B.E.N!"

The three returned to Sakuzy, but one had a very positive thing in hand. "Look what I managed to get!" Sora said as he held out the green Pure Heart.

"Excellent!" Sakuzy congratulated, "But we can celebrate when we get off this hunk of steel."

"So, do we leave?" Jim asked.

Sakuzy looked around to see Flint's galleon get smashed in two by the energy beam now coursing through the spheroid. "With what?" He asked.

There was the roar of an engine and the group looked up to see that Silver brought a skiff up. "'Allo, mates!" He greeted.

"Silver?" Sora asked.

Silver held out his metal hand, expecting someone to take it. "Just get on board or we're toast!"

Sora paused for a second, then looked at Jim, who nodded. He then took the hand and the cyborg heaved all of them on. They got onto the skiff and took off to the Legacy, where Doppler and Amelia were in charge.

"Doppler got a hold of the Legacy!" Amelia informed, "We can go home now!"

"Yeah, but not before we get BLOWN TO SMITHEREENS!" B.E.N. said, immediately quashing the captain's idea.

Jim thought quickly, then got a hunk of metal and started making it into a new shape.

"Jim, what're you doing?!" Sora asked above the roar of the dying world.

"Making a Solar Surfer!" Jim answered.

"Just before this world explodes?" Sakuzy asked in disbelief.

"I made my first Solar Surfer in less that fifteen minutes and when I was eight years old." Jim quickly informed, "I think I can do this."

He quickly finished it and got onto it. He got a good look at what was ahead of him, then nodded. "Head towards the gate. If I can touch a world on there, we can warp to safety!"

"But if you don't make it, we all go…" B.E.N. started, but Sora put his hand over the robot's "mouth".

"Yeah, we all blow sky high. I know." Sora filled in for the robot, "Just do what you must, Jim."

Jim gave the thumbs' up to Sora and Sakuzy, who returned it, then took off towards the small cliff with the map.

Sora turned to Silver. "You seemed REALLY pleased to get the treasure, can you live without it?" He asked.

Silver waved it off, then answered, "Never mind. Just the death of a lifelong obsession, I can live with it."

Jim dashed through the planet's exploding terrain just as the RLS Legacy started its course. They didn't have much time to do this, and they wouldn't have a second chance…

Jim swerved to avoid hailfire and near-volcanic eruptions as the whole area was slowly succumbing to the heat of the inner spheroid. Suddenly, Jim's engine conked out and he fell. Jim pressed the boost with his foot; nothing. He tried again and again, but nothing happened. Jim had one trick left…one that wouldn't work twice. He had fallen into a crevice and brought the engine of his makeshift Solar Surfer into the metallic wall. Sparks issued from scraping metal and the engine suddenly roared to life.

_Five seconds were left…_Jim was almost there as he reached out his hand. _Four seconds left…_he could almost see the planet exploding now. _Three seconds left…_His fingertip touched a world, but it was enough. _Two seconds left…_He made a mad dash for the RLS Legacy and barely boarded it. _One second left…_the Legacy flew into the portal and vanished completely. Behind them, Treasure Planet, the Loot of a Thousand Worlds, exploded like a miniature supernova.

_If you're wondering if Aquamarine's debt to Sakuzy will be repaid, just wait._


	85. So Long, Spacer

Chapter 77: So Long, Spacer

After the warp, the next thing Sora and co. knew, they were in the space area outside of Radiant Garden. The most important thing was that they were still alive.

"We did it!" Sora cheered.

"We got the heart!" Sakuzy said, holding it up in pride.

"We're ALIVE!!" B.E.N. said, springing onto Sakuzy and embracing him with his arms and legs.

Sakuzy rolled his eyes, then got the still somewhat-crazed robot off him. Just as he pocketed the Pure Heart, Morph turned into a pie and splattered himself in Sakuzy's face. Sakuzy wiped the white contents off his face, growled, then started chasing the pink blob.

A while later, Sora went down to the docking bay, along with Jim. They saw Silver and Morph working on a skiff.

"You're leaving?" Sora asked.

Silver turned and smiled as he saw the two approach.

"Aye. I believe it's time for me to chart me own course now."

"Why?" Jim asked.

"Well, it's mainly Morph." The cyborg explained, "He's a free spirit. It'd break his heart to put him in a cage." Silver then clenched his fingers around Morph so that it looked like a cage. The little blob shuddered in fright as he imagined himself in a cage. Eventually, Silver released his little friend and continued. "That and I've been exposed as a pirate, and I don't want to have a run-in with the law."

"Will we ever see you again?" Jim asked.

Silver thought, then laughed before he hugged Jim. "As sure as yer heart's in the right place."

Jim untied the landing boat. Silver got in and grinned before tossing Jim some coins and jewels. "A little somethin' for yer mum."

Suddenly, Morph started crying and snuggled up to Silver's face. "Aw, it's okay, Morphie." Silver paused for a while, then suggested something. "Morphie?" He asked, earning the little blob's attention, "I got a favor to ask of yeh. Stay here and keep an eye on ol' Jimbo for me, will yeh?"

Morph, still teary-eyed, nodded, then hovered over to Jim. He and Sora then went to the ropes holding the ship up and started lowering Silver down the opening.

"Take care, lads!" The spacer said as he waved one last goodbye, then took off in the boat into the vast reaches of space.

Sora turned to Jim and they grinned at each other.

"See anything for that guy?" asked Sora.

Jim could only smile as he answered, "A future."

At the docking bay of Radiant Garden, Sora shook Jim's hand one last time.

"Well, it's been nice staying with you, Jim. See ya."

"You too, Sora."

Sakuzy patted Jim on the shoulder. "Make me proud, man." He suggested.

"Don't worry, Sakuzy, I will." Jim said, slugging his shoulder. He then turned to another part of Radiant Garden and strode off, possibly looking for his mom.

Sora admired the emerald-green heart, then Sakuzy spoke up. "Time for us to go now."

"Yeah."

As the two took off on the Gummi Ship, a certain spacer watched them from his sail boat. "Good luck to the two of yeh, lads…"

_Just decided to end this word here and now, hence the fourth update._


	86. Beast's Castle

Chapter 86: Beast's Castle

Beast's Castle...

Kairi and co. were outside the castle that belonged to the Beast, unfortunately Kairi and J didn't know it.

"Hmm…" J said to himself, taking it in, "This castle...I think I've seen something like it."

Kairi turned, then asked, "Hey, Donald and Goofy? Have you two been here before?"

Donald and Goofy nodded.

"Yup!" The duck mage answered.

"Sure we have." Goofy also answered, then added, "This castle belongs to the Beast and Belle!"

A smile spread across Kairi's face as she remembered the name. "Oh yeah, Belle. I met her in Radiant Garden, while it was still Hollow Bastion."

J was hardly paying attention and only turned it toward them at the last second. "Whatever. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go and scope things out."

J made several convulsions before changing into a falcon and fluttering off into the castle.

Donald shook his head. Apparently, the new guy was still a bit new to the experience. "Something tells me that that's a BAD idea."

J, in bird mode, was flying around the castle grounds. He saw that it was a much brighter place than his preference and that there was hardly anyone there. _I've got a bad feeling about this… _He thought to himself.

J saw many other things, but the one that stuck out clearly to him was the sight of a woman crying, locked in a room with no way out. She had brown hair that was tied back in a bun and had a white dress and pale blue shirt.

_What have we here? _J asked,_ A prisoner? Well, so far there only appears to be trouble…better get back to the others, FAST._

J turned tail, then flew away from the window and back to rendezvous with Kairi and the others.

Meanwhile, in another room of the castle, someone in jade-green robes was controlling several crystals. The person was a woman, judging by how the robe clung to her body, and the crystals were mostly about the size of a person's thumb and floating around her body.

She sighed in exasperation and asked, "Alright, who's watching me THIS time?!"

The voice of a man echoed through the castle, but only she heard it. She put her fingers to her temples and was completely unenthusiastic upon answering. "Hello, Amethyst."

Amethyst's voice was about as good as a smile through his voice. "_Peridot. How is the plan going?_"

The girl, Peridot, answered in a relatively calm voice as she said, "I think that it's going smoothly. So, when do I do that voodoo I do so well?"

Amethyst's voice was a proverbial roar, showing impatience in his tone. "_When necessary, Peridot! Don't act until Sora, Sakuzy, or I-don't-care-who arrives!_"

Peridot, wanting to avoid trouble, quickly said, "Well, I saw four people enter this world."

Amethyst's tone shifted from irritation to that of mild interest. "_Really? Who?_"

"The Princess of Heart who has a Keyblade, the king's pet magician and captain, and not to mention that cute anti-hero." She said, smiling somewhat dreamily at the mention of an anti-hero.

Amethyst gave an exasperated sigh and mentally rolled his eyes at Peridot's last remark. "_Now's NOT the time to be looking for a date, Peridot!_" He reminded, then added, "_I'm out. And if they get inside, introduce yourself without your robe and with your OLD name._"

Peridot stammered as she argued against it. "WHAT?! But I hated it and still do!"

Amethyst's voice had a fleck of a smile in it. "_I know. Why else would I have you use it? Amethyst out._"

Amethyst's voice faded away and Peridot grumbled as she came back to THIS world. "You'd hate it, too, if your idiot parents gave you a name like mine."

Outside, J returned to the castle entrance and changed back into his human. Kairi suddenly popped a question that had been bugging her. "J, if you can change into PEOPLE, too, how can we know that the form you're in now isn't what you REALLY look like?"

J's expression remained the same, but he didn't answer the question. Instead, he simply stated, "I bet you've been waiting to ask that since I showed you my powers."

"Sort of." She answered with a slight chuckle.

J wasn't moved, then said, "Well, I've seen enough. Can we go now?"

J turned to leave, but Donald called after him. "J, we haven't collected the Pure Heart yet! We can't leave without it."

Goofy nodded. "Donald's got a point, J." He agreed, "Without the Pure Hearts, the king and queen will be diamond statues FOREVER."

"Exactly!" Kairi said, "Now, let's go!"

Everyone, except J, walked into the castle. The shapeshifter sighed as he rolled his scarlet eyes behind his sunglasses. "Getting bossed around by a girl and two morons. What could I possibly hate more?"

J turned opposite of the entrance hall, and walked in.


	87. Energy Suckers

Chapter 87: Energy Suckers

Kairi and co. walked into the castle. Donald and Goofy noticed that it was much brighter than usual. J's scarlet eyes darted back and forth behind his shades, taking in his surroundings.

"Hmm…do you sense something wrong here?" J asked to anyone who would listen.

Kairi gave him a questioning look and asked, "J, what're you talking about?"

"Think about it." J said in his abnormally cold tone, "Doesn't it strike you as odd that there's no one here?"

Goofy thought about this, scratching his head. "You're right. Not even the other servants are around." Goofy was referring to the servants-turned-house appliances that were here the last time they showed up. "What's going on here?" He asked.

Suddenly, several thumb-sized crystals appeared on the floor at their feet. Kairi knew now, from experience, that crystals in the middle of the floor was a bad thing to come across. "Oh no..."

"Crystalli!" Goofy exclaimed.

The small crystals shifted until they had transformed into small, insect-like creatures the size of a hummingbird. Their heads were round with three scarlet eyes on their faces. Their mouths, appeared to be three-pronged blades and their bodies were about three inches long with insectoid wings and six spindly legs. They sort of looked a bit like overgrown mosquitoes. Kairi was confused about this while Donald and Goofy laughed at the creatures.

J, unlike his acquaintances, remained wary. "I don't see anything funny." He told them.

Donald stopped laughing long enough to say, "They're only three inches tall! What could THEY do?"

J eyed the strange creatures as they emitted a metallic buzz from their constantly flapping, crystal wings, then answered, "Never judge ANYTHING by its size. Take Ryan for example, he's the shortest member, save Donald, and he's super fast, can fly, and can shoot sun blasts." J eyed them, then asked, "Now, what can THESE guys do?"

J didn't have long to wait, because one of the tiny Crystalli flew up to J's hand and stuck its blade-like mouth into the shapeshifter's left palm. He grunted in pain as he jerked it off and shook his hand vigorously.

Kairi winced, then asked, "You okay, J?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." J said as he inspected the small gash in his hand, "But, I think I've found these guy's strongpoint."

J pointed at the creature that dug its mouth into his palm. It had suddenly gotten bigger. It started off at three inches, but was now double the size: about the size of a person's hand. Both Donald and Goofy shouted in surprise while Kairi took a step back in surprise.

"How'd it do that?" asked Kairi.

"By draining MY energy." J answered, ignoring the injury he had.

Kairi looked at J, then asked, "How'd you figure it out?"

"I feel a bit more tired than I was a few minutes ago." J answered, "And it gets worse, seeing as there's about several of the little pests."

Upon realizing that these things were a threat, Kairi summoned her Keyblade and took her one-handed battle position. Goofy readied his shield, Donald got out his staff, and J turned into an alligator in a convulsion.

These Crystalli were surprisingly hard to hit. Kairi hated to admit it, but she was now starting to miss the Neo Soldiers. At least THEY were big enough to hit, not to mention that the small Crystalli would dart away from anything that they perceived as a threat. Sure, they bounced of Goofy's shield, but when he swung at them, the Crystalli would fly off like a mosquito confronted with a newspaper. Two Crystalli went for J, but he simply opened his mouth and crushed them. He spat them out and turned, trying to catch two that had caught his side, but they simply buzzed off like bees and were already big enough to wear a sweater.

Kairi was still under siege by the one that attacked J. She narrowly dodged it and swung at it, but it simply buzzed off. A piercing pain suddenly alerted her to one that dug into her shoulder. She turned and shattered it with a single swipe of her Keyblade, but already lost some energy. The spin almost took out what little energy was left out of her and she almost fainted.

Donald tried using his fire spell, but it was worse than trying to shoot down the bugs on Skull Island. At least the bugs were large enough to get a good shot at. Goofy managed to smash one with his shield and Donald improvised by whacking one with his staff like a baseball bat.

Kairi and co. were surrounded by the Crystalli, with J virtually clinging to consciousness. An alligator was the worst form for this situation with their low stamina. Donald and Goofy's weapons weren't too effective against the smaller opponents and they could buzz away from the Keyblade that Kairi wielded. Kairi had one trick left...it proved useful against the Wolfman at Land of Horrors. She simply made it a little stronger and let instinct take over.

"LIGHTRA!"

Kairi popped the tip of her Flowering Strength Keyblade into the ground and an orb of white energy engulfed the area within twenty feet around them. When it cleared, the Crystalli were gone, but their energy was all but gone. Kairi wobbled slightly, then fell to the ground and tried to stand up, using her blade as a crutch. However, the Lightra had taken a lot of energy out of her when she was weak enough to start. She passed out and everything turned black in an instant.


	88. Murals

Chapter 88: Murals

Kairi fell. She didn't know how long she did, but she did land eventually. She looked around through the darkness and took a single step forward. Suddenly, the ground where she had just put her foot exploded into a flock of doves. She shielded her eyes when the explosion of light pierced the darkness. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw that she was on a pink mural.

"This is similar to what Sora told me…" She said to herself. Sora had told Kairi of his dreams while they were back at the island when he and Riku returned from the World That Never Was.

Kairi looked around at the mural; the main picture was of herself, seeming to be fast asleep. Around her were Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, Sakuzy, Joyex, and Namine. The background behind the many faces was the sunset of Destiny Island. There were two hearts—one blue and the other red. The blue one was around Riku and the red one around Sora. The outer ring was comprised of the Thalassa seashell charm that she gave to Sora.

In the middle of the mural was the real Namine, sitting down. She turned to Kairi and beamed as she greeted her Somebody. "Hello, Kairi."

"Hey, Namine." She greeted back, "It's been a while since the World That Never Was, huh?"

Kairi often visited her Nobody in her dreams and had grown closer with each visit. In a sense, Namine was her twin sister.

"About five months, counting the journey you've been on." Namine said, doing a quick count on her fingers.

Kairi walked over to Namine and took a seat next to her. "So, how've things been?" She asked.

Namine lay on her back and sighed. "Boring, actually. Day in and day out, I've been sitting here. No one to talk to, save Roxas, over there." Kairi's Nobody pointed past the mural to Roxas, who was sleeping on what looked like thin air.

Kairi's jaw dropped in astonishment. "How is he doing that?" She asked in shock.

"Because all murals are invisible to anyone except the person it's about." Namine explained.

Kairi nodded. Made sense to her. "Alright, next question. What are these hearts?" Kairi got up and traced the scarlet heart around Sora's face.

Namine got up, smiled, and joined her. "They're the two hearts. The blue heart of family and the red heart of love, but each a different kind of love." She pointed at the blue heart around Riku's face. "Blue means the love that siblings share--a love that two people share and is deeper than most people can even begin to understand." Namine then pointed to the red heart around Sora's face and said, with a smile, "The red heart is much deeper than that of a sibling or friend. It means that he or she will be the special someone that will become part of your heart forever. Romance."

Namine had no sooner said that when Kairi blushed. She was thankful her back was to Namine, because she only turned when she regained herself. "Okay. Last question—can I see other murals?"

"Only with this." When Namine answered, she held out her hand and a hand mirror appeared in her hand. It was as white as a pearl with a silver handle and complex rose patterns on it. "But, due to certain laws, you can only visit a mural ONCE and it can only be used five times."

Kairi made to touch the mirror, but her hand fazed right through it. She did it again and again out of curiosity causing Namine to stifle a giggle. "Sorry. But this mirror can't be touched by those who reside in the physical world. Only I can touch it."

Kairi put a hand on her chin, taking in what she had been told. "So, I can visit five different murals, but after that, I can't do it anymore?" She said, relaying everything she had been told.

Namine nodded. "Exactly. It's limited because of people's privacy." Wondering if she was ready, Namine spoke. "Now whose mural do you wish to…"

Kairi's answer was sudden and cut off Namine in mid-sentence. "J."

Namine was confused at this as she slightly lowered the mirror. "J?" She asked.

Kairi nodded, then explained. "The shapeshifter. If I can see his mural, I can sort of see what he's been through, right?"

Namine understood as she nodded to answer her. "Yes. A mural is a look at a person's soul, memory, and past." The Memory Witc held up the hand mirror, then informed, "Just look into the mirror and concentrate on J. You'll be there instantly. Trust me."

Namine held the mirror in front of Kairi as her other concentrated on J. "You only have five minutes." The Nobody quickly added.

Kairi didn't even have time to respond when her mural vanished under her feet and she fell down until she gently touched down on a hard surface. In another explosion of doves, Kairi stood on J's mural.

The stained glass platform was a mixture of dark purple and black. She saw J, looking as stone cold as ever, rather than asleep like her picture on her own mural. She was in the lower right corner of it and the circles were in an arc over him. The people in there were Scott, Ryan, and April. But there was also a black guy with no hair, a shabby-looking boy with an albino cat zipped up in his jacket, a kid around his age with black hair and blue eyes, a girl that looked like J with blue eyes, and a girl with red hair. The redhead had a red heart around her and the black-haired one had the blue heart around her.

Kairi soon noticed that the redhead had tears running down her cheek, though smiling at the same time, and there was a grim-looking raven on her shoulder. She then noticed another figure behind J's picture. She couldn't see his face, because he kept it shaded by a hat, but there was something…menacing about him. The symbols on the mural's outer circle were various animal skulls, mainly wolf or tiger skulls. She traced the blue heart around the girl with black hair.

"So, to J, this girl's like a sister..." She said, taking in the pictures below her, "But who are the others?" She asked, then looked down at the redhead in the red heart. "Who's this girl and what's with the raven?"

Kairi no sooner asked this when she suddenly flew upwards. When her feet touched down, she was back on her own mural to meet a smiling Namine. "Is that going to be a regular thing?" She asked, somewhat disgruntled.

The blonde Nobody only giggled at Kairi's response. "Yes. Anyone else?" She asked, holding the mirror again.

"Not if it's going to be a roller coaster ride." Kairi answered, still trying to regain her footing.

Namine shrugged with a curious grin. "Well, What did you see on there?" She asked.

"Well, there was obviously J, Scott, Ryan, and April, but there were some people I didn't know." answered Kairi.

"Like..." Namine said, trying to get somewhere.

"There was some shabby guy with a cat, a black guy, and another kid around J's age. There were also two girls."

This caught Namine's attention as she asked, "Really?"

Kairi nodded, then continued relaying the information. "One looked like him and the other had the red heart, but had a raven on her shoulder. And then there was someone or something just behind him."

Namine looked a bit shocked, then lowered her head and shook it as well. "Oh, that's so sad..." she said, pity in her voice.

Kairi raised her brow. "What? That person behind J?"

Namine shook her head, sorrowfully. "No, the other girl." She looked up to tell something to Kairi's face. "She had the red heart around her, so it means that J loved her with all of his soul."

Kairi was struck by this. J had loved someone once? If J had loved someone before, he didn't really show it under his cold shell.

"But the raven…" Namine said, her eyes returning to the mural floor, "That means that something tragic has happened between the two."

It sort of made sense now. Riku never talked about what happened during the year he was gone, probably because it was a horrible experience. "No wonder J's so withdrawn…"

"Still gives you something to wonder, doesn't it?" Namine asked. Kairi turned, confused as to what her Nobody was getting at. "It often takes more than romantic tragedy to turn someone into something like J. There's got to be more to him than meets the eye."

Kairi had never thought about it, but now that she did, it gave her even more to think about. "Yeah…Okay, one last question. How do YOU know so much about murals? And how'd you get that mirror?"

Namine looked to the side. She was hoping to avoid this question. "Technically, that's two questions. But to answer both, I know so much through studying your mural, but the crow was kind of intuition, and the mirror was…a gift." She looked back at Kairi, then said, "That's all I can say, because you're about to regain consciousness."

Kairi started and asked, "Wait, I've been out all this time?"

Namine chuckled as she shook her head. "One doesn't fight through a swarm of energy suckers that get bigger every time without a hassle."

"Point taken." Kairi said.

"Remember, you have four more murals you can visit. Each one gives you five minutes." She then asked, "After this, who will be next? Sora?"

Kairi pondered the thought, then shook her head. "No. Maybe later, but not now."

"A wise choice, Kairi." Namine said with an understanding nod. "I'll be seeing you." She said as the mural began to fade away.

Kairi closed her eyes as she slowly came back to. She woke up and saw that she was in a bed with J in another one adjacent to her.

"Even though it's comfy, I'd prefer to stay OFF!" J growled.


	89. Yvonne

Chapter 89: Yvonne

Kairi woke up to see that she was in a bed with J in an adjacent one to her right.

"Even though it's comfy, I'd prefer to stay OFF!" J objected, his voice recognizable anywhere.

Kairi turned to see J trying to get up, but a young woman kept, gently, pushing him back down on the mattress. The woman was wearing a simple, bright green dress, and was of average height and build. She wasn't much older than Kairi. The young woman turned to show jade-green eyes and short blonde hair, not to mention a smile on her face.

"Oh, you're up." She chirped at Kairi, "Glad to see you're okay. I'm Yvonne, by the way…"

J suddenly shot up into a sitting position and shot a glare at her. "And she's stronger than she looks. Believe me. She's been keeping me down for HOURS."

Yvonne walked over to Kairi and spoke to her in a hushed voice. "May I just point out that your boyfriend sure is lucky. You're gorgeous."

Kairi shifted uneasily at the comment. She sure was glad that Sora wasn't around to hear THAT. "Sorry, but I don't have a boyfriend." She said, not even showing a hint of nervousness.

Yvonne gave Kairi a confused look and fingered her chin slightly. "Strange. I figured a girl like you is BOUND to get boys asking you out daily."

Kairi looked to the side and uneasily tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I get that a lot." She admitted, "But wait, how did you find us?"

Yvonne stood back up and took a seat next to her. "Those Crystalli Parasites knocked you and the two oddballs out. I found the whole lot of you out cold, so I took you here and nursed you back to health."

Donald, who was in a chair not too far from where Kairi was, stood up. He looked about ready to pull the feathers out of his head. "Hey! Who're you calling oddball?!" He squabbled.

Yvonne rolled her eyes, then called back at the mage. "You, I'm ignoring."

Donald got up and looked like he was ready to pounce on Yvonne if Goofy wasn't holding him back. He was barely holding on to the Royal Mage.

"Crystalli Parasites?" Kairi asked.

"Those things that attacked you." Yvonne filled in, "Remember?"

Kairi nodded as the name stuck to her brain like glue while J cocked an eyebrow as he slowly sat up and focused on Yvonne. Kairi suddenly bolted up, realizing that there was still work to do. "Hey, aren't we supposed to be finding the Pure Heart?!" She asked, the realization hitting her like a cannonball.

Yvonne made to lay Kairi back down, but she was already out of the bed. She was still a little woozy from her battle with the Parasites, but she was a lot better than before. The only sign was that her legs were a bit shaky at the moment.

"I don't think you should be doing that." Yvonne warned, "You two need your rest."

Now it was J's turn to talk. "We were just tired, Yvonne, NOT mortally sick. Sorry, but I'm going."

J looked about ready to throw up, but he didn't. Instead, he had transformed into a long, black python and slithered out abnormally quick for his size and weight. Kairi, Donald, and Goofy followed, leaving Yvonne in the dust.

As soon as the entire group was out of the room, Yvonne snapped her finger in a "darn" fashion. "So much for plan A." she grumbled.

Amethyst's voice then cracked across the sky, but only Yvonne heard it. "_Then go for plan B, idiot!_"

"And that includes…?" Yvonne said, her fingers racing up to her temples.

"_THIS is YOUR mission. I'll let YOU decide._" Amethyst spat.

Yvonne smiled as she huffed, slightly impressed. "I thought you'd never ask." She told him, "If THAT'S the case, this is where I shed this disguise prematurely and polish off everyone else."

Amethyst was silent, but then said one last sentence, his voice fading. "_On your own head, be it..._"

Yvonne silently stalked in the same direction as Kairi and co. like a predator getting ready for the hunt. Forget the mission, THIS was personal.


	90. J's Story

Chapter 90: J's Story

Kairi and co. were searching any and every part of the castle for the Pure Heart. Kairi went with J on purpose to talk to him about his mural. At the moment, J was a large, bear-like dog and was trying to find a scent. There was no point in verbal communication, so Kairi decided to let her mind do the talking in case Donald and Goofy showed up.

_J, did you find anything? _She asked.

J's telepathic voice sounded surprisingly irritated as he mentally sighed. _I've told you the last five times, NO! And why are you following me?_

_Because I wanted to ask you about…things. _she answered.

J, mentally, gave an exasperated sigh, then said, _Make it fast._

Throughout the conversation that followed, Kairi and J were looking around, J was changing back and forth every few minutes (usually to a different breed of dog), and they were using his telepathy.

_When I was out, I saw someone VERY close to my heart, literally, and I could go to other places. _Kairi relayed,_ There were a lot of murals, mostly stained glass pictures, of other people._

_Go on. _J said, gesturing with his dog head.

_I decided to go to your mural. I saw you, Scott, Ryan, April and three other guys. _She quickly racked her thoughts to describe the three, then relayed them as she remembered. _There was a black, bald one, one had a cat in his jacket and looked pretty shabby, and the last one looked around your age with short, black hair. _She quickly added, _Oh, and there were two girls: one looked like you and the other had red hair and looked sad. And there was someone behind you. _Kairi looked, nervously at the ceiling, then decided to get the question out. _If it's not too much to ask, who were they?_

J paused for a while, then turned and focused his red eyes on her blue ones. _Don't expect me to answer all of those questions for two reasons. One: I don't know half the answers myself. And two: some of them are…personal._

Kairi nodded. _I'm listening._

J paused, probably taking a deep breath in his mind. _Most of these people were close friends at one time or another. And one other thing, most of them had powers, like me. _J continued to gently walk through the castle, sniffing now and then to try and pick up a scent. _The black and bald guy had indestructible skin._

_Can you give an example? _asked Kairi.

_He got kicked off a fifteen-story building and the only thing that got broken was the pavement. _J answered in a surprisingly calm tone.

Kairi's eyes widened in astonishment, but J continued before she could utter a reply.

_Moving on now. The guy with the cat in his jacket was an old…friend of mine. I use the word "friend" in its lightest sense, because we were each trying to get the better of each other. _J hastily added that part in to make sure Kairi got the point. She did. _HE could teleport himself or anyone he was touching to anywhere within a mile of his location. His cat was special, too. _He added, _She was the only animal with super powers. She could heal anyone besides herself by purring. The next one, the guy with black hair, could control gravity. That is, make things lighter or heavier._

J paused for a while. He didn't want to talk about one point, then decided to do it anyway. _The girl that looked like me was…family. _he said, slight uneasiness in his voice,_ I haven't seen her for nearly seven years. Most likely she's dead. The other girl and the mysterious man, I won't talk about. Two reasons why—the other girl's information is personal and I don't know who that guy is._

Kairi raised her brow, then asked, _Well, why's the shaded man on your mural?_

_Don't ask me. I'd rather not know. _the shapeshifter replied.

Suddenly, J's sensitive nose caught a whiff of an unfamiliar scent. He perked up slightly, then continued following it, his nose to the ground. Kairi followed the dog until they came to an all-too-familiar room: the same one that Sora had to fight the Beast in.

_The trail ends here… _J said, his telepathy trailing, _Odd._

Kairi searched the room and saw a petal-less rose in a glass container and had a hunch. She lifted the container, took the rose out and cradled it in her hand. It was in the shape of the plant's stem for a few seconds before it changed into a pink heart in a burst of light.

"Bingo!"

As the two left the room, J returned to his human form in the span of five seconds. Suddenly, an all-too-familiar creature flew past. A Crystalli Parasite had appeared from nowhere to snatch the heart out of Kairi's hand. "What the…?!" the Princess of Heart said in surprise.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out to them, asking, "Looking for this?"

Kairi and J turned on the spot to see Yvonne at their exit. She had virtually appeared from nowhere, but there was no way she was THAT fast. Yvonne held out her hand as the Parasite dropped it in her palm.

J's eyes narrowed behind his shades as he said, "Hmph. I knew she was bad to the bone!" Kairi turned, confused, as J turned to her and explained. "She knew what those creatures were called, so there are only two options here." He held up the index finger of his gloved hand. "One is that she heard someone call them that, but there seems to be no one here." When he raised his second finger, he turned to point his index finger at Yvonne again. "The second is she can control them!"

Yvonne wasn't shocked, but did mock applause as she grinned. "Bravo. Bravo." She stopped applauding, then put a welcoming hand on her chest. "You know, I have always been partial to smart guys and the color black."

J growled like an enraged alpha wolf and his gloved right hand had clenched into a fist. "If you're thinking about a date, you can forget it, Yvonne!" he growled at her.

Yvonne rolled her eyes. "Not as smart as you look, are you? First off, THIS is a disguise. And my name isn't Yvonne anymore."

There was a flash of dark green light and 'Yvonne' was engulfed by it. When it vanished, she was in dark green robes, save a part of her hip, which was covered by a hunk of deep green crystal. "The name's Peridot and the Crystalli Parasites listen to ME!"


	91. Peridot

Chapter 92: Peridot

Peridot stared at the two as she raised a hand. "If you want to scrap, try and fight me in a swarm of Crystalli Parasites!" She challenged.

In a flash of green lights, hundreds of crystals scattered across the floor and shifted into Crystalli Parasites that began to swarm her like angry hornets and a sound to match the mentioned. "Charge!"

The swarm of Parasites advanced like a cloud made entirely of living creatures. Kairi summoned her Keyblade and J turned into a six-foot high black bear. _Bears have high stamina. I'm not going down any time soon. _he explained.

The Parasites charged in a formation like a miniature flock of birds. All Kairi had to say was that it was MUCH easier with Donald and Goofy. The more people fighting against the Parasites, the better.

Compared to the bear-turned J, the parasites were now no bigger than insects. However, it was a challenge already to defeat a small battalion; an entire swarm was a completely different story. He swung at the swarm with his claw-studded paws, catching only a few at a time. The Parasites were clambering over J like bees protecting their honey. J was only thankful for one thing: when the Parasites sucked energy, they became big enough to hit.

Donald and Goofy weren't exactly doing so well either. Goofy's shield would only keep a few away while others simply got him from behind. And Donald's magic hardly worked with such little targets. Fire shot past the parasites, as did Blizzard. However, the King's Court Mage had other ideas up his sleeve.

"WIND!"

Donald raised his staff as a miniature tornado whirled around his body, sucking in, as well as damaging any Crystalli Parasites that were too close. Goofy saw an opportunity for this and smashed into the stunned creatures with his shield. The defeated Parasites fell to the ground like flies that had been sprayed, shattering on contact with the ground.

Kairi, during her battle, was now wise enough to not use the Lightra she did last time, especially in her current state. However, she did have a plan: stay close to J. The thumb-sized Crystalli often targeted the biggest of the group, who happened to have the most stamina. One bite on J made them big enough for her to strike with the Flowering Strength. One made a mad dash for her only to meet its end with a single swipe of the Keyblade.

"THUNDER!!"

At that single word from Donald rain of thunder fell from nowhere as the air crackled with sparking Parasites, all of which fell to the ground and shattered.

The size of some of the Parasites was enough to tell the entire group that most of their energy level had dropped a lot. For J, it wasn't a big deal, seeing as he was still a bear. He changed back to human form, looking slightly ruffled, but fine nonetheless. Kairi, on the other hand, could barely stand and used her Keyblade as a crutch.

Peridot towered over Kairi, glaring down at her, and then spoke in a tone that would make an infant throw up. "Oh, poor princess. Are you tired?" she asked in a VERY irritating baby talk.

Kairi glowered back at Peridot. This girl was getting more and more annoying by the second. She slowly got back to her feet and gripped her Keyblade tightly. "Can it!" She barked.

Peridot pretended to be hurt by this, but both Kairi and J could tell it was false. "NOT very friendly, Kai. How about I put you out of the exhaustion…permanently?"

Peridot threw out her hands like wings, and a green light engulfed both her hands. When the lights died down, a pair of tiger claws materialized on the back of her hands. The claws were strapped to her knuckles, easily the size of steak knives, and made of a steel-like substance. She sharpened her claws, then began to make her move. "Began" was the right word, because J blocked the attack and delivered an open-hand strike to the point of Peridot's chin, sending her careening backward.

"If you're going to pick a fight with her, you'll have to get through ME, first!" J said in a feral tone, then raised his fists in a defensive posture.

Peridot was a little shocked, then she smirked and glanced at Kairi. "Well, well, looks like your boyfriend's getting defensive, Kairi."

Kairi almost protested, but J beat her there. "SHUT UP! You think that it's all about hugs, kisses, and dates, but I know what love is REALLY ABOUT!"

THIS was a bit unexpected for Peridot. She was expecting Kairi to act up, not J. And Kairi was easily surprised that he responded like that. J fastened the leather glove on his hand then retook his defensive position. Peridot took her own battle position and smirked. "You want some?" the Crystalli asked.

J's glare was as good a "yes" as saying it out loud. Then, as he glared at this Crystalli Host, he just couldn't wait anymore: he sprang. Peridot met his oncoming kick by blocking with her forearm, but was expecting J to lose any form of balance. He didn't. Instead, he righted himself in midair and landed back in the same position he started in as though he had never left the ground.

Peridot didn't want the same thing to happen and took her turn. She thrust with her tiger claws only to have J sidestep the attack and bring his elbow smashing down on her oncoming forearm. Peridot cried out and J used this moment to bring his opposite foot into the side of her face. J was about to finish his combo with a quick punch, but Peridot caught his fist in her hand and brought her tiger claws into J's shoulder. Blood stained his jacket, but J shook this off, dodging another strike in the process.

"Ow." J's statement was simple and still in his cold, quiet tone.

After saying that single word, J wrenched his fist out of Peridot's hand before sweeping the ground with his foot. Peridot fell on her back, but was back on her feet within seconds. She took a swing at J, who blocked her by the forearm with his own, then seized her by the arm. He twisted it away and brought his other hand smashing across her face. She stumbled to the side, but just as J came for her again, she jumped into the air and scissor-kicked him so hard, his sunglasses flew off.

When J turned to face Peridot, her eyes were wide in astonishment. J was used to people staring at his eyes, so he continued his assault. He ran at her while she was still stunned and delivered a flying kick right to her stomach. As she flew backward, she righted herself in midair to land on her feet. She pointed her finger at him, then managed to shout at J in what he thought was a screech. "What happened to you, FREAK?!"

J put down his fists long enough to make a comment of his own. Like last time, his voice was a proverbial roar, yet his expression looked carved from stone. "You didn't seem to want to call me 'freak' when I used my shapeshifting powers."

J charged again, then aimed to punch Peridot. Peridot ducked under this, but J had anticipated just that as he jumped into the air. He kicked Peridot across the shoulder and snatched the heart out of the air. In his opinion, she needed to find better places to hide things.

J held the pink heart in his hand, but then noticed two were missing from their number. "Kairi, find Donald and Goofy!" He ordered, pocketing the heart.

Kairi, it seemed, had other plans. "NO! YOU go find Donald and Goofy! I'll hold her off!"

J huffed as Kairi went past him, toward Peridot, who was now getting back up. "I'm getting sick of taking orders from her…" J heaved one last sigh, then took off in search of the duck and dog.

Peridot had just gotten to her feet, looking really steamed. She was about to go off and get that freak that suckered her when Kairi got in her way. She scoffed. "YOU fighting me? Please! You can hardly stand!"

Kairi simply glared back at Peridot, her Keyblade at the ready. Before the fight could even begin, a roar sounded somewhere in the castle and Peridot's grin vanished instantly. She laughed nervously as she put her hands to her temples. Oddly enough, she was speaking out loud and didn't even pay attention to the odd stare from Kairi.

"Uh…Amethyst?" Peridot asked.

Amethyst's voice sounded in her head and he sounded VERY grouchy. "_WHAT NOW?!_"

"Uh…Something tells me that turning the prince BACK into a monster and locking him in his own dungeon WASN'T a good idea!" She said, glancing nervously at the door.

Amethyst's voice hinted a smug grin. "_YOU did that? Well then, you're on your own._"

Peridot couldn't believe what she had just heard. "WHAT?! C'mon! Help me out here!"

"_No, Peridot. You brought this on yourself. DEAL WITH IT YOURSELF!_"

Amethyst's voice faded and Peridot sighed. "WHY does he always abandon me halfway through a mission?" She asked in disbelief.

"The same reason why you insist that someone should hold your hand through the mission." Kairi answered.

Peridot perked at the cheeky comment, then gently stroked the edge of her claws. "Hmm…the Beast may be out, but you're exhausted. This should be quick."

Peridot readied her tiger claws and attacked with the ferocity of a cat. Kairi wove away from her attacks with the grace of a dancer and blocked any above strikes with her Keyblade. Peridot jumped into the air in a kind of pirouette with her claws out, becoming a living saw blade. Kairi sidestepped it until Peridot's attack stopped and she landed on the ground, sweeping the ground with her feet. Kairi tripped and quickly rolled to the side to prevent Peridot's tiger claws from impaling her. She rolled back to her feet, then brought her Keyblade smashing into Peridot's side. Peridot simply recovered and appeared to brush something off her shoulder.

"What was that?" She asked, tauntingly, "A love tap?"

Apparently, Kairi's energy level was so low that the blow probably didn't hurt Peridot that much. Returning to the fight, the Crystalli host slashed again with her claws. Kairi simply met her swing in midair and parried the attack with her blade.

Kairi's weapon was longer than Peridot's, giving her a chance to strike from well beyond the reach of Peridot's claws. However, Peridot's agility and skill easily made up for her lack of reach. It showed when she leapt into the air, spinning like a wheel and landed right behind Kairi.

Peridot crossed her claws just as Kairi swung her blade and both met, metal-to-metal. THIS was what the host was waiting for. She sharply brought her claws apart, forcing the Flowering Strength away, then brought them down in an attempt to carve Kairi to pieces. Kairi managed to block the blow, but her drained state meant that she couldn't hold up under so much pressure. The tiger claws moved so close to her that they scratched her cheek, shedding blood. Peridot pushed in an attempt to get closer, but sprang away when the roar that sounded earlier rang through the castle again. With a "bang" to rival a gunshot, the Beast exploded out of a door.

Peridot's eyes widened in fright. "Oh no…"

The Beast looked around, then spotted the Crystalli host staring at him. He let out an angered growl and spoke in a voice equally angry. "Peridot! I let you into the castle and gave you hospitality, but then you turned me into this form again! Now it's time for me to fix that mistake!"

Peridot took in what Beast just said, then rolled her eyes. "Jeez, what an idiot." She muttered, then addressed him directly, "Don't you get it? I didn't turn you into that monster. Your anger at me already did that. Oh well." Peridot beckoned them both to come for her. "A pooped princess and some animal shouldn't be too hard to beat."

The Beast snarled, then charged like a buffalo only to see the Crystalli host soar right over him in a single bound. The Beast turned around and swiped at her with his massive hand, this time, catching her off-guard. Peridot flew through the air, but landing on her feet as she neared the ground. Peridot went for the Beast, who made to swipe at her only for him to miss by a long shot. She turned on landing and jabbed her claws right into the Beast's shoulder. Beast roared in pain as Kairi rushed to assist, only to meet the heel of Peridot's leather boot.

Kairi skidded across the ground and stood, but almost fainted. Then, an idea hit Kairi. She pulled out the Summon Charm with the chef hat on it.

"Remy!"

In a puff of blue light, a blue rat with a chef's hat and a cooking spoon appeared with a large, red pot at his feet. "Let's go, go, GO!" He said, clapping his hands on each "go".

Remy started stirring the pot's contents with his spoon, then heaved several pieces of different-colored, thin-sliced food across the field. Most were green, there were also some red and some yellow. Kairi picked a few up and popped them into her mouth, then chewed and swallowed. When the food was swallowed, her scars healed and her strength returned. She smacked her lips a little, then said, "Mm…Ratatouille."

"Yeah!" Remy tipped his little chef's toque, then vanished back into his own world as Kairi summoned her Keyblade and charged at Peridot again.

Peridot was clawing at the Beast, inflicting serious gash wounds on the once-human prince. The Beast was very wounded now, droplets of blood splattering the smooth floor of his castle. However, she hadn't finished with her victim when she heard Kairi shout one word.

"LIGHT!"

Peridot turned just in time to see a beam of pure white energy racing right at her. It hit her right in the chest and sent her into the wall across from Beast. After a quick regeneration from Remy, the Beast was back on his feet.

"Uh…Thank you." He said, almost nervously.

Kairi stifled a chuckle. The Beast was rough and tough on the outside, but inside, he was a big softie. "You're welcome. Beast!"

The Beast roared as he charged at Peridot and seized the Crystalli's head in his sizeable hand. Peridot, who was still stunned, screamed in terror as Beast spun her around like a discus and tossed her aside.

"FIRE!"

A fire spell erupted from Kairi's Flowering Strength and raced at Peridot like a bullet, who regained her balance from Beast's attack. She simply put the crystal embedded in her hip in the way of the blast. The crystal glowed a slight and sent it right back at Kairi, who narrowly dodged it. The two glared at each other for a while before the female Crystalli host dissipated her claws and grinned.

"You've got some fight in you, I'll give you that, princess." She admitted, a snide look on her face, "But I'm done playing with you. How 'bout I have you and the freaks deal with the parasites for a while?" Peridot snapped her fingers, then vanished in a flash of dark green light.

The Beast turned to Kairi, a confused expression on his normally fierce face. "Parasites?" He asked.

J came back with Donald and Goofy, who readied their weapons. "Where's this Crystalli Host?!" asked Donald, virtually battle-ready.

"She ran for it." Kairi answered, causing Donald to deflate slightly. Suddenly, she noticed that J was looking a bit tired, then asked, "J, how about I restore your energy?"

Kairi readied the Summon Charm, but J whacked it away with a single movement of his hand. "I don't need the charm. I can recover by MYSELF!" He said, his scarlet eyes burning like open flame.

"WAK!" Donald suddenly exclaimed, pointing behind them.

Kairi turned around and the thing she saw was enough to make Beast gasp. It was a Crystalli Parasite, but it was HUGE. It was easily the size of one of the bugs that Sora fought in the bug pit on Skull Island, combined with a stinger the size of a rapier and spear-like legs.

"Uh-oh…"

Peridot

A Crystalli Host who was sent to Beast's Castle under the alias Yvonne. She controls the Crystalli Parasites and has a reflective crystal in her hip and a pair of tiger claws. She's a bit flirtatious, but when she's "let down" by someone she likes, she becomes a savage fighter.

Crystalli Parasites

The Crystalli controlled by Peridot. They are only about three inches tall, but they have a NASTY ability. Whenever they inject someone with their stinger, they drain their victim's energy and get BIGGER.

Remy

A rat who's an expert in haute cuisine despite his reputation as vermin. He comes whenever Kairi calls and scatters health items that are pieces of the French food Ratatouille. He first appeared in _Ratatouille_ 2007.

_Those were Beast's Savage Attack and Remy's Ratatouille._


	92. More Murals

Chapter 93: More Murals

The gargantuan Parasite stepped forward and emitted a loud, almost metallic scream as it drove its needle into the ground. The needle-like mouth narrowly missed Kairi and co. as they scattered.

"Alright, we'll need a plan." Kairi said, ready to take lead of the attack, "Donald, Goofy, you two go with me. J, you…"

J cut her off with a fierce tone as he told her, "NO ONE tells ME what to do! I follow my OWN instincts!"

Within seconds, J had transformed into a panther and charged headlong at the oversized Crystalli Parasite before Kairi could even call after him. It was even uglier up close and personal. The Crystalli made to impale J on its needle, but the cat jumped at the last second, causing the Crystalli to miss and landing him right in its face. The Crystalli shook its head, trying to shake the beast off him while J was digging his new teeth and claws into its center eye.

Beast stared wide-eyed at the cat that was once a human being. "Who was that? And how did he do that?"

Kairi answered, "He's a friend. As for how he does it, it's complicated…"

Back with the Crystalli, things weren't any LESS dangerous. As the oversized Parasite tried to get the shapeshifter off, it was staggering around, its legs nearly impaling the group. They scattered as they came down, but the Beast had other plans. He rushed forward and seized Crystalli's sizeable leg in his claws. The Beast roared in determination and slowly, but surely lifted the leg off the ground. Then, with a labored HEAVE, the leg broke off, causing the Parasite the shriek in pain.

J jumped off from the parasite, which was now spinning its three-pronged mouth like a drill in anger. He landed in front of Kairi, then returned to human form. "That thing may be huge, but it's still fragile!" He pointed out.

Kairi got a good look at it, then saw the remnant of one of its legs on the ground. "Point taken! Let's go!"

Then, in a sudden rush of energy, all members charged the Crystalli Parasite. It spun its drill-like mouth and plunged it at the group only to hit the floor and create a very large gash in the tiles. Kairi took an opportune moment, then used her Keyblade in a technique that she had seen Sora use so many times: the Strikeraid. The spinning Flowering Strength flew through the air and struck one of the Parasite's pike-esque legs. The leg cracked, but didn't break. It aimed its drill mouth at Kairi again, but it hadn't come down when there was a shower of sparks. Kairi opened her tightly-shut eyes to see Goofy in the way of the mouth, his shield halting the Parasite's progress.

"Don't worry, Kairi," Goofy said over the drill-like mouth's shriek on metal, "We have ya covered!"

Goofy, however, couldn't hold up to the spinning drill, as it would soon cut right through. The Parasite suddenly backed off when a yellow javelin of lightning struck it right in the forehead. Donald raised his staff and the same javelin hit the parasite again. Kairi saw the opportune moment and dashed right underneath the Crystalli Parasite, catching its cracked leg with Flowering Strength. This time, the leg cracked and shattered like glass.

The Parasite shook the pain out of its head, then aimed to impale Donald on its leg again. Donald braced himself, but it never came. He looked up just in time to spot the Beast holding back the leg, his sharp teeth clenched and his face hard. "GO!" barked the Beast, "I'll hold him off!"

Donald dashed out from behind the Beast, who continued holding the thing still, though with much effort.

"C'mon!"

Goofy charged with his shield raised and bashed it right through the parasite's leg. It cracked, then shattered, leaving the Beast holding the fragment of what used to be below the knee. He threw it away as the Crystalli tried to keep its balance on only three legs.

Kairi suddenly noticed something. Though the Parasite had wings, it didn't even try to use them in an attempt at aerial attacks. "Wait…if it has wings, why doesn't it fly?" She asked.

J paused from evading the leg and mouth long enough to answer. "It's too heavy for wings that thin to carry. Need I say more?" He filled in.

J got back into the fight in time for Donald to hit the Crystalli Parasite in the face with a fire spell. The Crystalli didn't seem to mind the heat at all, but it was enough to draw its attention away from J. The shapeshifter made a convulsion or two, and was soon replaced by a rhinoceros. He charged as fast as a school bus and rammed right through the Parasite's remaining front leg.

The Crystalli toppled over, seeing as its middle legs had been taken out, as were its front. With nothing to lift up its head, all it could do was thrash its back legs in a desperate attempt to stand back up. While it thrashed, Kairi ran up its diamond-shaped abdomen and stuck her Keyblade right in between its wings. The Crystalli thrashed even more, flapping its wings helplessly and spinning its drill-like mouth. It ended when Kairi used the Light Spell she used on the wolfman in Land of Horrors. The light beam went right through the Parasite's midsection and then the thing lay perfectly still. It was dead.

Kairi got off the insectoid Crystalli as the others caught their breath. She turned to J, who was now back in his human form and had just snapped his shades back over his eyes. "J, where's the Pure Heart?"

J cocked his head, then took the pink heart out of his jacket. He tossed it to Kairi, who fumbled with it before catching it. "I've never been partial to this shade of pink."

Kairi suddenly noticed the absence of one person: one that Goofy had mentioned earlier. "Wait...where's Belle?" She asked.

The Beast suddenly started at the sound of that name. "Belle!" The Beast paused for a while, then growled in slight anger. "Peridot must have sealed her off somewhere. And the other servants, too…"

J turned and headed for the stairs.

"J!" Donald called, "Where are you going?"

J stopped and answered with his back turned. "If Belle is the only other woman in here, I think I saw her in an upstairs room."

Kairi and Beast looked at each other for a while, then followed J upstairs. When they reached the highest tower of the castle, Beast went to the farthest door and banged on it. "Belle! Are you in there?!" He called.

Beast's question was answered when there were fainter bangs on the other side of the door and a muffled voice answered him. "Beast!"

Kairi raced to Beast's side and the Flowering Strength flashed to life. She pointed it at the door as a small beam flew from the weapon's tip and hit the door's keyhole. The lock opened with a "click" and Belle ran out, finally free.

When Belle got out, she gave Kairi a curious look, then her eyes widened as she recognized this girl. "Kairi!"

"Belle! Haven't seen you since Hollow Bastion!"

Belle hugged Kairi like she was a daughter she hadn't seen in years then went to Beast. "Is there anything we can do?" the former asked.

The Beast dipped his head in thought, but only came up with one answer. "I don't know. But…if I can't do anything about it, I want you to stay here and help me through."

Belle could only beam at the Beast. "I promise."

Just as things were getting real touching, especially for Kairi, Belle, and Beast, J suddenly ruined it all with just two sentences. "Oh, REAL romantic! I'm going back to the Gummi Ship."

J turned on his heel, then left without another word. Kairi and the others could only stare at him as he walked away.

"What's with him?" asked Belle.

Kairi simply stared after J and answered, "I don't know. I just don't know..."

After good-byes were exchanged, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy boarded the Gummi Ship and rocketed off into the cosmos. They saw J in the bathroom, covered in green stuff.

Donald scratched his head as he asked, "J, what've YOU been up to?"

J stared at his jacket, seeing that Donald was talking about how he got so messy, then answered, "Clearing out the mildew from the showers. Since no one ELSE bothered to do it…"

Kairi had caught up with J, her face so cold that it probably would have made Riku back up a step. "Why'd you have to act so rude back there?"

J simply glared back at her, red eyes going right through his shades to meet blue. "Sorry, but I haven't been much of a romance fan." He said, coldly.

He made to walk past Kairi, but she simply got in the way. "That was NOT about YOU!" she scolded, "And you didn't seem to mind showing love to that redhead!"

J's expression changed for the first time Kairi ever saw it. He momentarily looked like she had slapped him, then his face clenched, as did his teeth. Immediately, Kairi knew THAT was the wrong thing to say. J advanced and shoved past her so hard that she fell to the ground.

When he did turn, he glowered down at her as he said, in a tone she had never heard him use, "NEVER mention that girl when I'm around! I'm going to bed!"

J turned his back to Kairi again, then stalked off to his quarters. Kairi got up and soon remembered what Namine said about the raven: something happened between them. What was she thinking bringing that girl up?

Donald saw the whole thing and his bill hung open. "What didja do to make J THAT mad?" He asked in surprise.

Kairi either didn't or couldn't answer. Instead, she simply shook her head and left quietly, leaving the mage hanging.

"O-kay…" Donald said, not exactly sure what to say either.

Donald scampered out of the immediate room to the cockpit of the Gummi Ship. With a few button presses, Donald put the ship on autopilot to the nearest world.

Kairi slept that night, though uneasily, and ended up back on a mural. This one, however, was pearly white and had many pencil sketches as the outer ring's pattern. The main picture was of Namine with the pictures of Roxas, Axel, DiZ, Riku, Sora, and Kairi on them. Sora, Riku, and Kairi had blue hearts around them and Roxas had a red heart around him.

Kairi looked around and saw Namine sitting in the center again. The blonde Nobody had a sketchpad and was drawing something with a few colored pencils.

Kairi laughed to herself before walking over to Namine. The Nobody hadn't even heard her coming and was currently too busy sketching. The memory witch then gave a quick glance to the picture of Roxas and sighed.

"I thought Nobodies didn't have hearts." Kairi said, almost directly behind Namine, "So, what's your thing with Roxas?"

Namine started, jolting to her feet and blushing slightly. There was no hiding it now. "I don't know. I just, um…do." She answered.

Kairi stifled a giggle. "You called me back in here again. Why?"

In a flash of light, the hand mirror appeared in Namine's hand. "Want to visit another mural?" the Nobody asked.

Kairi's face lit up slightly and she nodded. "Sure."

"Well, who will you visit?"

Kairi thought for a while before answering. "I'm going with Sakuzy. He seems a bit withdrawn and avoids our questions with the earliest distraction. I think that we have a right to know."

Namine held up the hand mirror again and Kairi concentrated, hard, on Sakuzy. She was instantly pulled down into the darkest depths and landed on solid ground. When the doves exploded at her feet, she saw she was on an indigo mural. It had Sakuzy, who looked happier than usual. Around his picture was a bald guy who looked like Aquamarine only with blue eyes instead of sea-green. There was also a boy around his age that looked like Amethyst, but with yellow eyes, another boy who looked like Emerald, save blue eyes, the last boy had a face like Joyex. The last boy had shoulder-length brown hair and a comical smile on his face, but the last picture was a girl who looked like Riku. The girl had a red heart around her and the brown-haired boy had a blue heart. The outer ring's design had the symbols of the Keychains of Kingdom Key, Ultima Weapon, and Eagle Feather.

"Who are these people?" she asked herself, "And why do they..."

Kairi barely asked this when she was pulled back onto Namine's mural. Namine was laughing slightly again. On seeing Kairi's expression, Namine softened up a bit, then said, "Sorry for laughing. Who did you see?"

Kairi thought, trying to remember all she had just found. "Sakuzy and a bunch of other people I don't know. One looked like that Amethyst guy Sora and Sakuzy fought. There was another who looked like Emerald, and the last one like Joyex, except for brown hair."

Namine put her finger to her chin as realization slowly came to her. "Something tells me that that boy is Joyex's SOMEBODY."

Kairi stifled a chuckle. "Please. Their hair looks nothing…"

Namine held up a finger to silence Kairi. "You have red hair and I blonde, but we're Nobody and Somebody." Namine stroked a lock of her own hair to emphasize the point.

Kairi fingered a lock of her own hair, then said, "Okay, I guess you're right. Well, what do you think his name was?"

Namine took her sketchpad, then got to a blank page and pulled out a regular pencil. With that pencil, she wrote out Joyex's name in large, blue letters at the top of the page. "With most nobodies, you have to remove the "X" in their names and rearrange the letters."

Namine wrote out all the letters of Joyex's name, excluding the "X" and left them there. Kairi thought about this, until she came up with the best answer. "Do you think his name was Joey?" she asked.

Namine nodded with a casual shrug. "It seems logical." she said, "It was my conclusion, too. Now, what do you think of Sakuzy?"

"Well…I don't know." she answered. Kairi sighed, then gently lowered herself to the ground and laid down on her back. She then added, "If you think of the whole boyfriend deal, no. I don't know why, but it'd just seem…weird to do so."

For a while, there was silence, then Namine summoned the hand mirror again. "You want to know who gave me the mirror?" She asked.

"Who?" asked Kairi.

"Sakuzy." her Nobody answered.

Kairi shot up into a sitting position in shock, then asked, "Sakuzy? But…how?"

"I don't know how or why he gave it to me. One day I didn't have it, next day, I did." Namine seemed very honest; Kairi guessed it was because they shared emotions at times. Eventually, she turned to Kairi and said, "Now, the next world awaits you. Just sleep...and dream."

Namine's mural and everything on it faded into Kairi's dreams.


	93. Buzz Lightyear

Chapter 94: Buzz Lightyear

Gamma Quadrant...

_A rocket ship flew past and several red lasers traced out the words "Gamma Quadrant", which faded out in particles of radiated gas._

Riku and Joyex exited the Gummi Ship to find themselves in what appeared to be the hangar bay of a spacecraft. Riku looked around, taking in his surroundings. "Weird."

Joyex gave Riku a look, then asked, "That's ALL you have to say?"

"NOT this place, that purple laser of pure energy headed straight for us!" Riku answered, pointing out a viewport.

Joyex looked outside to see that there was, indeed, a laser that seemed to be made of purple energy heading for their ship.

"This looks like a space station, so there's gotta be a way to get out!" Riku said, opening what appeared to be a supply closet to show a pair of space suits. The suits were white and had green breastplates with three different colored buttons (the largest was red and the other two were yellow and blue). Riku took one and threw the other to Joyex. "Put them on and take off." He ordered.

Joyex looked at Riku as though his companion was crazy. "NO! I am NOT putting that on." the Nobody argued, "I have enough self-esteem issues as a Nobody as it is."

Riku shrugged, then added, "It's either that or possible death by that laser."

Joyex thought quickly, then responded, "I'm in."

Riku and Joyex put on the space suits, then took off via built-in jetpacks. The suits were actually quite comfy and fit like a glove. They also had built-in space helmets that flicked on when they exited the space station.

"This isn't like any other world, is it?" He asked, then inspected his suit. "Hmm...Let's see what this button does."

Joyex pointed at a button on his left glove and pressed it with his palm. With a burst of energy, a narrow, red laser erupted from his forearm and narrowly missed Riku's space helmet. THIS was enough to earn him a glare from Riku.

"Watch where you're firing that thing, you idiot!" Riku scolded.

"Well, EXCUSE ME, Mr. Silver-headed Pretty Boy!" Joyex argued.

"Watch who you're calling 'Pretty boy'! Your hairdo looks like a horse's rear-end!"

"DUH! That's why they call it a ponytail!"

Suddenly, the little light around them got darker as the light of a nearby sun started to lower. When they turned around, a spaceship had flown over them and was enough for them to look up.

"Huh? What the? It's a…son of a…" Joyex stammered.

A cable gun fired at the two and a grappling cable launched from its barrel. The cable's magnetized surface seized both of them and attempted to drag them into the ship. However, it seemed to deactivate too soon and they ended up floating away for a while until the cable reached out and snatched them again. THIS time, it got them into the ship.

"I think I saw this on a movie once…" Joyex said, surprisingly off-topic. Riku gave him another glare and the Nobody straightened up in an instant. "I'm gonna stop now." He added.

When the cable dragged both of them into the ship's interior, it dropped them. The ship was unfamiliar to them, just as the last station was.

"What is this place?" asked Riku.

Joyex looked at Riku, then answered, "I was hoping you'd tell me…"

"Identify yourselves!"

Both of them looked up and saw that the person talking was a man with a strong build under a spacesuit similar to their own. He had a big chin and the skintight purple cloth was around his head.

Riku, not one to disobey someone, "I'm Riku and this is Joyex."

Joyex could only nervously smile as he said, "Yo".

The man nodded, then introduced himself. "I am Buzz Lightyear of Star Command." Buzz suddenly scratched his chin and said, "Strange. I don't recall any Space Rangers that go by your names…"

"Um…we're new?" Joyex suggested, uneasily.

Buzz eyed Joyex suspiciously. "O-kay, I suppose I can believe that. Come on, I'll give you the grand tour."

As Buzz walked away, Riku stared at Joyex. "That was the best you could come up with?"

Joyex shrugged. "Yes." he answered, "I didn't hear YOU come up with anything new."

As the two followed Buzz, a new person, if that was what they could call it, arrived on the scene. The person was a woman with turquoise-blue skin, orange hair, and pale yellow eyes, minus the irises, which were blue. She, like them, had a spacesuit similar to their own. "Uh, Buzz? Who are these?" she asked.

"These, my fine cadet, are Riku and Joyex." Buzz answered, then gestured to them with his thumb, "I found these rookies in space and brought them here."

Joyex looked offended as he turned to Buzz. "ROOKIES?!" He asked in rage.

Riku quickly seized Joyex by the ponytail before he did something stupid and dragged him back. "OW! OW! You ALWAYS do THIS when you WANT to MAKE a POINT! OW!"

The woman stared at the two, then shook their odd behaviors off and saluted. "Well, Riku and Joyex, I'm Mira Nova." She introduced.

Another voice sounded, sounding surprisingly gentle and high. "Hey, Buzz! Who'd you find?"

The alien that came by was, by far, the largest and fattest of them all. He had red skin, though his underbelly was a paler shade and he had spots of a darker shade, a large mouth, two tiny ears that looked like bat wings, and beady eyes that looked…normal. He was also wearing a green janitor's suit rather than a spacesuit. He, Riku figured, was NOT a space ranger.

Another voice sounded, it was oddly mechanical, yet expressive. To put it simply, it was as though a man spoke through a robot's mouth. He also sounded a bit like a playboy. "WHOA, Big Guy, careful what you do there."

The thing that appeared was the smallest, and not even an organic being. He had a bronze cylinder inside his space helmet and two eyes, which were no more than purple lamps with yellow centers. His armor was in the same pattern as the spacesuits the others wore and he had a pair of conveyor belts for feet.

"Okay, who are these weirdoes?" Joyex asked, eyeing both of them.

The robot was about to speak when Buzz interrupted "A couple of low-rated stowaways, that's what."

The red alien bypassed Buzz's comment and answered Joyex's question directly. "Well, my name is Booster and this guy…" The huge alien picked up the robot to emphasize his point, though the robot didn't seem to approve of it too well. "Is XR, the Experimental Ranger."

XR struggled against Booster a bit, then turned his head to face the alien. "Yes, you've made your point. Now could you please put me down?" He asked.

Booster hastily dropped XR with a crash, then cringed at the noise. "Sorry." he apologized.

"Ah, I get it all the time." XR said, struggling back to his feet.

Mira was now at the controls during most of this time, then exclaimed at the top of her lungs. "INCOMING!"

Buzz noticed the oncoming purple laser, then jolted the yoke of the ship, or Star Cruiser. The cruiser moved sharply to the right and the blast missed. The sharp turn, however, made everyone not buckled in fall to the metal floor.

"I had no idea the Star Cruiser could pull a move like that." Mira said, impressed.

Riku regained his balance then got over to the view port. "That blast's headed straight for the station!" He pointed out.

"STAR COMMAND?!" Mira asked in surprise.

The blast of purple energy hit the orbital space station with the force of a rocket. The station sparked with purple electricity as though it was struck by lightning, then stopped. It appeared unharmed, surprisingly.

"Well, it looks okay…" Booster said, in a reassuring tone.

Buzz pressed another button on his wrist panel and spoke into a comm-link built into it. "Buzz Lightyear to Star Command, do you read me?" He asked. The only thing he got on his com-link was static.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Riku said, his sea-green eyes narrowing suddenly.

The whole group boarded the station to find all the power out and everything…abnormally quiet.

"XR, what's your reader say?" asked Buzz.

"Sensors indicate 'spooky'. In fact, I'd have to go with 'VERY spooky'." XR admitted.

"Well, there's no sign of a struggle." Mira pointed out.

Joyex looked around the darkened room, then asked, "Am I the only one who's reminded of a horror movie?"

"Not at all, Joy." XR answered the Nobody.

Joyex got a little ticked and gave the robot a glare. "Just call me Joyex, you pathetic excuse for a fax machine."

The team had arrived at what Riku guessed was the main control room. It, like any other place on Star Command, was deserted and dark.

"Hmm…this seems…" Buzz began, but was cut off in an instant.

A robotic voice called out to them. It was deep, metallic, and VERY malevolent. "Lightyear! How good of you to join us."

"Zurg?" asked Buzz.

Buzz and Riku turned to see a shaded figure with red eyes. They couldn't make it out, but

"In a…manner of speaking."

XR's eyes suddenly lit up like flashlights and illuminated the figure to show a man with a silver mustache, a large chin like Buzz's, and a robotic peg leg. THIS, however, didn't seem to be the "Zurg" guy that Buzz spoke of.

"Okay, how creepy can this get?" asked Riku.

The entire thing froze, save Joyex, who spoke to no one in particular.

"I don't think people need details on how we get out of here, big guy." He pointed out, "Just show them how this happened in the FIRST place whilst we make our getaway."

_Alright, I'm doing what Joyex said, showing HOW this happened instead of the action-packed escape._

Planet Z...

A purple, robotic man strode through the scarlet-colored empire that was his own. He had a pair of steel, bison-esque horns, and a mouth that was more along the lines of a visor that flashed a shade of yellow every time he spoke. He also wore a black cape with a blood-red underside. In front of him was a large figure, male, judging by the way his yellow cloak held his body.

"So, you're saying if I harness the powers of these Crystalli things, I can control every being in the galaxy?" The robotic man asked.

The yellow-robed man spoke in a deep voice that was oddly sophisticated. It wasn't British, but sounded both sophisticated AND dangerous. "That is correct, Emperor Zurg." He answered, "All you have to do is give me control of an even portion of your army."

A man with a mask similar to Zurg's face walked over. He had a grim-looking, robotic right arm and a skintight red spacesuit and spoke in a deep, echoing voice. "Why? You have enough of those Fossil things as it is."

The robed man turned to the cyborg. "Correct, Agent Z. But should anyone with a Keyblade arrive here, I must have MORE than Crystalli. Yeesss." He said.

A small, blue creature with dark blue eyes, antenna, a red suit, and the physical appearance of a pill bug walked over. This was one of Zurg's main henchmen, or a Grub. "Sir! The machine is ready!" It said.

The yellow-robed man, for reasons yet to be explained, grabbed the Grub and threw him at a machine with a brain with eyeballs out of simple irritation. He turned to Zurg and asked, "Why do you even USE such pathetic underlings?!"

Zurg turned to the yellow-robed man and the two looked at each other, eye-to-eye. "It's a common trait of all evildoers to have lackeys who are either weak and/or stupid." admitted Zurg.

Zurg turned to his main tower, which was now equipped with a massive cannon. The cannon had a dark purple orb as its power source, which sparked purple lightning every now and then. Zurg took a dramatic pose with a tone to match. "Fire the Zurg-a-tronic Mega-ray!"

A Grub was working the machine's main outlet and seemed to misinterpret Zurg's saying. "Firing 'Zurg-a-riffic' ray!" it tried to repeat.

Zurg turned on the grub and clenched his metal claws so hard that they whined in protest. "Zurg-a-TRONIC, you lack-wit!" he barked.

The Grub jumped at this, then giggled nervously. "Sorry!"

As the Grub readied the cannon, Zurg tapped his metal finger onto his yellow visor, as though scratching his chin. "Zurg-a-riffic's not bad, though. Save it for future occasions."

The yellow-robed man rolled his eyes under his hood. "I'm surrounded by buffoons."

Meanwhile...

Back with Riku and co., they had barely escaped from Star Command and took off in Buzz's Star Cruiser. "If the blast affected everyone on Star Command, then that means…" Mira said in shock.

"We're all that's left." Riku finished.

The ship bucked as something hit the main hull with the force of a charging bull. Booster peeked beyond a window and saw the controlled commander, as well as was blasting them with an energy bazooka. "WE'VE GOT COMPANY!!" cried Booster.

XR and Joyex were at some power control panel and pressing buttons to stabilize the power generators. Or, at least XR was, Joyex just stood behind him, trying to keep balance. "Y'know, technically, this Zurg's some sort of evil genius," XR pointed out, "and the best he can come up with is a ventriloquist act."

"What's next? Evil juggling?" asked Joyex, rolling his eyes.

Riku rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Great, Joyex." Sarcasm was VERY prominent in Riku's voice. "We're in a flight for our lives, and here you are, cracking jokes."

"I know." Joyex said with a casual shrug.

The controlled rangers suddenly retreated. "They're retreating?" Mira said, confused.

"But why?" Buzz asked, suspiciously.

"Maybe this Zurg guy isn't as tough as you say he is." Joyex seemed oddly proud of what he said.

"And maybe I'm a toaster." XR responded

Joyex then eyed a loaf of bread and his eyes quickly snapped back to XR with a mischievous look in them. Slowly, the little robot backed away.

Booster fiddled around with an odd radar of sorts and it beeped. "I'm getting a funny energy reading…"

Mira suddenly phased through the ceiling of the ship with a blue glow. Below, Riku and Joyex were stunned at what she accomplished.

"How'd she do that?" They both asked.

"She's from the planet Tangea, therefore, she can ghost through solid objects." answered Buzz.

Mira ghosted back into the ship, looking horrified as she said, "We have a bomb!"

"A BOMB?!" everyone shouted, save Riku and Buzz.

"Perfect." Both Riku and Buzz said this word, but Riku's was sarcastic while Buzz was determined.

The ship then exploded, but as the possessed Space Rangers flew away, they failed to notice a small, red ship with the symbol "A-1" painted on its right wing. It had been hiding under a large piece of debris, so they went unnoticed.

Buzz Lightyear

NOT just a toy anymore! Woody's partner from the Toy Zone is also the best hero in the Gamma Quadrant. He's trying to play loner after his partner was apparently killed in a fight with his archrival Zurg. NOW, he's trying to stop the robotic emperor from taking over the universe…again. He first appeared in _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ 2000.

Mira Nova

A rookie-gone-champion among the space rangers. Since she's from the planet Tangea, she can phase through solid objects. She can be headstrong at times, but can still be an excellent help in combat. She first appeared in _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ 2000.

Booster Munchapper

The original janitor on Star Command who's always wanted to be a space ranger. He and XR are good friends and often clean places up together. He snuck into Buzz's Star Cruiser with XR, and here they are now. Despite looks, Booster is cautious and caring for his fellow comrades, but isn't above putting himself in danger. He first appeared in _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ 2000.

XR

A shortened form of eXperimental Ranger. Originally a mindless robot designed to watch and learn (by mimicking Buzz's every action), but since the LGMs (Little Green Men) put him back together, he had a personality change. He's cocky, loud-mouthed, doesn't mind to speak his mind, and is wisecracking. He used to be Booster's partner in janitor work, but he convinced him to ditch work and check out Buzz Lightyear's Star Cruiser and here they are now. He first appeared in _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ 2000.

Zurg

The EVIL emperor of Planet Z. He's always trying to conquer the universe, but Buzz Lightyear always foils his plans. NOW, he's teamed up with the Crystalli and doesn't plan to fail. Although he's an evil genius, he tends to be overly-dramatic and almost always disappointed by his less-than-qualified henchmen. He first appeared in _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ 2000.

_XR's funny…I LIKE funny_.


	94. Planet Z

Chapter 95: Planet Z

Last we checked, Buzz Lightyear's Star Cruiser was blown into space junk, but a ship labeled A-1 had survived the blast. When Buzz spoke, he was giving his usual mission log.

"Buzz Lightyear Mission Log." Buzz said to a recording device on his wrist, "Though Zurg destroyed our ship, we survived by getting into the Alpha I. With my Star Cruiser gone, Zurg believes us to be destroyed. I just want to take a moment to honor my ship."

Inside the ship, EVERY member was crammed into the tiny Alpha I and there was HARDLY any room to move. Buzz was barely able to control the ship at the main controls while Mira was virtually pressed against the right wall. Booster was at the back, though he was sitting on Riku's legs, cutting off the blood flow to his legs. XR was in a spot adjacent to Riku while Joyex was pressed into a wall by the combined force of Booster and Mira.

"Come on, Buzz! It was just a hunk of metal!" XR pointed out.

"Alright, and that would make YOU…?" Riku asked the robot.

"In serious need of some personal space." answered XR.

Joyex tried commenting on this, but his face was jammed into the window of the ship, limiting his audibility. Riku couldn't help but smile.

"FINALLY, he stops talking!" Riku said in relief.

Mira listened in as Joyex repeated what he said. "He said, 'we all could use some space'."

Riku stared at the female Space Ranger in disbelief. "You UNDERSTAND that?!"

"Yes." Mira answered, "Why?"

Riku simply groaned and Booster was the next to talk. "Uh…Buzz? Did Zurg win?" the big guy asked, timidly.

"Not quite." Buzz answered, "As long as Zurg thinks I'm dead, he won't be looking for me. And it'll give us time to set this whole thing straight." The scarlet ship took off for Planet Z only to meet several boomerang-shaped robots flying around, leaving trails of light. "BLAST! The Seeker Drones are on patrol!" Buzz cursed.

Joyex murmured something and Mira translated, "He said, 'I don't know or care what Seeker Drones are, but it CAN'T be anything good!' I see why."

Buzz tried dodging around the light trails as they entered the planet's atmosphere. But with most movement, it jerked several members forward, sideways, and backward. "I can do this! I just need a bit of elbow room!"

As Buzz dodged another Seeker Drone, a beeping noise sounded behind Booster. "Uh…Buzz? I think I just sat on a button." he warned.

"What button?" asked Riku.

XR took out one of his eyes and placed it behind Booster to get a good look at whatever Booster sat on. "Let's see…Emergency Water Landing."

Joyex murmured something.

"What'd he say?" asked Riku.

"He said that wouldn't be so bad…IF WE WERE OVER WATER!" Mira translated in her own words.

"What happens now?" Booster said, worriedly.

Buzz explained to them. "FIRST the generator deactivates and then…" Several light-blue balloons inflated from different panels on the ship's surface and a small red light appeared on the top as it plummeted to the ground. All this time, a small siren went off. Buzz tried reversing this by repeatedly pushing a button to no avail. "BLAST!"

A yellow and black robot called a Hornet was observing its blaster as the ship bounced. When it landed, the hornet turned its 'head' to see what it was and couldn't find anything. It turned to its blaster and the ship went up, but came down again as the Hornet turned. You get what's going on.

Finally, the Alpha I crashed. A hand came out and clutched the ground, followed by another. They both dragged out a beaten-up looking Joyex. "The pain…" he groaned. Joyex got to his feet and popped his back. Suddenly, he heard the marching of several metallic feet across a metal surface and hid away.

A battalion of Hornets, led by a Brain-bot marched to where they had seen something fall to the ground. "What now?" asked the Brain-bot, looking down below them. It looked around, then saw the several deflated balloons and scoffed. "THAT?" it asked, "That's not a spacecraft. Obviously, a weather balloon. Let's march, don't let the brain work, shall we?"

The battalion moved on without another word.

Inside the Alpha I, all members were ruffled. Booster had reversed his position so that he was now headfirst on the ground while Mira's hair was tousled like she had just woken up. Riku had XR on top of him and was now on his back, sandwiched between the wall and Booster.

"Status report?" Buzz asked.

"NOT good!" everyone responded.

"Good."

Riku stared in disbelief, then asked, "Did you hear us, Buzz?"

After the crew wormed their way out of the Alpha I, XR came out and placed a cord into Alpha 1. "Uh-huh…yeah…Okay!" The tiny robot waited for a while before placing it back inside his chest. "The Alpha I is A-okay! But it asks that we not do that again!"

Buzz turned to the cannon at the top of Zurg's tower. "You five get out of here—NOW." he commanded, "Zurg's mine."

"Why?" asked Joyex in disbelief.

"Joyex has a point, Buzz!" Mira pointed out, "You can't go in there without backup!"

Booster nodded, then added, "Yeah, it's in the rules!" The scarlet alien scratched his head as he tried to remember. "I think it's section seven subsection delta!" When Booster finished, XR took out a small handbook and started flipping through the pages with Joyex reading over his shoulder.

"ACTUALLY, it's section six subsection gamma." Buzz corrected.

"He's right, big guy." said XR, "Subsection delta's the dress code."

Joyex pointed at part of the book and asked, "By the by, why can't we have nose rings?"

"Because nose rings are for PUNKS, mister!" Buzz answered sternly.

Riku folded his arms, then gestured to Riku with his thumb. "Well, if you're going to fight Zurg alone, I can't see why Joyex can't have a nose ring."

Joyex took a step back and held up his hands, defensively, "I'm just asking a question, I'm not getting a nose ring!"

Booster rubbed his head. "Then who's getting a nose ring?" he suddenly gasped as he added, "THAT'S why Buzz wants to ditch us!"

Buzz looked VERY offended by this, not to mention exasperated. "I am NOT getting a nose ring! Nobody's getting a nose ring! It's against the rules!"

Joyex cocked a brow, then asked, out of sheer randomness, "When did the conversation suddenly change to nose rings?"

Riku decided there and then to kind of get to the point. "Well, then, I guess the rules don't apply to you."

"Of course they do, Riku! They apply to EVERYONE! I wrote HALF of them!" Buzz said.

"Fine, you WON'T take on Zurg alone, and we'll be your backup." Riku said, earning eager looks from Joyex, XR, and Booster.

Buzz clenched his teeth and looked about ready to strangle anyone who spoke. That is until his posture changed to an stiff, upright posture. "I want all five of you off this planet NOW!" he ordered.

Buzz ran off as the others were ready to leave...until Riku noticed someone was missing. "Hey, where's Joyex?" Riku slapped himself in the face as he said, "Why didn't I just leave him on the Gummi?"

Riku began to trail Joyex, but Mira stopped to turn and ask, "Should we come with ya?"

Riku shook his head. "Nah, I think I can forcefully drag Joyex back to the ship by myself…preferably by his hair."

The other three stayed at the wreckage of the ship as Riku walked away. Meanwhile the man in the yellow robe grunted before several large hunks of crystal tore out of the planet's surface and floated up.

"A Keyblader has arrived. Search and destroy." the robed figure ordered. The boulders flew throughout Planet Z, looking for their target.

After one heck of a search, Riku found Joyex, who was following Buzz. "JOYEX!" Joyex, who was moving silently, was VERY startled at Riku's tone and almost jumped a foot in the air. Still, Riku continued. "What were you DOING?! You could've been DEAD for all we knew! Buzz told us to get off the planet!"

Joyex calmed down long enough for him to answer. "THAT'S what you should know about me—I NEVER listen!"

Riku was about to scold Joyex when several crystals smashed into the ground around them. With them was the man with a purple helmet, or Agent Z as he was referred to. "Uh-oh!" all three of them said.

Agent Z

Zurg's delightful creation; a mixture of both man and machine. He is Zurg's right-hand man and will do as he says without question. He first appeared in _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command _2000.


	95. Cactus Fury

Chapter 86: Cactus Fury

The hunks of crystal that smashed into the planet's began to shift into new forms. When the transformation was finished, the crystals resembled skeletal dinosaurs that were two meters tall, walked on two powerful legs and had arms that ended in four-fingered hands. They had long, thick tails, odd crests on their heads, and mouths full of razor-sharp teeth. The one at the front got a good look at Riku, then let out a loud roar.

"Crystalli Fossils." Joyex explained with a chuckle, "THIS is gonna be fun."

"Get 'em!" Agent Z ordered.

Joyex got out his chain whip and Riku readied his Way to Dawn Keyblade. They hadn't even charged, however, when Buzz flew towards Agent Z, sending them both spinning through the air.

Riku stared after Buzz in disbelief, then rolled his eyes. "So much for HIS help."

Joyex and Riku looked at the oncoming pack of Fossils. Suddenly, Joyex grinned and challenged, "Whoever gets the lowest amount of Fossils buys dinner!"

Riku stared at first, then shrugged as he answered, "You're on!"

The nearest Fossil leaped into the air with such stunning speed that it seemingly vanished. It landed on Riku with a snarl and tried to slash Riku into ribbons with its sharp claws. It mainly tore up his spacesuit and part of his shirt, but how long would the suit last? It was anything BUT body armor.

Riku lifted his hand and the Way to Dawn sparkled to life and it wedged between the Fossil's teeth. The Keyblade barely held the Crystalli's jaws back from a fatal bite to the throat, but the dinosaur-esque creature was much stronger than it looked. Riku jerked his Keyblade out of the creature's mouth, then gave it a good swipe to the head. The Crystalli Fossil fell back and Riku took that moment to drive his Keyblade into the beast's side. The Way to Dawn didn't shatter the Crystalli, but it seemed to be in pain. The Fossil turned sideways, away from the blade, and brought its tail smacking into Riku. Riku tumbled sideways, then brought up his hand as though saying "STOP".

"Dark Firaga!"

A pale blue fireball shot from Riku's outstretched hand and rocketed towards the Fossil. The Fossil tried to get its teeth into Riku, but got hit full in the face and the Crystalli's head shattered on impact. "One!" Riku called, keeping his score.

"Six!" Joyex called back.

Joyex had already taken care of six Crystalli and seemed ready to take out more. He had wrapped his chain around one so that it acted like the reigns of a horse. The Crystalli, however, bucked like an enraged stallion as it tried to get the Nobody off. But it happened to do just that when it opened its mouth and lurched forward, bucking Joyex right off.

Just as things weren't any worse, a green blast pelted the ground where Riku was about to put his foot. He looked up to see a battalion of Hornets marching towards them. The Hornets raised their cannons and opened fire, avoiding the Crystalli at all costs. Joyex evaded the gunfire while Riku parried them with Way to Dawn. Joyex quickly jumped aside at just the right time, so that a Hornet blasted a Crystalli right in the back, sending it into a rage. Riku, not wanting to buy dinner today, pulled out the Summon Charm with a cactus on it that he found in Land of Horrors.

"Cactoid!"

A sandstorm buffeted the entire area until a blanket of sand covered the ground. From this sand emerged a large cactus with holes for eyes and a mouth. It also had two, long arms and a pair of short, stubby legs as well as a flower on top of its head.

"Duck and cover!" Riku barked. Joyex immediately followed suit as the Cactoid began to expand like a green, spiky balloon.

When Cactoid reached a certain level of size, it EXPLODED like a bomb, sending its spines flying everywhere. The spikes impaled any enemies that were too close, both Hornets and Crystalli Fossils alike. When the explosion ended, both Riku and Joyex got up from their little defensive position. Joyex looked around and whistled, impressed.

"Whoa. Acupuncture city…" Joyex said, impressed and frightened at the sight.

"Now, we've gotta help out Buzz. And by the way, I win about…" Riku did a quick head count before smirking. "Fifty-two to seven."

The noise that Joyex emitted echoed across the immediate section of Planet Z. "D'OH!"

The two took off in Buzz's direction, ready to help the space ranger with this Agent Z guy.

Meanwhile, the man in the yellow robe was watching the two from atop a high building. His fist was clenched so hard that his nails dug into his palm. "What have we here? A Keyblader from THIS time period and that meddling Nobody. Well, since Zurg is going to be of no help to me here, I think it's time I handled this MYSELF."

_Meanwhile, a green raptor thing was watching this with a Silver the Hedgehog look-alike and a kid with Axel-esque hair. They were, in order, Dimensiondude, TLSoulDude, and Lunatic121._

_TLSoulDude: So, what do ya think?_

_Lunatic121: BORING!_

_Dimensiondude: Hey, at least it's better than the OLD Summon Charm._

_TLSoulDude: Why'd you have me get rid of it anyway? It was a cool summon!_

_Dimensiondude: I had to, TL. I discussed that Summon with our lawyers and they consider it copyrighting._

_Lunatic121: Curse the lawyers! I'm gonna get them with my Laugh of Confusion!_

_Lunatic then ran off to parts unknown. TLSoulDude looked at Dimensiondude._

_TLSoulDude: Wanna bet whether or not we get beat up later on?_

_Dimensiondude: Why bet on something you know is gonna happen? I'm outta here!_

_Dimensiondude dashed off, followed by TLSoulDude._

Cactoid

An odd plant creature native to several Final Fantasy Worlds. When called, it will explode in a blizzard of needles that will impale any and all nearby enemies. It has appeared in several _Final Fantasy _games.

Crystalli Fossil

Dinosaur-esque Crystalli with a BAD attitude. They're easily the most bloodthirsty Crystalli drones out there. They're vicious, fast, and extremely dangerous with razor-sharp claws and jaws filled with sharp teeth.

Dimensiondude

My brother. He's always exasperated because he and I keep getting beat up by Lunatic's antics. In this form, he's a green raptor creature with wings, spines down his back, and a strange fin that can be erected at will on his head. He also has an accelerated healing factor, fire breath, and limited gliding. Voiced by Jason Griffith-Sonic on Sonic X.

TLSoulDude

Me. I'm always exasperated because Dimensiondude and I keep getting beat up by Lunatic's antics. In this form, I look like Silver the Hedgehog with a golden mane, cowboy boots, a gauntlet on my right hand, and a glove with red circuitry on the other. The one with the gauntlet can levitate inanimate objects while the gloved one can fire neural disruption blasts (blasts that momentarily shut off the brain). Voiced by Matthew Broderick-Adult Simba on the Lion King.

Lunatic121

A shortened name for Lunatic the 121st, but prefers to be called Lunatic121. My OTHER brother. He has Axel-like hair with blue tips, a pair of mini-chakram, and is also a ninja. He wields several types of ninja arts (ninjitsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu) as well as his infamous "Laugh of Confusion" that causes people to go all dazed (like daytime television, but with more punch). He also has accelerated hair growth for some reason. Voiced by Maile Flanagan-Naruto on, well, Naruto.


	96. Topaz

Chapter 97: Topaz

Riku and Joyex were running through the city to see Agent Z take Buzz towards the tower, which was SEVERAL stories tall. "How're we gonna get THERE?!" Riku asked. Joyex pointed at the large red button on his chest plate and moved his eyebrows up and down twice in a manner that said 'Huh? Huh?'. Riku got a flat look on his face. "Should've seen it coming."

The two flew up to the tower on their jetpacks to see Buzz making another report. Oddly enough, he seemed deflated, even defeated. They wouldn't be able to catch Agent Z, because the cyborg was too far now. "Nice time to make a report." Riku said, sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Mira, Booster, and XR took off into space, though there was a bit more room than when Buzz, Riku, and Joyex were there.

Mira growled, then mumbled, "Sent packing like a bunch of first year rookies..."

"Which, technically, we are!" XR pointed out.

Buzz's voice then started going through the small ship's communicator and Booster looked around nervously. "Uh…did I sit on another button?" asked Booster, nervously.

It turned out that Buzz wasn't making a report, but a transmission to others for help. "But perhaps I could have used a partner…or two…OR three." the communication read.

"That's ME and two others!" XR said, excitedly.

Back on the ship, the other three heard the whole thing. Booster gasped. "Did you hear that?!" he asked.

"He needs us!" XR answered.

"He actually ADMITS he needs us!" Mira corrected.

Mira quickly turned the ship around and flew back to Planet Z. "WE'RE COMIN', BUZZ!" Booster shouted.

Back on Planet Z, Buzz Lightyear was pulled up and the cannon aimed directly at him. "Well, I vote we save him!" Joyex said, ready for action.

"Same here!" Riku added.

Joyex got out his chain whip and tied it around the cannon. "Take...THIS!" the Nobody strained. With extreme effort, Joyex pulled the chain so hard that it bent the weapon, causing it to misfire.

Riku cast another Dark Firaga and the flame of dark energy blew up a Hornet that was holding Buzz. Buzz fell, activated his own jetpack, and flew over to them with a smile. "Thank you, cadets!" he said with a salute.

Riku saluted back, then said, "No problem. Now, let's send these guys packing!"

Suddenly, something hacked Joyex and Riku's jetpacks. The packs sparked, then exploded, sending both of them spiraling to the ground below. Joyex landed cat-footed on the ground while Riku rolled on contact with the ground and got to his feet.

"Hello, Topaz." Joyex said.

The man in the yellow robe stood right in front of them. He removed his hood to show blonde hair on top of a stone-hard face with an abnormally square jaw. He had a small mustache-beard combo and a yellow eye similar to a cat's. "Eye" was the right word, because there wasn't another one, just a hunk of yellow crystal over the place where it should've been. "Why, Joyex, I haven't seen you since Destiny Islands." he greeted.

Joyex swung his chain whip around until his hand gripped the blade at the chain's end while his other held another part of the chain. "For all the stuff you've done, Topaz, I'm gonna jam this blade into that eyeball of yours." he threatened, holding up his blade.

Topaz wasn't intimidated at all by this. Instead, he simply laughed. "You wish, Nobody. You can TRY to kill me, but, you'll also have to deal with THESE!" The Crystalli host snapped his fingers and more Crystalli Fossils appeared. They stalked toward Joyex like raptors and let out a snarl that was mixed with a hiss.

Joyex rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Great, Fossils. MY FAVORITE!" Joyex took the blade part of his chain whip and began using it as a dagger. He turned on his heel and brought it stabbing right through an oncoming Fossil's head. The Fossil fell to the ground with a thud as Joyex tried to stab Topaz right in the gut. His blade didn't go through, though it did create a CLANG. "D'oh! Forgot!"

Joyex turned and saw that Topaz had parried his attack with a golden broadsword similar to Saix's, but longer and less decorative. It was, however, the color of his robes and crystal and had a hilt shaped like a Tyrannosaur's head. "Did you really think I wouldn't expect that?" Topaz asked.

Topaz swung his broadsword and threw Joyex off him completely. Topaz's counterattack was so strong that he actually threw Joyex back a good three yards. "A short-range weapon is no match for me, lacking range and skillful use." the Crystalli pointed out in his deep, sophisticated voice.

Topaz charged with his claymore and took a swing at Joyex, who rolled under it and tried bringing his chain weapon into the Crystalli Host's back. What was even more amazing was that Topaz brought his claymore sharply behind his back and parried the attack as well. Topaz clicked his tongue.

"Joyex, Joyex, Joyex…" Topaz said, dismissively, "You fight so similarly to your somebody that you're virtually alike." Joyex made a spectacular leap into the air and swept the ground with his foot. Topaz jumped over this, but Joyex came back by swinging his chain whip at the host again, only to meet a shower of sparks and clanging metal. "Surely you can do better." Topaz challenged.

Riku turned his attention to the tower to see Agent Z headed right their way. He ran off for it, followed by Buzz, who flew on his trail.

"Buzz!"

"To infinity, and beyond!" Buzz flew upwards with the grace of a falcon and aimed his laser at Riku. A barrage of lasers flew at him, but Riku smacked the blasts at Agent Z, hitting him in his jetpack and sending him to the ground.

Riku followed Buzz to the place Agent Z landed, then cast Dark Firaga at Agent Z. Agent Z tried dodging, but Dark Firaga was pretty much homing and still knocked him back down. The android chuckled, then switched out his metal hand for a flamethrower. "Now for a chance to use THIS..." said Agent Z, as though he had been waiting for the right moment.

Flames burst out of the barrel and Riku felt some of his hair burn as he dodged. "A flamethrower…what next?" he asked.

Riku jumped over another burst of fire and brought his Way to Dawn down, only to meet Agent Z's metallic arm with a CLANG. Agent Z's arm grew a clawed, metal hand and he clenched it into a fist. The fist actually FLEW through the air like a bullet and smashed into Riku's chin, knocking him to the ground. Riku flipped to his feet just as Buzz came in for a smooth landing.

"Well, take your best shot then…" Agent Z challenged.

Riku took the Way to Dawn in his hand and charged, but he hadn't even struck when Buzz nailed Agent Z with the laser built into his arm panel. Agent Z fell to the ground as Buzz towered over him. "Like I said before, you're under arrest!"

"Oh, come on, buddy…" Agent Z put his flesh hand to his helmet and a hiss of escaping air rushed from his helmet. When the helmet was completely off, it showed a man of sorts with light-blue skin and indigo hair. "That's no way to treat your partner." he finished in a smooth, suave voice.

Buzz took a step back, stunned. "Warp?" he asked in disbelief.

Riku cocked an eyebrow as he turned to Buzz. "Wait. You know this guy?" he asked.

Buzz turned to Riku and nodded. "Warp Darkmatter. He was my old partner…but how could he be alive? I thought he was dead."

Buzz paused as Warp stood with a shrug. "How do you think?"

Buzz came to a realization. "Of course! Amnesia!" he accused.

Warp gave Buzz a flat look. "No."

"Evil Clone!"

"No."

"Android replica!"

Warp rolled his eyes. "For the last time, Buzz, 'no'. I've been hooked up with Zurg for some time now. Evil gives a lot more pay AND more fun." Warp said the "fun" part with what could only be described as pure pleasure.

Riku scowled at Warp as he asekd, "You mean you betrayed everyone just for your own pleasure?"

Warp clicked his tongue. "Oh, it's more than that, my pretty-boy friend." he answered, "Now, how 'bout we finish what we started?" Warp's mechanical hand shifted so that it turned into a high-tech laser gun. With a single trigger of the inner mechanisms, the gun fired a blast of green energy that hit Buzz right in the chest. On seeing Buzz fall to the ground, he chuckled as he glanced over at Riku. "Next!"

Meanwhile, with Joyex and Topaz, Topaz had the Nobody cornered with hardly any room to move at all. The Crystalli's broadsword was pointed at Joyex like an accusing finger.

_(Star Wars spin-off next.)_

"Give up, Joyex. There's no hope left for you!" Topaz pointed out.

"I'll never give in!" Joyex said, his breathing heavy, "You KILLED MY FATHER!"

"No, Joyex. I AM your father!" Topaz said, informatively.

Joyex reared back his head and shouted to the heavens, "NOOOOOO!!" Suddenly, he returned to the present and asked, "Really?"

Topaz rolled his eye, then roared, "Of course not, you imbecile!"

"Oh. In that case..." Joyex took his chain whip and spun it like a lasso and said, "DIE CRYSTALLI!" Joyex jumped up on the wall and pushed off so that he landed right behind Topaz. The Nobody took the blade of his chain whip and aimed to stab Topaz in his crystal eye. However, a Fossil got in the way at the last second, dying for its own master. "Darn." the Nobody cursed.

Topaz swung with his broadsword only to miss Joyex, but as Joyex sidestepped it, he had been suckered. Topaz knew he would sidestep, so he used that moment to sock Joyex right in the face with his fist. Joyex flew backward, landing on his back with a dull thud. Topaz smiled. "I've had my fun now. Now let's see how well Zurg does WITHOUT my help." he said with mild interest.

Topaz vanished in yellow light, but the Fossils stayed behind to fight. One took a snap at the Nobody with its sharp teeth only to find that there no one was there anymore. Joyex landed on the Fossil's back, then wrapped his chain around its mouth and began riding it like a bronco. "YEE-HAW!!" he whooped, "Git along, little dawgie!"

Back with Riku and Warp Darkmatter, Riku was narrowly dodging the plasma blasts of the cyborg's metallic arm. Riku decided to end the fight and jammed the Way to Dawn right into the blaster's barrel. He quickly retreated as Warp's blaster exploded, leaving only a half-destroyed arm and a VERY sooty guy. "Sucker." Riku said, smirking. He then proceeded to plant his Keyblade into Warp's stomach so hard that it sent Zurg's top gun to the ground, trying to catch his breath.

Buzz, on the other hand, was blasting the cannon with his laser and Zurg noticed it. The robotic emperor laughed at his attempts, then said, "Your puny Star Command laser is pathetic. Let me show you a REAL weapon!" Zurg took out a triple-barreled blaster and shot a blast of pure ionic energy at the Space Ranger. The blast hit Buzz square in the back, damaging his jetpack and sending him crashing into the building's roof. Zurg pointed his ion blaster at Buzz. "Anyone else?" he challenged.

"Right here."

Zurg turned his barrel on Riku and fired. Riku rolled away on instinct and looked at the place where Zurg's ion blaster hit. The blast melted right through the durable metal and Riku didn't like the thought of what it would be like if HE was there.

"Come for me!" Zurg challenged, gesturing for Riku to bring it on. Zurg then began to fire rapid-fire blasts of ionic energy at Buzz and Riku, each blast would melt through their armor like a hot knife through butter. Not one of the blasts hit their target. Buzz tried hitting Zurg with his Star Command laser, but the only result he got was the emperor dodging his every move. Zurg fired at Riku this time only to see him jump over and duck under each move.

"Wait! I've got an idea!" Riku said to Buzz. Buzz stopped his assault, then stood down. Riku jumped into the air, then shouted two words.

"Dark Break!"

Riku ascended even farther and faster; it was as though he vanished. Zurg looked around, wondering where the brat had gone, but then looked up to have his question answered. Riku came down with his Keyblade aimed downward and smashed it right into Zurg's head. The evil emperor stumbled back with each attack and when Riku finished, he almost fell over.

Riku stood, but was more than surprised to see Zurg point his ion blaster at him and fire. The burst of yellow energy hit Riku in the chest and melted his armor as well as knock him to the ground.

At that time, Joyex came back with a Crystalli Fossil's severed head. He tossed it behind his back and over the building. "Nice shot." he complimented.

Zurg turned on the saying, then admitted, "Yes, it IS a nice ion blaster, isn't…"

Joyex kicked the metal emperor away before he could finish that sentence. "Hehehe...sucker."

Zurg was about to shoot the Nobody out of rage that he'd been tricked so easily when a blast of red energy hit the ion blaster out of his hand. Riku and co. looked up to see Mira Nova ghosting through the ceiling. "Nice try, Zurg…" she warned.

The ion blaster was out of the picture now, because Booster picked it up and crushed it like a tin can. At the same time, XR arrived on the scene, using his arm like a grappling hook and wielding a laser pistol. Zurg laughed for a while, then jumped off the building.

"Hehehe…apparently we're too much for him to handle!" XR laughed. XR's statement seemed suddenly pointless when they saw Zurg fly away in a sinister-looking starship. "Spoke too soon." he said, crestfallen.

Suddenly, Joyex noticed someone missing. "Hey, where's Agent Z?" he asked.

Riku sheathed his blade, then pointed behind him with his thumb. "Taken care of." As Joyex looked over where Riku pointed, he saw Booster sitting on Warp Darkmatter, the bad boy's eyes bulging.

"So all we have to do now is get rid of the cannon…" Buzz said, glancing up at the sparking, purple orb.

Joyex playfully clapped Riku on the back. "No worries." the Nobody said, proudly, "It's nothing a few Dark Firaga's won't fix, right Riku?"

Riku shook his head, then looked over at the orb. "Not quite, Joyex." he corrected, "Darkness can't destroy darkness. We need light to convert it."

Joyex sighed in defeat. "How stereotypical. Too bad our jetpacks don't work…"

Joyex glanced at both a few of the rangers' jetpacks, including his own. His pack, as well as Riku's, had been chopped by Topaz while Zurg blasted Buzz's. Mira then came by with her jetpack in prime condition. "I'll take Buzz up to finish it!" she said.

"I'm coming, too!" Riku said, holding out his hand. Mira took Riku's hand, then heaved the two up and brought the two to the cannon's main power source—the large, dark purple orb. "So, how do we stop this?" asked Riku.

Buzz thought out loud as he said, "The LGM mind-link was made by a single touch. Maybe, just maybe…" Buzz touched the purple orb with his outstretched hand and it flashed bright blue.

"You're doing it!" Mira cheered.

"The power of good is a strong thing, Mira." Buzz explained. The victory was short-lived, however, as the blue light instantly retreated, leaving the orb purple again.

"But not strong enough!" Riku pointed out.

Buzz glowered as he cursed, "BLAST! Thanks to Zurg the Uni-Mind is rotten to the core!"

A look of realization suddenly spread across Mira's face as she suggested, "Then, I'll send you two to the core!"

Riku looked at Mira in disbelief. "You're ghosting us?!" he asked, as though she was crazy.

Mira touched Buzz and Riku, who both started glowing with a bright blue aura before sinking into the orb, or Uni-Mind as Buzz called it. Riku and Buzz disappeared into it, but Mira was shocked by the dark energy emitted from the so-called Uni-mind. "Buzz! Riku!" she called.

For a while, there was silence, then a Yin-Yang symbol appeared as Riku roared like the time he cast Dark Aura in Castle Oblivion. Buzz, on the other hand, said his all-too-famous line. "TO INFINITY…AND BEYOND!"

After a shockwave of silver energy coursed through the cosmos, the Uni-Mind was green again. Mira, without any form of hesitation, flew through the orb again and pulled out Buzz and Riku. When she brought them to the ground, Riku looked dazed.

"Whoa…tingly." Riku said, holding his head. Suddenly, a hunk of the Uni-Mind, which was now green, tore out and flew into Riku's hand, where it hovered. "What have we here?" he asked. The hunk glowed for a while before turning silver and morphing into a heart shape.

Buzz caught sight of the silver heart in Riku's hand, then asked, "What exactly is that, cadet?"

Riku grinned as he stared at the heart. "A Pure Heart, that's what…"

When Mira dropped off Buzz and Riku, the silver-headed dark wielder ran to Joyex, holding up the Pure Heart. "Got it!"

"Good, now let's get out of here! This suit really doesn't suit me..." Joyex said, tugging at the arm of his spacesuit.

Buzz then turned to Mira, Booster, and XR and grinned at them as Riku and Joyex returned to their Gummi Ship and took off. From that day on, Buzz gained not one, not two, but three partners.

Riku and Joyex were on the Gummi Ship and gave each other the knux before Riku placed the silver Pure Heart on a rack.

"Now that we're out of those suits, we're outta here!" Joyex said, never happier to see his old duds back, "To the next world!"

Their ship turned to go wherever they pleased.

Warp Darkmatter

Actually Buzz's old partner, Warp Darkmatter apparently died when he and Buzz tried saving three LGMs from Zurg. After that, he showed his true colors after becoming Agent Z: a pure evil being. He first appeared in _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ 2000.

Topaz

One of the many Crystalli hosts under control of this "living crystal". His crystal is lodged in his eye and he wields a rather large broad sword. He's surprisingly sophisticated for one of the Crystalli and can remain calm even in tough situations. He's also in charge of the Crystalli Fossils.

_Buzz's Cosmic Combo._


	97. Welcome Home, Mr Syrus

Chapter 98: Welcome Home, Mr. Syrus

Twilight Town...

With the three superhumans, they landed outside the town that was nestled between the realms of light and darkness, but was closer to light. Ryan seemed the most ecstatic to be at THIS world. "So good to be home!" Ryan said in pure delight.

Whoever thought J, Scott, Ryan, and April were all from Radiant Garden were sadly mistaken. J and April were from Radiant Garden to begin with, but Scott and Ryan were born in different worlds. As far as Scott knew, he was born in a world called Mugwomp and Ryan knew he was born in Twilight Town.

As Ryan took in his old home, Scott smiled. "I'd be happy if I saw Mugwomp again, Ry." he said, putting a hand on the kid's shoulder, "Alright, mates, time to be findin' that Pure 'Eart."

As Ryan's eagerness increased, he suddenly froze. "Uh…guys?" he asked.

"What, Ryan?" April asked.

"I think my excitement's triggered something!" he said, fearfully, then quickly added, "I'm gonna blow!"

Scott and April's eyes widened as they started backtracking, then started running away altogether. "Duck and cover!" Scott shouted.

Scott and April ducked in an alleyway as an explosion of blinding light appeared outside of Twilight Town. (I quietly snuck in and took a picture of this scene before leaving.) When the explosion cleared, Ryan was on the ground and abnormally pale. Scott noticed that the tip of his hat was on fire, licked his finger, and put it out. "THAT was a close one." he said in surprise.

"Let's find that Pure Heart before Ryan nukes the whole town." she said, heaving Ryan to his feet.

As the superhumans searched the town, Ryan, Scott, and April went to a store. Scott then noticed a black and white wanted poster with pictures of himself, Ryan, and J. While the clerk had his back turned, Ryan tapped Scott's shoulder, then pointed to a pen he had and then to the poster. Scott nodded. Ryan zipped over to the poster and scribbled a bit on the picture. When he finished, J looked scruffier and had a cigarette in his mouth, Scott had a bandaged left eye, a mechanical hand, and a beard, and Ryan had a curly mustache and prominent front teeth.

When the clerk returned, his eyes bulged as he said, "Oh my goodness! THERE THEY ARE!"

Scott turned around to see three people who matched the poster's description exactly. Not ones to attract attention, Scott and the others immediately left and the three look-alikes were arrested. The J look-alike growled at the police officer that was restraining him. "I've got your badge number! You'd better hope I never get out!"

When they were a respectable distance from the store, Scott sighed in relief, then asked, "What're the chances of THAT happenin'?"

"Beats me." Ryan said. Suddenly, the kid perked up and took off into the distance faster than the blink of an eye.

"Ryan! Get back here!" April called after him. She was too late; Ryan was already gone.

"Better hunt him down…AGAIN." Scott groaned.

The pair searched Twilight Town and Ryan at the Sandlot where he was zipping around like crazy, laughing almost insanely. April then seized him on the shoulders and Scott slapped him. "Ryan, do ya wanna explode again?!" the Aussie scolded.

Ryan seemed to slow down slightly, then slumped, clutching his forehead. "Sorry…" he apologized, "Sugar rush."

"THAT'S why I say that you should NEVER have soda!" Scott reminded for the umpteenth time.

"Hey, the can said Caffeine Free!" Ryan said, defending himself.

"That's the thing about Caffeine-Free sodas." Scott pointed out, "When they say Caffeine Free, they lie!"

Ryan stared, wide-eyed at Scott, then smacked himself in the forehead. "Good grief! I've been bamboozled!"

Scott dragged Ryan away as they continued searching for the Pure Heart. They searched everywhere from the train station to the hangout of Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Scott then saw some more wanted posters with their descriptions on them. He quickly tore these down, but knew there had to be others. "Let's get some wardrobe change, Ry." he suggested, "Can't dodge the wanted posters forever, mate."

Ryan nodded. Now that he thought about it, his hoodie was starting to make him feel a little hot. "Good idea."

Scott and Ryan went into a clothes store after making sure that there weren't any wanted posters there. When they came out, Scott kept his hat, though it was now hanging down to his back, had a black T-shirt that said 'Crush 40'(1) made with spiky letters. A khaki jacket now replaced his black leather jacket, and he now had military camouflage pants. He kept the crocodile skin boots, though.

Ryan now had a baseball cap, which was turned backward, along with a white T-shirt that said 'Rascal Flatts'(2) in red letters over a gray long-sleeve shirt. He also had a pair of pants that said 'sun light, sun bright' on each pant leg, and a pair of finger-less gloves that said 'Boss' on the tops. He got a good look at the gloves and flexed his fingers to make sure they were comfy. They were. "These gloves might help with my sun blasts." he said to himself.

"And I like this shirt." Scott said, looking himself over.

April looked him over, then said, on a whim, "You look better with your hat off, Scott."

Scott blushed as he laughed, nervously. It ended when Ryan suddenly screamed as someone approached. Scott and April turned around to see Seifer and his gang behind them.

"Seifer!" Ryan screamed, then asked in a nervous voice, "No hard feelings, right?"

Scott rolled his eyes and sighed. "What'd you do THIS time, Ryan?" he asked.

Scott never figured out what Ryan did, because Seifer beat him to Ryan. "So, you decided to show your face here, Syrus?" he asked, "Well, this saves us the problem of tracking you down."

Ryan chuckled slightly, though sweat was running down his forehead like mad. "Uh…will this be something that will end in physical violence?"

"Precisely." answered Fuu.

"Syrus, we ain't as dumb as you think we are, y'know." Rai said, pointing an accusing finger at Ryan.

Ryan folded his arms, then shot back, "In that case, dum-dum, you're a genius." Seifer cracked his knuckles and Ryan knew INSTANTLY that he said the wrong thing. "Y'know, the word 'apology' is thrown around a lot lately, but when it comes from the heart…"

Ryan never finished his sentence, because Seifer punched the hyper kid so hard that he sent him careening to the floor. "Save it, runt!" he barked.

Scott, frustrated at not getting a straight answer, asked one last time. "Ryan, what did you do THIS time?!"

Ryan got up off the floor, then scratched his head, unsure of how to put it. "Well, it starts sort of like this…" Ryan then turned tail and ran with Seifer's gang in hot pursuit.

A few minutes later, Scott was in an alleyway with April, looking casual. As Seifer's gang stalked past them, Scott seemed to speak to the trashcans. "He's gone, Ry."

Ryan's voice was oddly muffled, as though hidden somewhere. "Thank goodness! I can't breathe in here!" The bricks in the alleyway moved to show Ryan was inside the wall all along.

April gave Scott a curious look, then asked, "Wouldn't it have made more sense to hide him in the trashcans?"

Ryan started. "And get myself dirty?" he asked in shock, "Not in THIS lifetime. By the by, I found THIS in the wall…"

Ryan held out a red heart made of pure crystal. Scott AND April's eyes widened and their jaws dropped. "Crikey! Ryan, I never thought that your IQ would break out THIS soon!" Scott said as he took the heart in his hand.

Ryan glowered at Scott, then asked, "I'm right here, you know that?!"

April took the heart in her hand and tossed it into the air before catching it. "Now that we've got the Pure Heart, we can get moving. Right?" she asked.

Scott thought it over, then shook his head. "Not yet. I vote we try and contact the others before receiving orders."

"Same here!" Ryan agreed.

"Okay, let's head back to the Gummi. Ryan's attracting too much attention here." Scott said, explaining his plan, "Besides, if the others contact us, we'll be there for 'em."

Ryan nodded, then darted off at his near-sonic speed. April was about to follow, but Scott stalled behind, looking at her. The flier noticed the Aussie watching her, turned, and asked, "What?"

"Remember how we met?" she asked.

April nodded as it came to her. "Oh yeah." she answered, "The whole android deal. Seems like yesterday…"

_One year earlier…_

_In Radiant Garden, Scott, Ryan, and J were being chased. They knew who it was, but none dared to look back. The thing chasing them appeared to be a man, but had a metal arm hidden under his leather jacket and metal boots that clanged with each step. A huge scar ran down the right side of his face, past his right eye. He wore sunglasses, because there was a red, glowing eye right where the scar passed. The android lifted a hand and a trashcan hurtled itself at them, battering Scott across the shoulder and separating him from his friends._

_Scott ran down the several alleyways of the city and managed to find momentary refuge. He stood there, backed up against the wall and gasping for breath. THAT was when a girl spoke. "Who are you?" she asked._

_Scott turned to see April for the first time ever, but he had no time for small talk. "Not important right now!" he answered quickly, "Just hide me!"_

_April paused for a while as the trashcan she was setting out flew into the air and narrowly missed Scott's head. She stared for a while, then seized Scott under the arms. "Hold on!" she advised._

_April suddenly flew without any form of powered flight and landed on the roof of her house. The android darted around the corner and scanned the immediate area. After a while, it spoke in a cold, metallic voice that was strangely mechanical. "Anomaly not detected. Returning to search." The Android walked off, its metal footsteps echoing across the block._

_As soon as the footsteps died away, April took Scott down from the roof and recollected her trashcan. "Crikey, that was too close for comfort…" said the Aussie as he took off his hat and wiped sweat from his forehead._

_He put his hat back on and turned to April, but she seemed to want to turn away. He stopped her, but unfortunately, she kind of took this the wrong way. "What? Just because I saved your life makes me a freak?" she asked, curtly._

_Scott recoiled slightly, then calmly asked, "Now where did I say that?" The Aussie shrugged as he pointed out, "Just because you can fly like Superman doesn't make you a freak. Just look at ME…"_

_Scott raised a hand and his fingers turned long and spindly like the hand of a primate he had seen on Animal Planet once. April made a face in slight disgust, but got over it as soon as Scott reversed the effect. "I guess we're not so different, are we?" she asked, running a hand through her hair._

_Scott snorted. "Sure. I can change any part of me anatomy and you can fly. We're VERY alike." he joked._

_April paused, then asked one last question. "Who was that chasing you?"_

_Scott looked sideways, but saw no way out of this conversation. Might as well. "An android." he answered, "You see, there was someone who hated people like you and me and wanted to annihilate them all. He built the android by almost killing a superhuman, that's what I call them, and replaced parts of his body and brain with machine."_

_April's eyes widened. Someone actually did that to another person just to provide genocide? "That sounds horrible…" she said in shock._

_Scott nodded solemnly. "It is. He doesn't breathe, eat, or feel." he explained, "He now has a built-in purpose—killing. He doesn't even have a will of his own; he just does as he's programmed to do."_

_After a pause, Scott turned and held out his hand in an attempt to be friendly. "Sorry. I believe we haven't been properly introduced." he then introduced himself. "G'day, the name's Scott Highflier."_

_April shook his hand with a smile. "I'm April Goodeve. It's nice to meet you, Scott." She stifled a laugh. "At least I know I'm not the only one out there anymore…"_

Back in the real world, Scott chuckled slightly. "You let me stay at yer house for a while, then caught me off-guard as I was about to leave. And after that deal, I kept saying 'Crikey, you foreigners kiss good'!"

After a quick check around the town, AND purchasing some Sea-Salt Ice Cream (They bought Ryan a sugar-free one. He hated it, but he lived with it), the group went back to the Gummi Ship.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, three other people were in a hotel room. One looked extremely shabby and somehow ended up at the refrigerator without making any apparent movement. Another was playing darts without touching the darts, though they had some sort of purplish glow around them, and a bald black guy was cutting meat with a large steak knife.

"Well, Bryan…" The shabby guy said as he opened a can of soda that he got from the fridge, "Looks like you were wrong."

The boy playing darts looked up on the name "Bryan" and paused, his dart slowly floating higher into the air. "Looks like it, Jacob." he answered, "And all along, I thought that they'd return here."

Jacob turned to the black guy and noticed the knife was coming down. "Careful, Brock!"

Too late, the guy called Brock apparently cut off his fingers, but when he removed the knife, the blade was dented in the same pattern as his fingers. He growled in frustration. "Man! That's the third one today!"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "More than third. Believe me." he corrected.

Jacob took the now-useless knife and tossed it into a trashcan filled with broken knives.

_Crush 40—my favorite band for video game music, they wrote a lot of songs for the new generation Sonic games from Open Your Heart to a remix of His World._

_Rascal Flatts—my favorite country band. I was first bitten by their music when I listened to "Life is a Highway" on Cars and now, I feel like I've been listening to their music forever._

_These guys are voiced by, as follows. Bryan is done by Shawn Ashmore, Jacob is Josh Keaton, and Brock is Khary Payton._


	98. Schedule and Sixteen

Chapter 98: Schedule and Sixteen

On Sora and Sakuzy's ship, Sora was fast asleep. He ended up on his mural once more, only it was different from the last time he had been on it. The background was still of Destiny Islands, but he was sitting on the small island off the coast. Around him was Riku, who had a blue heart around him, Donald, Goofy, Roxas, Sakuzy, Mickey, and Kairi, who had a red heart around her. In the center, apparently asleep, was Roxas himself. Sora walked over and nudged him slightly with his foot. "Roxas." he said, gently.

Roxas started, then kicked himself up. He got a good look at Sora, then shook his Somebody's hand. "Hey, Sora. It's been a while since The World That Never Was, hasn't it?" he greeted.

Sora looked a little uneasy. It wasn't exactly easy to forget. "How could I forget?" he asked.

In the World That Never Was, Roxas fought Sora on his own mural. But that was then; this was now, and the two had become very close. In a sense, Roxas was technically his brother.

Roxas sat down and Sora took a seat next to him. "So, how've you been?" he asked.

Roxas sighed. "Bored stiff." he answered, "I've been here so long, I've made my own schedule." Roxas took out a small book from his pocket and flipped it open. "Four-o'clock, rest for half-hour. Four-thirty, stare into the abyss. Five o'clock, solve world hunger. Tell no one. Five-thirty, exercise. Six o'clock, make several failed attempts at communicating with Namine. Six-thirty, wrestle with the loss of Axel. Seven o'clock, try and figure out my past…HECK it's useless!" Roxas stood up, and then threw the book into the abyss out of simple irritation. Then he realized what he just did. "Sorry you had to see that, Sora." he apologized.

Sora chuckled nervously, then decided to change the subject. "So, what's up?" he asked.

Roxas shrugged. "Nothing much, just a black nothingness. But if you mean what I've been up to, I've been thinking."

Sora scratched his head. "Thinking?" he asked.

"Yeah. Sakuzy and Joyex teaming up with us and without even hesitating. And J, Scott, Ryan, and April also joined us with promises of adventure." Roxas looked at the stained glass floor as the deep thoughts began to seep in. "However, J's the guy who REALLY confuses me."

"Yeah. Often, he acts like he hates everyone." Sora agreed, "Except Scott and Ryan, who he treats like brothers…or at least unwanted cousins.

Roxas shook his head. "It's not that. He just seems…familiar." Roxas screwed up his face and put his fingers to his temples, trying to remember. "If I had all my memories back, I'd probably remember in a heartbeat. The only thing I remember is running to some guy who looked a bit like J."

THIS was enough to grab Sora's attention. "Someone who looks like him?" he asked, cocking his head.

Roxas nodded as he answered Sora's question. "Yeah. The guy almost looked exactly like him, save the eyes." he shuddered at the thought. "Those eyes…They were…soul-piercing."

Sora racked his thoughts for anyone resembling J, but nothing came. "Anything else?" he asked.

"One left—Sakuzy." answered Roxas.

"What about him?"

Roxas turned to his Somebody. "I bet you've heard this a lot lately, but what do you think about him?" he asked.

Sora thought about this for a while. It wasn't exactly an easy question to answer, but in the end, he nodded. "I trust him." he answered, "He's protected me and he's become a good friend and a loyal partner, plus he's recovering from his isolation on Treasure Planet."

Roxas stifled a laugh as he turned to Sora and said, "Well, I bet he'd be REALLY flattered if you said that to his face." Roxas laid down on his back and closed his eyes, looking both relaxed and confident in something. "Besides," he said, "it's a special time in three, two, one…"

The minute Roxas finished his sentence, Sora instantly woke up to a noisemaker. He bolted upright and saw Sakuzy outside his door with a small package.

"Happy sixteenth, Sora!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. He'd had a lot of practice on Treasure Planet.

Sora was quite surprised about the sudden outburst and tried to calm himself. "It's my birthday?" he asked. He had certainly lost track of time.

"Sure is!" Sakuzy answered, "Look at the calendar!"

Sora glanced at the calendar to discover that it was, indeed, his birthday. Sora laughed at himself. How could he forget his own birthday?

"It's not much, but…happy birthday." Sakuzy said, handing Sora the package. Sora eagerly opened Sakuzy's package to see a keychain, it was the same shape as Sakuzy's Eagle Feather. "Thought it could give you a hand." the Keyblader from the future explained.

Sora fiddled the keychain between his fingers, then said, "Thanks, Sakuzy."

"No problem." he answered, "C'mon, I've got breakfast ready!"

Sakuzy then did a traditional Destiny Island birthday and even got up a breakfast worthy for a Keyblader. The two were soon full to bursting as Sora leaned on his chair. "Thanks for the meal, Sakuzy! But, what'll we do with the leftovers?" he asked.

"Just leave it for Smeagol." Sakuzy answered.

A very gargoyle-looking person clambered to them on all fours and jammed all the leftovers into a sack. He then started to stroke the sack like it was some sort of living creature. "My preciousssssssssss…" he hissed.

Smeagol made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded like "Gollum" and glared at the two before he clambered away, leaving Sora and Sakuzy with rather scared looks.

"Alright THAT was creepy." Sora said, slightly disgusted at the little thing that clambered out.

"You should see the stuff that Scott has in his photo album." Sakuzy pointed out.

Sora's mind wandered to it, then it sent a shiver down his spine. He got over it quickly and clapped his new friend on the back. "Nice birthday party, Sakuzy."

"Enough compliments." Sakuzy said in a kidding voice, "I was ORIGINALLY going to get you something else, but I then found out what time we were in and left it somewhere in your house."

Sora was confused as to what Sakuzy meant, but then shrugged it off. "Okay, what world do we go to next?" he asked.

Sakuzy raced to the ship's internal scanner and pressed a few buttons. "Scanner says Olympus Coliseum." he answered.

Sora's eyes widened as he remembered the dream he had at Marshlands. He prayed that it was only a metaphor and that it wouldn't happen. Still, that didn't prevent him from saying, "Perfect."

"I'm sorry. What?" Sakuzy asked.

Sora suddenly realized that he had just said it out loud and shook his head. "Nothing." he lied, "To the coliseum, then."

Smeagol

Or "Gollum" as he's also known as. He was consumed by a Ring, or as he calls it, 'his precious'. He's now the servant of Sakuzy and is used for cleaning away leftovers. He's small, obnoxious, tone deaf, bites, and has a split personality complex to match Niki Sanders. He first appeared in _The Lord of the Rings_ 2002.

_I just couldn't resist making Gollum an incidental character._


	99. Fates and Gorillas

Chapter 99: Fates and Gorillas

Olympus Coliseum...

Sora and Sakuzy ended up in the Underworld. Sakuzy didn't like this at all, because it was NOTHING like what most people told him about the Coliseum. "Oh, not again." Sora said with displeasure.

Sakuzy looked around with an odd look. "THIS is the coliseum?" he asked.

Sora shook his head. "No. This is the Underworld." he said, then quickly added, "And NO, we're not dead."

Sakuzy sighed in relief. "Whew! For a second there, I thought…"

Sakuzy's sharp ears picked up indistinct muttering and the two turned to see Hades walking past and the god of the Underworld looked VERY ticked.

"And to make matters worse, I got to that whole Roman names deal just in time to be named PLUTO!" Hades exploded into red hellfire and looked like he was about to explode until he turned blue again and waved his fire hair back. "Fine, fine. I'm cool. I'm fine. I'm…"

The God of the Dead noticed Sakuzy and Sora, both of which had worried faces. Although they looked a little more FREAKED than worried. "Should we be concerned about this?" Sakuzy asked, "About YOU?"

Hades frowned and pointed up at the ceiling. "If you two are lookin' for the Coliseum, it's upstairs." he said, ignoring Sora completely.

"Thanks!" Sakuzy said, quickly. He and Sora then ran for the stairs that led up to the Coliseum.

Hades fingered his chin in thought. "Hmm…those kids look familiar, but I can't put my finger on it…" the god shrugged, then said, "Ah well, it'll come to me later."

Hades took the earliest ship across the River Styx, the river that carried the souls of the deceased through his domain. When he got to his main quarters, he called out for his lackeys. "Pain!"

What appeared to be a short, fat, pink demon with purple hair ran downstairs. "Coming, your most lugubrious-ness!" Pain tripped, fell down the stairs, and got his butt impaled when he landed on a spike coming out of a torch. "OW!!"

"Panic!" Hades barked.

A thinner demon that was a shade of teal came in. He had long horns and a very long nose that looked like a beak. "OH! OH! I'm sorry! I couldn't help it…"

The blue demon, Panic, ran down the stairs, clutching his heart as if it would jump out of his chest. But just as Pain was getting the spike out of his butt, he flew out and tripped both himself AND Panic, causing the taller demon to fly up and land on Panic's seat with his head. "OW!!"

Hades looked exasperated at this as Panic got himself out of Pain's massive buttocks. "PAIN…ow." Pain strained.

"And Panic." Panic said, saluting nervously.

"Reporting for duty!" they both said.

"Alright, alright." Hades said, quickly, as he walked past his lackeys, "Just tell me when the Fates get here."

Panic smiled as he said, "Oh, they're here!"

Hades instantly fired up at Panic's report. "WHAT?! THE FATES ARE HERE AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?!"

Pain and Panic dropped to their knees with a groan. "WE ARE WORMS!" they groaned. The two then turned into worms with Panic looking like a blue earthworm and Pain looking like a fat, pink grub. "WORTHLESS WORMS!"

Hades watched the two "worthless worms" sob at his feet, then said, "Alright, memo to me—maim you after my meeting."

Hades walked into a room to see a tall, blue woman with a long nose, a shorter green woman with a few strands of yellow hair, and a short one with lavender skin and various green tentacles coming out of her head. The taller two had empty eye sockets, but no eyes, while the shortest one had a single, red eye.

Upon seeing Hades, the Fates turned to the entrance. "Ladies, sorry I'm…" Hades made to apologize.

All three fates knew what was coming as they answered at the same time. "Late."

"We know." the green said.

The blue fate then took the lavender one's eye right out of the socket with a squelching noise similar to a plunger. "We know EVERYTHING. Past..." she said.

The green fate took the blue one's stolen eye and inserted it into her own socket. "Present..."

The last, short one took the eye back and placed it in her lone socket. "And future! Kingdom Hearts III, it's gonna be big."

Hades went over to a large, circular table that resembled the entire world with several game pieces. The pieces resembled either important people or monsters. "Alright, ladies, I'll cut to the chase." He told them, "Sora. Mr. Keyblade Master, Mr. 'Hey you, I'm gonna beat you senseless'. NOW he has-"

Hades never finished, because the Fates answered at exactly the same time. "Some idiot friends from the future."

"We know!" said the blue one.

Hades turned on them, firing up again like a living furnace. "I KNOW!" he roared. As Hades' mood cleared up, his fiery form died down a bit and his hair turned blue again. "YOU know, I know. I've got the concept." Hades summoned two small figures of Sakuzy and Joyex in a puff of dark smoke.

"I mean, are these guys gonna ruin my life or somethin'? Not to mention that anti-hero…" Hades summoned a figurine of J, with the scowl on his face eerily similar to the real person's. And with each new name, he summoned a miniature version of that person. "That Australian idiot, the solar-powered hyper-freak, and the Super-girl wannabe." He then placed them all around a figure of Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi. "I mean, what could these guys do to wreck my-"

--

Suddenly, in a flash of static, the screen changed to a short man with a green head like a honeydew melon, glasses, and a lab coat.

"Hello, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew reporting from Muppet Labs, where the future is being made today. Yes, TLSoulDude IS putting advertisements in his fanfictions now. Today, I have here the new Solid State Gorilla Detector."

Honeydew pointed at a machine that looked like an ape's head to his left. "Yes, friends, how many times have you woken up in the middle of the night and asked yourself, 'Is there a gorilla in here?' And how many people do YOU know whose vacations were ruined because they were eaten by undetected gorillas? Well, no more of that!"

A gorilla poked its head over the top of a power generator and the detector didn't act up. Honeydew, however, didn't notice the four-hundred-pound ape climbing over into his laboratory and continued his explanation. "If a gorilla comes anywhere near this device, its lights will flash and the bell will ring." The gorilla climbed over the wall and began to take in its surroundings. "Think of the safety, think of the sense of well being!" Honeydew said, inspiration in his voice, "At last, you and your family will be protected from the heartbreak of gorilla invasion!"

The gorilla then decided that he didn't like this place and started to destroy the laboratory. It punched holes in machinery and used parts of it to destroy even more. Dr. Honeydew jolted to see the creature, then examined the machine, taking off his glasses to make sure it worked.

The machine didn't flash any lights or ring any bells, so Honeydew continued. "That creature is NOT a gorilla. If he were a gorilla, the lights would flash and the bell would ring. Yes, Muppet Technology is WONDERFUL! It is telling us that we are NOT seeing a gorilla smash a cabinet! Therefore, I can scientifically explain that I am…" The gorilla grabbed Dr. Honeydew in its powerful arms and began to mug him. "NOT BEING EATEN BY A GORILLA!!"

The gorilla dragged a screaming Honeydew off camera and the detector chose that time to go wild, lights flashing and bells ringing. After a second or two, the gorilla picked the device up and smashed it on the ground, stomping it to emphasize its point.

--

After another static flash, the camera was back in the Underworld with Sora and Sakuzy. The two were exchanging confused looks. "What was THAT all about?" Sora asked.

"Don't ask me." Sakuzy answered.

Back with Hades, he and the Fates were looking just as confused as Sora and Sakuzy were. "I have no idea what that was about." the Underworld God said with a curious look.

The purple Fate shrugged. "We didn't quite understand it either…"

The Fates

Three old hags who can read the paths of fate. Hades called them to a hither-to-unknown meeting to complain about Sakuzy, Joyex, J, Scott, Ryan, and April. They first appeared in _Hercules_ 1996.

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew

A scientist from the same world as Kermit the Frog. Honeydew is always showing off his inventions, no matter how defective they may be, from exploding hats to the strongest glue in the world. His first Disney appearance was in _Muppet's Christmas Carol _1993.


	100. Simply Smashing

Chapter 100: Simply Smashing

Sora and Sakuzy walked into the registration area where they saw Sora's old satyr buddy, Phil, who didn't see THEM. "Hey, champ." he greeted, his back to them, "Ready for another day of fightin'?"

Sora scoffed, then asked, "Mistook me for Hercules again, huh Phil?"

Phil turned around to see the two and his normally grouchy face turned to one of excitement. "Sora! How've ya been, rookie?" he asked, giving Sora the knux.

"A-OK, Phil." Sora answered, "I think I might have gained my 'true hero wings' as you call 'em."

"Pffbth! I'll believe it when I see it!" Phil said, proudly. He searched the entire area, then scratched his head. "Uh where are the grouchy duck and dim dog?"

"They're…somewhere else." Sora answered, scratching his head, "This is a friend I'm bringing to help called Sakuzy."

Phil looked Sakuzy over from top to bottom, then then turned his back on him. "So, the junior brought in a guy who ain't a hero?" he asked.

"WHAT?!" Sakuzy growled at the goat-man.

Phil went up to Sakuzy and held up two fingers. "Sorry, buddy, but I've got two words for ya—you AIN'T a hero!" Phil exclaimed, his word count completely wrong.

"That's four words, goat-legs." Sakuzy said, flatly.

Sora put a hand on Sakuzy before he could do anything. "Relax, Sakuzy. He always acts like that." Sora assured him, then asked, "So, can Sakuzy join the tournament?"

Phil thought it over quickly, then answered, "No. He ain't got a pass."

"Actually…" Sakuzy said, smugly, as he held out a pass and Phil's eyes widened.

"Let me rephrase that, buddy. YOU'RE IN!" Phil's mood had changed so suddenly, he didn't even notice it.

As Phil walked off, both Sora and Sakuzy spoke in VERY hushed whispers. "Where'd you get that?" Sora asked.

"I found it on display at a museum." Sakuzy said, pocketing the ticket VERY carefully, "Just don't report me to the police."

Sora and Sakuzy shook on it. "Deal."

Phil walked over to Sakuzy with a scroll of parchment in his hands. "Alright…Sakuzy, was it? You start off in the preliminaries, kid." he informed.

Sakuzy obviously didn't like being called "kid" as he called, "Hey, goat-man, ever hear about lamb chops?!"

Sora spoke from the corner of his mouth, in order not to be heard. "Quiet, Sakuzy..."

_(This is the part where you insert chaotic music…)_

Round 1…

Sora was fighting some Simple Heartless and ended up underneath a dog pile before casting Thundaga. "Man, I hate it when they do that…" Sora said, brushing dust off himself.

Round 2…

Sakuzy was fighting a rather large Heartless and Sora was cheering him on. Next to him appeared Sakuzy, who had a few refreshments. "Hot dog?" Sakuzy asked.

Sora quickly glanced between the stadium and Sakuzy, trying to see what exactly happened here. Sakuzy simply shrugged and sipped something from a cup labeled "Hercu-lade".

Round 3…

Sora was being chased by a very large Heartless, but it quickly changed when Sora started chasing the Heartless, throwing fire spells at it as it ran away.

Final Round…

Sakuzy was walking across the lobby and saw what appeared to be a woman in a red cloak. Eagle Feather flashed to life in his hand as one word escaped his mouth. "Crystalli!" The woman turned and spotted him on that word. She stayed only for a second, then vanished in a flash of red light. Sakuzy growled in disgust as he dispelled his blade. "Good to see you're still on your toes, Joan." he muttered.

Sakuzy turned to walk back where he came from when he suddenly tripped over an odd black material. Hades grinned as he helped him back up. "Oh, I'm sorry! Clumsy me." he apologized.

Hades smiled maliciously behind Sakuzy's back and walked away as Sora walked towards Sakuzy. "Boy, that guy sure was nice." Sakuzy said with a casual shrug.

Sora noticed Hades walking away, then noticed something about Sakuzy's pants. "For a pickpocket." he finished.

Sakuzy's eyes widened as he checked his pockets for something. It wasn't there anymore. "Hey…where's my wallet?" he asked in surprise.

Hades laughed as he lifted up his prize, but was quite surprised to see what he just took. "WHAT?! I wanted his LOCKET, not his WALLET!" he roared. Hades opened up the wallet and studied it, then pointed at one part of it with his spindly finger. "Hey, this guy's driver's license is expired…"

Pain and Panic ran over and caught the wallet as Hades chucked it over his shoulder. Pain pulled out an important-looking card and exclaimed, excitedly, "Hey! This guy's got a Hercules Fan Club membership card!"

Panic perked up and dashed over to Pain. "Let ME see!" he begged like a child.

Panic took the card only to have it burned up by Hades and the blue demon deflated slightly. Hades seized the wallet, then took all the munny and handed it to the two demons. "Here. Buy yourselves something nice." he said, indifferently.

Hades then walked away, muttering under his breath. His plan backfired this time, but he knew it wouldn't fail THIS time…

_TLSoulDude: Whew. Finally, I got to Chapter 100._

_Dimensiondude: No worries, bro, just seventy chapters left._

_TLSoulDude: D'OH!_

_Lunatic121: Guess there are a few worries..._


	101. In the Underworld

Chapter 101: In the Underworld

Sakuzy walked back out to the arena, ready for his final match, but tripped AGAIN over black material. Hades tripped him again, but then muttered something to himself. "Get it right this time…"

The God of the Dead helped Sakuzy back to his feet and walked away again. Only, when Sakuzy turned to face the god, he wasn't there anymore. When he spoke again, he was clearly irritated. "Alright, what'd he take THIS time?!" Sakuzy checked his pockets before realizing what was gone. "Joyex's locket!"

Sora ran over to Sakuzy, then said, "C'mon, Sakuzy. We're up next!"

Sakuzy shook his head as he said, "No, I can't go! Hades took Joyex's locket!"

Sora's eyes widened at what Sakuzy just said. "What?!"

"He took the locket with half of Joyex's half-heart in it." Sakuzy explained, "If he knows how to use it, he could make Joyex his slave FOREVER!"

"Then let's go get it…wait, we still have a match to do." Sora said, stamping his foot.

Suddenly, as if the heavens above had heard them, Phil's voice boomed over the stadium, as though he were speaking through a megaphone. "Attention everyone!" the satyr said, "The next match has been postponed because one of the contestants tripped over a banana peel and landed in a wood chipper. The opponents will take a break while we salvage him."

Sakuzy and Sora stared at the sheer coincidence of this event, then shrugged. "Problem solved."

"We'd better go to the Underworld. That's where I'd go if I was Hades…" Sora said, planning ahead.

The two nodded, then ran off for the Underworld's main gate.

Meanwhile, the woman in the red cloak reappeared and chuckled slightly. "Well, what a coincidence. While the two Keybladers are away, I can play." she said with a chuckle. The woman then walked off as quiet as a ghost.

Underworld...

Sora and Sakuzy were back in the dank cavern that Hades called "home". And to be frank, Sakuzy didn't like it at all. "Any plans, Sora?" he asked.

"Get the locket from Hades and get back up to the coliseum, taking out any Heartless in the way, of course." Sora said. The plan had worked for him before.

Sakuzy shrugged at the simplicity of the plan. "Sounds good to me." he said, "AND I have my coup de grace." Sakuzy held out the Thunder Charm and flipped it like a coin before catching it again.

"Who does THAT summon?" Sora asked.

Sakuzy grinned before pocketing the charm. "You'll see soon enough, my friend." he answered, coolly.

The two walked through the Underworld until Sora realized something. "Hey, I thought the Underworld drained the energy of any hero that entered it. How come you're okay?" he asked.

"I've had a…previous encounter here." Sakuzy answered, uneasily, "And I've used the Olympus Stone."

After a while, Sora and Sakuzy came to Hades' lair and hid behind a corner. They peeked around it and saw that the god of the dead was fingering the locket. He was also looking at it like it was some sort of exotic predator. "So, lemme see if I got this straight. All I have to do is give this trinket a squeeze and that future guy's Nobody friend will be sent into a world of excruciating pain?" he asked himself, then chuckled, "Sounds painful…"

Sakuzy didn't need to see Hades' face to see a malevolent smile and soon, he just couldn't wait anymore; he bolted out and summoned his Keyblade. "Basically! Too bad you won't get a chance to use it!" he said, accusingly, "And by the way, your jokes STINK."

Hades turned on the spot, his face that of slight shock. He then laughed, showing off every one of his needle-like teeth. "Ah, my little friend back at the coliseum." he said with a smile, "Here, sorry for stealing the wallet." Hades took the wallet and tossed it to Sakuzy, who caught it in midair.

Sora, deciding to play along, ran out to join Sakuzy and summoned his Keyblade, too. If Sakuzy was going to take on Hades, he would need all the help he could get. Sakuzy ran at Hades and took a swing at him, only to see him vanish after his first slice. "Coward!" he growled.

Hades reappeared behind Sakuzy and clicked his tongue. "Ah, nothing but the old Styx and stones, kid." he said, almost casually.

Sakuzy wheeled around and tried a blade spell, but it only cut off a stalactite instead of Hades. Hades reappeared a good distance away, then threw a fireball at the future Keyblader. It exploded on contact, sending Sakuzy into the adjacent wall. He got up and ran at him again and got the same result as the previous times; missing Hades AGAIN.

"Y'know, Sakuzy, you and I aren't so different." Hades pointed out, holding up his spindly finger.

Sakuzy saw Hades in his chair, strumming his bony fingers on the arm of the chair with a smile on his face. Sakuzy clenched his teeth as he spoke. "I'm NOTHING like you!"

Hades clicked his tongue. "Trying to convince YOURSELF as much as me, huh?" he asked, "Well, we BOTH know that that's not true."

Sora pulled out the charm Van Helsing gave him and eyed it. The monster killer told Sora to call him whenever he needed him and now seemed to be a good time. He raised the Hunter Charm into the air and called out the name.

"Van Helsing!"

Out of a ghostly mist, Van Helsing appeared and took out his crossbow. He loaded it, then asked, "What are we up against and how do we kill it?"

Hades' eyes almost popped out of his head as he stood up out of his chair. Van Helsing pulled the trigger of his crossbow and held on as multiple bolts fired at tremendous speed and struck Hades in multiple places. The bolts pelted Hades in the chest, going right through, but hurting the God of Death nonetheless. When the last arrow hit, Hades vanished in smoke.

"Until next time." Van Helsing made the symbol of a cross on his chest, then vanished back into his world.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Hades reappeared next to Sakuzy in a puff of smoke. Hades was clutching his side as though his ribs ached from a long run. "Ugh...ouch...Y'know, Sora, that really hurt." Hades huffed, then turned his attention to Sakuzy. "Now, where were we?"

"Can it!" Sakuzy snapped. He swung his Keyblade up into Hades' face and sent his head sharply reclining upwards. Sora did notice that Sakuzy seemed to be getting angrier than usual. If he got too out of control, Sora would have to get involved.

Oddly enough, Hades simply laughed as he regained his balance from Sakuzy's strike. "Ya see, THAT'S another thing about us, Sakuzy." he pointed out with a raised finger, "We BOTH have rotten tempers."

Sakuzy now had the same look that Sora saw in his dream—one of pure, uncontrolled rage that could frighten the devil himself. Sakuzy tried striking him down, but Hades grabbed his Keyblade and threw him at the wall, where a pillar fell around his midsection, pinning him to the ground. He tried pushing it off him to no avail.

Sora pointed his Keyblade at Hades like an accusing finger, though he still realized what was going on…

"Hades, leave him alone!" Sora growled.

Hades turned to Sora with a crafty smile on his face and chuckled. "Heh, I don't need to cause him physical pain, kid." he said with a raised finger, "Taking the last person he had, now that's enough damage for me, wouldn't you say?"

Sakuzy tried to push the pillar off him, then uttered the very same roar he produced in Sora's dream. "I hate you SO MUCH!"

Hades simply rolled his eyes in casual indifference and clicked his tongue. "Feeling's mutual, future freak." he responded, then turned to Sora. "Anyway, Sora, wanna know WHY this guy's been protecting you for as long as he could? Why he threw himself at great peril just to keep you safe?"

Sakuzy's efforts to heave the pillar off suddenly ceased as Hades finished that sentence, but then his eyes widened with unimaginable terror. "Hades! No! You can't just reveal this!" he begged.

Hades turned, then said, "You, I'm ignoring." He turned to Sora, then said, "The reason why he's been protecting you so bravely is because he's…" Hades decided to take a dramatic pause to watch Sakuzy try and heave the pillar off his chest. After a minute, he got back to business. "Oh, what the heck. I'm just gonna spill the beans!" he said, suddenly, "The reason why he's been protecting you is because he's your great-grandson!"

There was a stunned silence and Sakuzy stopped trying to heave the pillar off his chest. Sora stared at Hades, then to Sakuzy. Had he heard what he just thought he heard?

_Van Helsing's Rapid Fire._


	102. The Truth About Sakuzy

Chapter 102: The Truth about Sakuzy

Sora stared at Hades, then to Sakuzy, both with different expressions. The look Sora gave Hades was one of disbelief while the one he gave Sakuzy seemed to ask "what". "My great-grandson?" he asked in shock.

Hades pointed his finger at Sora and was now so close to him that he could touch him. He did, and Sora flinched whenever Hades touched him. "Geez Louise, you're thick. Think, kid!" he barked, "He's from the future and he's kept you out of harm's way for as long as he could. The reason he's been quote un-quote 'protecting' you, was because if you died during this time, he'd poof out of existence faster than you can say 'Aphrodite'."

Sakuzy suddenly regained his strength and summoned Eagle Feather. He aimed his Keyblade and used a Blade Spell to cut the pillar in half, freeing him. Then, with a battle cry, he ran at Hades and hacked at him, causing the fiery god to vanish. However, before Hades vanished, he laughed a sinister laugh.

"He's in another part of the Underworld!" Sakuzy said, his tone similar to a military commando's, "If we hurry, we can still get him!" Sakuzy started to run, but saw Sora, who was still standing where he originally was, his expression still shocked. He stopped, then asked, " Sora?"

Sora turned to Sakuzy, his expression one of questioning. His voice was shaky and quiet as he asked, "What Hades said…is it true?"

Sakuzy sighed as he lowered his head and dismissed his Keyblade. It was time to come clean. "Yes."

Sora looked towards him and seemed to say 'why didn't you tell me?!' without even saying a word. "In THAT case, you weren't protecting ME, you were protecting YOURSELF!" Sora said, unable to contain it, his whole body feeling like it was on fire, "Narnia, Skull Island, Treasure Planet…EVERYTHING YOU DID FOR ME WAS FOR YOU!"

Sakuzy turned to leave, but Sora cast Graviga and the huge door of the Underworld slammed down. "You're NOT getting out with a loophole, Sakuzy. NOT this time!" he said, his voice still coarse, "You're staying until you tell me the truth!"

Sakuzy slouched over, then straightened up and faced Sora. "I should've told you at the earliest opportunity, Sora. Then, probably, none of this would be happening." Sakuzy said, admitting his wrongs, "Get comfortable, I'm going to tell you EVERYTHING that happened."

Sora sat down on a rock and Sakuzy sat down in front of him.

"I guess this begins with the Crystalli invasion of Destiny Islands." Sakuzy said, pretty sure where to begin.

"Crystalli invasion?" Sora asked, not exactly remembering any Crystalli invading the islands at one point.

Sakuzy nodded. "Yeah. You see, as you could probably guess, Chrysallis and the Crystalli hosts aren't native to this timeline. As far as I know, the regular Crystalli ARE from this time."

"I guess it explains how you know those Crystalli Hosts so well…" Sora said, remembering all the names Sakuzy used for them.

"Exactly. Anyway, Chrysallis' origins are unknown, but I know how the others were born, seeing as most of them were my best friends." Sakuzy said, almost mournfully. He pulled out a small gadget and placed it on his hand.

"What's that?" Sora asked.

"It's a device that can project thoughts and memories into the environment. At the moment, it's stationary thoughts." Sakuzy explained, "Anyway, my friends that got turned into Crystalli hosts were Jim…" In a flash of blue light, a hologram of Emerald, without the green eyes and the crystal in his shoulder appeared.

With each name Sakuzy gave, a different Crystalli Host appeared.

"Depth..." A hologram of Aquamarine, without the teal eyes and the crystal over his heart appeared. "Adrian..." A hologram of Amethyst, save the Crystalli features appeared. "And my Master." Finally, a man similar to Sapphire, minus all Crystalli features appeared.

Sakuzy dismissed these holograms, then placed the gadget on his temple. The gloom of the Underworld instantly changed to Destiny Islands in a flicker of light. "Destiny Islands, in my time, used to be a land of peace and the universe was ruled by the Keybladers until it became a utopian universe—peaceful and just…that is until Chrysallis and the Crystalli arrived."

A few Crystalli soldiers marched up out of the water of the island like some sort of vengeful sea creatures and readied their machine-gun arms. Sakuzy, Joey, Depth, Jim, Adrian, and some girl that Sakuzy never mentioned started fighting the Crystalli with their Keyblades. "None of us saw it coming." Sakuzy said, solemnly, "Just a few came at first, then hundreds, finally thousands. THIS started the war."

The holographic six ran off into the jungle with some other Keybladers. Apparently, the Keybladers were far outnumbered with some dead or converted. "The Crystalli War ravaged the world until it was consumed with battle. All who fought them were killed or converted to Crystalli hosts, until there were only three of us left—me, Joyex, and Maya."

Sakuzy, Joyex, and the girl that Sora guessed was Maya were in a cave and surrounded by Crystalli Soldiers and Neo Soldiers. They readied their Keyblades, in Joyex's case, chain whip. "With nothing left to lose and a will to rather die than join the Crystalli, we readied for a fight that would, most likely, be our last." Sakuzy explained, "Unfortunately…" Sakuzy, Joyex, and Maya were cornered and captured by Aquamarine, Sapphire, and Topaz. "They didn't kill us. They enslaved us instead, making us their little toys. Then we were thrown into a cold, dank, dingy dungeon where we were tortured if we didn't give in to the Crystalli."

The hosts were doing various forms of painful, but not fatal, torture to the three. Maya looked on the verge of tears while Sakuzy and Joyex's faces were no more than expressionless masks. "Then, one day, they took Maya away. She was so tired from the torture that she didn't have enough energy to even resist."

Amethyst and Topaz were dragging Maya, who looked about half-conscious, away. Sora saw several tears fall from Sakuzy's eyes. "I never saw her after that. For all I know, she could be dead!" Sakuzy brushed the tears off, then got back to business. "Anyway, Joyex and I escaped from that jail…with a little help from Emerald. Maybe I should turn on the audio."

Sakuzy pressed another button as Emerald rolled a cart with books down a cell. Sora heard him unlock the cage and wheel the cart in. "_Want some reading material?_" the green Crystalli Host asked.

Joyex picked up a book that said 'Keyblading for Dummies' and pocketed it. Sakuzy picked up a book that said 'How to Escape from Alien Overlords'. "_Hmm…this could help._" he said to himself.

Sakuzy suddenly belted Emerald over the head with the book, knocking the Crystalli out.

Joyex blinked, then said, "_Well, I didn't see THAT coming._"

Sakuzy paused, then pointed out, "_Joyex, that's what you said about 'The Mummy Returns'._"

Joyex nodded. "_Point taken._"

The two quickly made their escape as the holograms faded.

Sora then turned to Sakuzy, who had tearstains across his face. "What happened after that?" he asked.

Sakuzy brushed the tears away again, thinking them a nuisance, then answered. "Joyex and I escaped to Radiant Garden before long. A descendant of Cid Highwind invented a time machine and we went back in time to prevent this from ever happening. And from what I can tell, the Crystalli replicated this process and followed us a few days afterwards."

For a while, there was only silence, then Sora put a hand on Sakuzy's shoulder. "Thanks for telling me the truth. And I never knew that much happened. But What're you going to do now, Sakuzy?" he asked.

Sakuzy brushed Sora's arm off his shoulder and summoned the Eagle Feather Keyblade. "Go back to the future." he answered.

Sora couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sakuzy was basically giving up now and he didn't care? "But, you didn't get rid of the Crystalli! What'll you do if they're still there?" he said, trying to reason with him.

Sakuzy gave a weak grin that lasted enough for him to give his answer. "Give them a fight they're bound to remember, that's what." Sakuzy's grin faded as he stared at the ground. "There's nothing left for me. Because of those Crystalli and Hades, I've lost my family and all my friends. No one needs me anymore."

Sora took a sudden step forward. "THAT'S NOT TRUE! I need you, Sakuzy!" he argued.

Sakuzy was still a bit blank in the face even on Sora's exclamation. He dismissed it, then said, "I saw your face when I told you what Hades said was true. You don't-"

Sakuzy didn't finish, because Sora spoke up again after he did some quick thinking. "What about Joyex? HE needs you!" Sora had to keep up his work, otherwise he would lose this friend who had helped him so much. "What about Riku and Kairi, they need you as much as Joyex does! And Donald, Goofy, J, Scott, Ryan, and April, we ALL need you!" Sora sniffed, seemingly on the verge of tears himself. "Look, I know it's not the same without your friends and you miss them a lot. But then, won't we miss YOU as much if you go into a battle that even YOU know you'll just get killed in?"

Sakuzy paused. Neither knew how much time passed, but suddenly, the pieces came together. Sakuzy smiled and looked up at Sora. He got to his feet and embraced the Keyblade Master like a brother. "Thanks, Sora." he said, quietly, "I needed that…"

Kairi and co.'s ship…

When Kairi slept one night, she ended up back on her mural where Namine was waiting for her. "Huh? Why'd I end up here?" she asked.

Namine seemed both happy and proud at the same time. In a flash of light, the hand mirror appeared in the blonde Nobody's hand, then she asked, "Remember Sakuzy's mural?"

Kairi raised an eyebrow, but nodded nonetheless. Namine closed her eyes, happily as she announced, "It's changed."

Kairi cocked her head. "Changed?" she asked, "How?"

"Yes. The entire mural has changed." Namine explained, "It happens whenever someone has a really DEEP change of heart. Want to see it?"

Kairi almost jumped to it, but then paused. "Wait. Won't it waste another trip?" she asked.

Namine giggled slightly, then answered, "Don't worry, this one's free since you've been there before."

"In that case, yes." Kairi said, returning to her eager will to explore again.

Namine held up the hand mirror as Kairi concentrated on Sakuzy again. She fell through nothingness as she landed on an unfamiliar mural. Instead of indigo, this one was golden yellow. It had Sakuzy in the center, predictably, and had the pictures of Sora, Riku, herself, Donald, Goofy, Joyex, J, Scott, Ryan, April, and the girl he called Maya, who still had a red heart around her. She and Riku now had blue hearts around them and Sora, surprisingly, had a green one.

_A green heart? _Kairi thought to herself,_ Namine never mentioned a green one. What does it mean? _Kairi pondered this for a moment, then reached the only reasonable conclusion. _It must mean that they're closer than brothers now._ Kairi smiled as she said, out loud, _I think I should talk with one of them soon…_

_Yes, I know I got Sora's little talk-out speech from Secondhand Lions (which is a VERY good movie), but I just like that part. Helped ME in a situation where I felt like I was unneeded, too._

_By the way, in that movie, Haley Joel Osment (AKA; Sora) played Walter. He did a good job, too, in my opinion._


	103. Auron Returns

Chapter 103: Auron Returns

Sakuzy and Sora ran through the Underworld in search of Hades with their Keyblades drawn and slaying any Heartless in their way. Now that Sakuzy had his confidence back, there was no stopping them. They had just reached the exit when the entrance to Hades' room, they screeche to a halt in front of a large Heartless that they had never seen before. It had a bull-like head and horns, but also had the body of a hideously deformed man, teeth like a lion, and the Heartless symbol on its forehead.

"O-kay, let's see what we've got here…" Sakuzy whipped out his field guide to Heartless and came upon an exact duplicate of the Heartless. "Oh, crud! A Minotaur Heartless!"

This Heartless was HUGE, easily as tall as the king of Skull Island with chains wrapped around its wrists and cuffs on its hoof-like ankles. The Minotaur charged forward as fast as a school bus and raised its mighty fist. Both dashed to opposite sides just as the beast's fist collided with the ground. The impact shattered any rock that was too close as though a bomb had suddenly gone off where it punched.

Sakuzy jumped up the monster's forearm and up to his shoulder as it suddenly noticed it had a little pest problem. The Minotaur made to swat Sakuzy like a mosquito, but only succeeded in grabbing thin air. Sakuzy had jumped at the last second and swung his Keyblade, severing one of the Minotaur's horns. It growled in irritation as it seized Sakuzy by the leg and heaved him across the room. Sakuzy landed with a crash and dropped to the ground.

Sora suddenly took his turn and threw his Keyblade in a Strikeraid that pelted the Minotaur right in the face. It grunted in pain and shook its head before snorting at Sora. It charged and raised both its fists just as Sora dove forward. Sora sailed right through the gap between the Minotaur's legs just as the ground behind him exploded into rubble. Sora took the moment of weakness and hacked the Minotaur's right leg with his Ultima Weapon. The Heartless roared, then backhanded Sora with enough force to send him flying back, too.

Sora and Sakuzy turned to each other and nodded as they grinned.

"Sakuzy!"

"Let's do this!" Sakuzy started spinning his Keyblade around and cast his version Aeroga. The tornado it issued sent Sora flying into the air, who then threw his Keyblade at the Minotaur Heartless. The beast reared its horned head and roared in pain and anger as it clutched its wound. Sora then brought his Keyblade down on its forehead to stun the beast as he landed on the ground.

"Now it's YOUR turn." Sakuzy said, "Sora!"

"Alright!" Sora hooked arms with Sakuzy and they started spinning like a living buzz saw. Both Keyblades struck the Heartless across the head and they both jumped into the air and shot light beams. The two beams combined into one blast and shot right through the Minotaur's shoulder. The Heartless clutched its wounds, then a heart floated from its chest and the beast vanished. When they landed, they gave each other a high five.

Suddenly, the two heard the sound of footsteps; someone was coming from around the corner.

"Hades?" Sakuzy asked, suspiciously.

"One way to find out…" Sora answered.

They waited for the person to come around the corner, then sprung out with their Keyblades. Steel met steel and they suddenly realized that this wasn't Hades. He did, however wear a red robe and had an arm slung in his robe, probably some oath he paid as a warrior.

Sora instantly recognized the long sword they hit and that the person had spiky black hair and a scarred left eye. "Oh, hey Auron!" he greeted.

All three of them sheathed their weapons and Auron gave Sora a questioning look. "Is that any way to greet an old friend after all this time?" he asked, "Now where were you planning to strike me?"

Sakuzy scratched the back of his head, nervously. "Sorry." he apologized, "We mistook you for Hades."

Auron stifled a chuckle. "So, you're looking for Hades, too?"

Sakuzy paused, then answered, "Yes. Why?"

"When you two didn't come back to the Coliseum, I was sent looking for you." Auron explained, "I guessed Hades had something to do with it, so I came back down here."

"Well, we'd love to get back to the Coliseum, but…" Sora's voice was suddenly drowned out by a sea of all-too-familiar creatures: Heartless. All three of them turned and faced the sea of black creatures with their weapons out.

"Well, it's a group of three now. The more the merrier…" Sakuzy said, tense but calm.

"And he's an old friend, too." Sora pointed out.

The group jumped into the sea of Heartless, hacking at them until the ground itself seemed to spew up pink hearts. One of the Heartless, however, escaped and ran to Hades, who was with Pain and Panic. The Heartless appeared to speak to him.

"So, those Keybladers are back in action with…who again?" he asked.

Oddly enough, the Heartless spoke, though it was NOTHING like Xehanort, Dracula, or any of the other Vampire Heartless. "Auron." it said in a barely audible whisper.

Hades looked a little struck at that one word. Panic, on the other hand, was looking a little edgy. "Auron…" he pondered, "Why does that name ring a bell?"

Pain shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe we owe him money?" The two were struggling to remember while Hades seemed to be getting VERY ticked and starting to turn a shade of crimson. Suddenly, a memory popped into Pain's head. "Wait a minute!" he said with sudden realization, "Wasn't Auron the name of that guy we were supposed to…"

The two suddenly noticed Hades reaching for them with ever-extending, smoky arms. "OH MY GOSH!" they both screamed.

The tried running away, but Hades grabbed a hold of them by their demonic tails. He was SLOWLY dragging the two demons towards him, their nails digging deep into the dark earth, leaving deep gouges in it. "You told me he was DEAD!" Hades growled, "Dead as a doornail! Weren't those your EXACT words?!" Hades had both demons by the throats and his face looked full to exploding.

"This might be a DIFFERENT Auron!" Pain said, trying to find a way out.

"Yeah, it could be a-" Hades increased his strangle hold on Panic and the blue demon's voice was now raspy and strangled. "A VERY POPULAR NAME NOWADAYS!"

"Wasn't it a few years ago that every other guy was named 'Jason' and the girls were only 'Britney'?!" Panic asked, before Hades increased his strangle hold on him.

Hades' teeth clenched so hard that it almost created sparks and his fists turned red-hot as his fingers dug deep into the two lesser beings, turning them the color of heated metal. Just as he was about to roar at the top of his lungs in fury, Sora, Sakuzy, and Auron burst through the door.

"Knock-knock!" Sakuzy announced.

Hades dropped Pain and Panic, who now had a red handprint burned into their heads. "Ah, must we go through this again?" Hades asked, impatiently, "You try and attack, I evade every attempt, you get angry, and you nearly get yourself killed."

Sakuzy smirked. "Let's just say Sora helped give me a new outlook on these things." he explained, "By the way, I can summon an old 'friend' of yours, Hades. I mean it!"

Hades didn't appear to take him seriously. "Oh, Pffbth! Right. And I'm voiced by James Woods." he scoffed.

Sakuzy shook his head as he said, "You have no idea."

"I guess I'll have to fight you for you to believe it…again!" Sora said, his hand at the ready.

Sora took out his Keyblade and Auron heaved his sword over his shoulder and the two charged, but Sakuzy sulked behind. He and Sora agreed that Sakuzy would not try to be Sora's bodyguard this time and Sakuzy was NOT the promise-breaker. They also had a secret plan for Sakuzy…

Auron swung his sword at Hades only to have it miss the god of the dead by a hair. But when Hades reappeared, Sora was there to meet him with a swing of his Keyblade. The blow sent Hades crashing into the nearby wall. Hades flared up, summoned a fireball that was easily as wide as a wrecking ball and chucked it at the two. Sora acted on instinct and pointed his Keyblade at the oncoming orb.

"Mega Flare!"

A burst of flame erupted from Sora's Keyblade and intercepted the fireball in midair. The result was an explosion, sending both sides flying through the air.

The blast also did, however, shake the locket out of Hades' hand. Sakuzy made a swift motion just as Hades got up and snatched the locket back. The flaming god swung the locket around by its chain with a smug look on his face. "Alright!" he said, coolly, "Just for THAT, your Nobody friend gets his heart broken!"

Hades squeezed the locket with a contemptuous grin, but Sakuzy simply smiled. "Careful, Hades." he pointed out, "That one's SOLID gold."

Hades' eyes widened as he saw Sakuzy waving ANOTHER locket a small distance away. Hades quickly pried the locket open only to find a small piece of paper with a note scribbled on it. The note had only one word written on it: "sucker". Hades burst into scarlet flame. "WHAT?!" he roared.

"Now that you can't threaten my friend, Hades, it's time for ME to get into the battle!" Sakuzy said, his Eagle Feather in hand.

Sakuzy started spinning his Keyblade around and cast his version of Aeroga. A tornado suddenly blew Hades away to the ground, but when he got back up, his fire hair had been blown out. He touched his now-bald head and asked, "Whoa, is my hair out?"

While Hades pondered a way to put his hair back, Sora reached out and touched Auron.

"Drive!"

In a flash of light, Auron was gone. Sora had done Drive with Auron to form Master before, but THIS never happened. When the light faded, Sora's clothes were a deep shade of red with midnight-blue outlines on his shorts. The symbols on his drive shorts changed into the same patterns that Sora often found on Auron's robe. He also had a scar over his left eye, his left arm was tucked into his shirt, and his Keyblade was now twice as long as it used to be and had turned into Guardian Soul. Strangely, he could heave it over his shoulder with relative ease, and single-handed, too.

Sora chuckled to himself. "Heh. I've always wanted to do that." he said to himself.

Sora ran at Hades and brought his Keyblade smashing into the god of the Underworld. Hades simply recovered from this and seized the giant Keyblade before Sora could even do it again. "That's old stuff, kid. Try again!"

As Hades pushed Sora away, Sora pushed back with seemingly equal force. Sora suddenly shifted the angle of his blade and wrenched it free of Hades' grip before hacking the god across the chest. Oddly enough, Hades didn't vanish into smoke this time; he actually seemed hurt. Sakuzy then took his chance and slashed with his Keyblade to make Hades go into the direction that Sora was in. Sora slashed him back to Sakuzy, and the process continued.

After using Hades as a living Ping-Pong ball, Sakuzy danced away from Hades' oncoming fireball and held out his Thunder Charm. "I warned you before, Hades!" he said, matter-of-factly, then held out the Thunder Charm and shouted, "Zeus!"

Thunder rained from the heavens as a large man with glowing, orange skin, a purple toga, and a white beard and hair appeared. The man was over ten feet tall and glowed in a way that Sora knew all-too-well: Hercules did it last time they were at the Underworld. The god, known as Zeus, took out two fistfuls of thunderbolts with a hearty laugh. "Now, watch your old man work!" he said, proudly.

Hades looked dumbfounded. He knew Sakuzy said an "old friend", but he didn't exactly know who THAT was. "Oh. I guess you weren't bluffing." he said, simply.

Outside the Underworld, an electric explosion and Hades' screaming sounded and was so loud that you could hear it about a mile away.

When Zeus vanished back to Mt. Olympus, Sakuzy and Sora came out of their hiding spot wearing hard-hats. Sora's drive with Auron ended as the guardian appeared next to him and gave the Keyblade Master a piercing glare. "Warn me next time you do that." he scolded.

Sora chuckled, nervously, then said, "Sorry."

Sakuzy then took the locket that Hades mistook for Joyex's heart locket and cleaned the soot off it. Hades was twitching feebly next to it and Sakuzy couldn't resist kicking him. It overjoyed him to see Hades growl slightly.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to get back up to the coliseum." Sakuzy said, "Maybe they hospitalized the contestant."

"Well-said, Sakuzy." Sora said, then both made their way for the exit.

Zeus

The king of the gods and Hercules' father who rules on Mt. Olympus, a city on the top of the giant mountain and is made of clouds. Whenever Sakuzy calls, he arrives with a few fistfuls of thunderbolts, which he flings at his enemies. He first appeared in _Hercules_ 1996.

Minotaur

A Heartless found only in the Underworld. It possesses immense strength and takes orders only from Hades, but can be tricked if you know what you're doing.

_That would be Sakuzy's Keyblade Whirlwind, Sora's Key Tornado, and Zeus' Thunder Blitz._

_Auron's Guardian Drive: In this drive, Sora is immune to the effects of the Underworld and can actually harm spiritual beings with a sword alone._


	104. Ruby

Chapter 104: Ruby

When Sora, Sakuzy, and Auron got to the Coliseum, they were QUITE surprised to see that it was almost in ruins. They then saw that the culprits were several large Crystalli. Crystalli that were about nine feet tall, had heads similar to Soldiers and beady, little eyes. They were heavily built with broad shoulders and from behind, they looked a bit like some sort of beetle. These Crystalli also had large, thick arms that ended in broad, three-fingered hands, and legs that looked easily as powerful.

Sakuzy mentally slapped himself in the face, he groaned, "Out of all the Crystalli in the world, they had to be Crystalli Brawlers!" On seeing Sora's confused expression, he quickly added, "Trust me. These guys are hard to kill."

Sakuzy summoned his Keyblade and charged. He leapt up and struck the nearest Brawler on the "head", but didn't appear to do any physical damage. The Brawler, though thick-skinned, did notice that someone tried to strike it, then took a swing at Sakuzy with an open-hand strike, but the only thing that got smashed was the ground, which shattered like a small bomb had gone off there.

Sakuzy had dodged the Brawler's attack, then took a swing at its arm, except that he got the same result. "CRUD!" he cursed.

The Brawler brought its outstretched arm into Sakuzy, slamming him into the nearest stadium wall with a loud SMASH. Sakuzy hit the now-crushed wall and only slumped to the ground with a moan when the Brawler removed its arm.

Sora saw the need to help Sakuzy and shot a Blast spell at the Brawler. The small ball exploded, sending the Crystalli to the ground, but it simply got back up and charged Sora this time. The Brawler brought both of its fists down in an attempt to smash Sora into the ground like a cockroach only to see that Sora was no longer there. Sora stabbed his Keyblade into the Crystalli's turned back, but the weapon simply clanged off and only created a small crack.

"Great…armor-plated, too." Sora muttered under his breath.

The Brawler turned to Sora, catching him with the back of its opened hand. Sora flew back a good distance, but then noticed a very LARGE crack where his Blast spell had hit. Before he could even think of a plan, Sakuzy leapt from nowhere and brought his Eagle Feather Keyblade smashing into its cracked chest. The Eagle Feather wedged itself deep into the Brawler's armor, causing the bulky Crystalli to keel backward in pain. With a sudden wrench of Sakuzy's blade, the Brawler fell to the ground with a CRASH.

"See?" asked Sakuzy, "Hard."

Sora turned and saw that the other Brawlers had noticed their fallen comrade and had charged with the force of stampeding wildebeests. "And there are still about seven more…" he pointed out.

The battle pursued as Sora jumped right into the middle of the small battalion of Brawlers. He had NEVER been in a battle like this, because these things, unlike the Heartless at Hollow Bastion, would NOT go down with just one hit and would reflect most spells he threw at them. Fire simply scorched part of them, leaving a black burn mark. Blizzard left a small, white patch of ice wherever it hit. Thunder ricocheted off if they raised their arms to block and Aero didn't even budge them, because they were too heavy.

Sora had one trick he could use against the Brawlers and it was good now that he thought about it. He saw one of the Brawlers try to deliver a powerful elbow jab, but Sora evaded it and watched as his attacker slugged its comrade, sending it skidding to the floor. Sora had decided to use these Brawlers' own strength against each other. He then jumped into the air and stabbed the fallen Brawler in its cracked chest. It lurched forward in agony, then fell on its back as Sora's attacker came again.

Sora was about to get to work again when a woman screamed. Sora simply aimed a blast spell at the Brawler's legs, blowing its limbs into shards, then ran in the direction it came from, leaving a disarmed Brawler on the ground.

Auron walked over to Sakuzy with his sword still raised. "I have a bad feeling about this." he said, quietly.

"Yeah, let's follow..." Sakuzy said, ready for anything. Suddenly, the ground where Sakuzy and Auron were about to put their feet exploded as two more Brawlers tried to flatten them. "OR we could just fight these." he said in response. Sakuzy and Auron then started carving through the Brawlers again, or at least trying to. Their weapons usually did no more than scratch their thick armor.

Meanwhile, Sora darted through the coliseum until he saw a woman. She had dark red hair, looked like she was in her late teens, and was cornered by three Brawlers. "HELP ME!" she called out.

"Back off!" Sora growled. He quickly dashed between them and the woman and brought his Keyblade across one's torso, sending it into the ground. He had seen Sakuzy try the same thing, but the Brawler that he hit simply tried to smash him. Odd… "I thought Sakuzy said that these things were hard to kill…" Sora said to himself.

Sakuzy and Auron searched the stadium, leaving their Crystalli Brawlers in pieces. Auron pointed and Sakuzy saw Sora fighting off two Brawlers, one being defeated and grounded. He also spotted a red-haired woman, who was slowly rising from behind with a crystal in her hand, aiming it at Sora's back like a knife. "SORA! NO!"

Sakuzy pointed the Eagle Feather at the woman and a Blade spell shot from the Keyblade and knocked the crystal out of her hand. He then sprang at her and looked like he was aiming a strike at the ankle. She narrowly dodged the oncoming assault and Sakuzy's Keyblade was lodged in the wall.

The woman put her hands on her hips as though scolding a child. However, she kept her face hidden from Sora, so he couldn't see her. "THAT was uncalled for, sir!" she said, pointing a scarlet-nailed finger at him.

Sora decided to stick up for this woman. What was Sakuzy thinking? "Yeah, Sakuzy! Why'd you try and slice her foot off?" he asked, scoldingly.

Sakuzy got back to his feet and the Eagle Feather sparkled back into his hands. "I saw what she was up to. See this?" he asked. Sakuzy bent down, then picked up the crystal by its blunt top and Sora was quite surprised when six spidery legs sprang from its side. It was only about four inches long and its legs thrashed against Sakuzy's grip like he was holding a tarantula.

"Remember the Crystalli Shell I told you about?" he asked, "If you let her stab you in the back with THIS, your strongest desire will become stronger and twisted by the Crystalli's lust for power." Sakuzy dropped the Crystalli Shell, then smashed it with his Keyblade. He then pointed it at the woman like an accusing finger. "And she was holding it! She was trying to turn you into a Crystalli while you had your back turned! She's no innocent bystander! She's the Crystalli Host named Ruby!"

Sora stared at her, then took a swing at her with his Keyblade only to see a blur of red. She landed behind Sora and looked up at him, face-to-face. The woman wore a seductive smile and she had eyes that were eerily similar to J's: as scarlet as blood. Also, the woman's wardrobe had suddenly changed as she was now wearing a red robe that covered her body, save a small part on her ankle where a hunk of ruby was.

"He's right." she said in a low, seductive voice, "I was sent to make Sakuzy a host, but if I got Sora, he'd end up the same anyway."

Sora backed away slightly, still gripping his Keyblade. When he was side-to-side with his descendant, he spoke in a hushed whisper. "In THAT case, sorry for scolding ya, Sakuzy…" Sora apologized.

Sakuzy would have shrugged, but now wasn't exactly the time to do so. "It happens. Anyway, let's get her!"

Sakuzy and Sora readied their Keyblades while Ruby simply shook her head with her eyes closed. She slowly opened them and then spoke. "Don't underestimate your opponent." she warned, "Beneath MY pretty face is a DEADLY opponent."

Ruby flexed her hands and a pair of chakram appeared in her hands. The chakram looked a little bit like the late Axel's, only they were a bit more blade-like, like buzz saws and were the color of fresh blood.

Ruby smiled her seductive smile, then leapt backward in a tight flip. She landed with the grace of a cat and threw one of her chakram at Sora and the other at Sakuzy.

"Man, I hate those things!" Sakuzy cursed as it narrowly missed his head.

Sora ducked under the blade and quickly turned around to see it coming back at him. "I can believe it!" he commented.

Sora blocked with his Ultima Weapon as Sakuzy hit the second one with Eagle Feather. Sora then had a plan as his one came back for more. He decided to run. When he looked like he was about to run into Ruby, he jumped to the side and the weapon sliced her cheek.

Ruby, unlike most Crystalli hosts, didn't roar in pain or try to kill her opponent. Instead, she touched the wound and saw the scarlet blood as the slight injury on her face healed over in seconds. "Ow." she said, simply, "That hurt." As Ruby spoke, the only thing she had on her face was a look that said 'oh'.

Sakuzy, trying for another tactic, grabbed the chakram that he had grounded and tossed it at Sora like a frizbee. Sora got the idea, then grabbed the one that was aimed for him and the blades collided in the air. Auron brought his sword gigantic sword into both of the chakram, not intending to break them, but he did pin them to the ground.

Ruby rolled her eyes as she asked, "How idiotic, or helpless, do you take me to be?"

Auron charged, swinging at her with his giant sword only to see her jump so suddenly that she seemed to vanish. She landed on the flat side of Auron's blade and propelled herself off to seize the middle of both her chakram in midair and got back to her feet. Sora was amazed at the speed, but not enough to pause for ONE second. He raised his Keyblade to block an oncoming chakram, sparks littering the ground on impact. Sakuzy hacked madly at her legs only to miss by a mile as she hopped over the stroke and came down with surprising ferocity. She made to catch Sakuzy on the back, but the future Keyblader ducked and only got a mild scratch that tore part of his shirt, dyeing the blue jacket with blood.

Ruby chuckled as Sakuzy glanced at his injury, then asked, "Not as helpless as you think, am I?"

"Don't count on it…"

Ruby swung around and narrowly parried a strike from a sword, not Auron's though. It belonged to a Greek-armed man with a purple cape and a red headband. Sora knew him all-too-well as…

"Hercules!"

Hercules turned to Sora with a slightly humorous smile on his face. "Can we talk later, Sora?" he asked with a smile.

Auron stood next to Hercules and made to hack at Ruby only to see her spin away like a dancer, parrying his attack at the same time. Soon, Sora and Sakuzy were there to join them, their Keyblades sparkling to life. Ruby scoffed.

"Don't go thinking that numbers mean anything, heroes." she reminded, readying her chakram.

Sakuzy and Hercules charged first and took a swing at her. Ruby knew she had no chance at parrying Hercules' strong swing, so she just sidestepped it and parried Sakuzy instead, using the opportune moment to slam her foot into Hercules' face. As the demigod stumbled backward, Ruby quickly evaded the gigantic blade of Auron by flipping spectacularly through the air and landing on her feet with equal grace. She turned on the spot to block an oncoming attack from the Keyblade Master himself, then quickly moved just as Hercules swung. The son of Zeus had to stop in mid-swing because Sora was in his path.

"This is almost too easy." she said, stifling a laugh, "You'll have to move a good bit faster if you want to catch me."

Hercules looked at Sora out of the corner of his eye. "Got a plan, Sora?" he whispered.

Sora thought quickly, then answered, "Yeah. Just try and keep up…" Sora turned to face Ruby and smiled smugly. "Okay, if we're not fast enough, I'm supposed to believe YOU are?"

Ruby cocked an eyebrow in mild shock of the question. "What?" she asked in disbelief, "Well, of course I am!"

Hercules saw what Sora was doing and smirked before following along. "Really?" he asked with a tone similar to Sora's, "Let's see what happens when YOU make the first move, then."

Ruby stammered to try and find a counter to that offer, then decided to heck with it and put her chakram so low that they touched ground, then she dashed forward. The chakram scraped the ground with enough force to litter the nearby ground with sparks and took a swing at Sora. Sora, however, smiled as he jumped to the left and Ruby was more than astonished to see Auron headed her direction. He swung his blade at Ruby only to see it miss by an inch as she parried with her chakram. She hadn't even taken a step back when Sakuzy was coming at her from behind and hacked her in the back with Eagle Feather. Scarlet blood poured from the wound, but soon ceased as Ruby kicked Sakuzy away…only to meet Hercules head-on.

Hercules took his sword and struck three times with it. One swing missed, but the other two met chakram and knocked them free of Ruby's hands. She hadn't even made a step to get them when Hercules stepped on its flat side and Auron did the other. Sora and Sakuzy, however, got between her and her weapons, their Keyblades drawn.

Ruby glanced between the fallen chakram, then to the three, and finally, she grinned. "Well, I guess until next time, Keybladers." She winked at them, then vanished in a flash of red light as well as her chakram. Sora and Sakuzy gave each other high-fives and each shook Hercules' hand.

But suddenly, the locket Sakuzy got from Treasure Planet started to glow. "Captain Flint stole this world's Pure Heart?!" Sakuzy asked in astonishment.

Sora shrugged. He wasn't going to complain about it. "Looks like it."

The locket flashed, then molded into a golden-yellow heart and flew into Sora's hand, where it nestled gently into his palm.

"Well," Sakuzy said, dispelling Eagle Feather, "That's Pure Heart number FOUR."

"Yeah, well the others could've gotten some." Sora pointed out.

"Point taken. Now, let's get going! I say we should go back to the Radiant Garden to meet them."

"Deal." Sora said, then turned to Hercules. "Uh, sorry we can't stay, Herc. But maybe we can get a bit more time together next time!"

Hercules clapped Sora on the back, almost sending the Keyblade Master to the ground, then said, "You've got yourself a deal, Sora. I'll be waiting."

Sora and Sakuzy left for their ship and took off. Phil then observed the wreckage of the coliseum with Hercules and Auron. "Why does this keep happening?" he asked with a sigh.

Hercules looked down at Phil and shrugged. "I may never know." he answered, "It's the third time it's happened so far…"

Crystalli Brawlers

The Crystalli controlled by Ruby. They may seem slow, but they're as strong as they come. You can't beat them quickly, but have to give them repeated blows or just find a kink in their armor.

Ruby

The Crystalli Host who controls the Crystalli Brawlers. She's seductive, and calm under most circumstances, but can become surprisingly puffed up with pride. That and she will also try to act like a damsel in distress to lure one away from her REAL desire. She wields a pair of chakram, like Axel, only they're much more blade-like.


	105. Paintings

Chapter 105: Paintings

Kairi and co.'s ship...

J was up late, as always. Only THIS time, he had a purpose. Hardly anyone saw him sleep, because he had a good reason. All his life, he was pursued by people who wanted to hurt him or do inhumane experiments on him.

J kicked himself out of bed and took out a Floppy Disc out of his jacket pocket. This single disc had a few…important pictures that he snapped when he was visiting the gallery that belonged to a certain Isaac Mendez, which were made about a year before his untimely death.

J silently walked over to the Gummi's computer and inserted it. Instantly, two folders appeared. One was labeled "Happened" the other one, "Will Happen". He went to the "happened" folder and opened it. He saw several paintings, but went to the last three.

The first painting had what appeared to be Scott, Ryan, and himself fighting some cyborg guy. The cyborg had a machine gun for a right hand and had it aimed at them while they continued charging forward. J smirked on how tough it was to defeat that hunk of metal, especially after it gained sentience.

He went to the next one. It was a shady figure was flying a Gummi Ship out of a vast desert. THAT was, without a doubt, HIM escaping from Camp Greenlake on his own.

The final painting depicted him fighting Heartless with Riku, Kairi, and Joyex. He paused and fingered his chin. _Everything that this Mendez guy painted is beginning to come true…_he thought to himself.

J then went to the "will happen" folder and opened it with just two button presses.

This folder's paintings were a lot more…mysterious than the last time. The first one he saw had Sora, Donald, and Goofy in a Gummi Ship, which looked like it was about to explode, looking terrified. The shadow cast by the flames was jagged, roughly human, and was raising a very sharp-looking hand.

The next one showed that Petross appeared to be unconscious, Leon and Yuffie was fighting off someone with a yellow robe as best as they could, and he saw himself trying to fend off Peridot. Sakuzy was next to what looked like a girl version of Riku and they seemed to be trying to reason with Crescent. _They've got their work cut out for them. _J thought, referring to trying to reason with Crescent.

J moved on to the next picture, which had a pair of shady figures wrestling on top of each other. Both looked surprisingly robotic and he could make out different parts, though one of them seemed a little more jagged, inhuman, and seemed to be in a killing mood. _How could THAT happen?_

J went to the last one, it wasn't a very large collection, and saw a picture of him, Scott, Ryan, and April on an island. He closed his scarlet eyes. _Well, I guess I could use a vacation. But now, for a rest._

J popped the floppy disc out of the computer and pocketed it. He returned to his bed and shut his eyes. For J, it was another brief sleep.

_What could these pictures mean? How could it all happen? Stay tuned..._


	106. Kauai

Chapter 106: Kauai

Kauai...

Kairi and her group ended up on a tropical island with palm trees, sunshine, and sandy beaches. J looked around, taking in his surroundings and remembering what had happened to him in his experience last night. "Hmm…could THIS be the place from the Mendez painting?" he asked himself. The shapeshifter paused, then shook his head. "Not likely, seeing as I was with Scott, Ryan, and April." he corrected himself.

Kairi turned to J, having heard every word. "J, what're you talking about?" she asked, "And what's a Mendez painting?"

J glanced over at Kairi, then turned away. "Never you mind." he answered.

Donald looked around with Goofy, scratching his feathered head. "I wonder who lives here…" he said, curiously.

Goofy took in his surroundings, then said, "I dunno. Maybe we'd better take a look around."

Kairi nodded at Goofy's idea, then dashed off down the seashore, followed by the others.

_A UFO appeared and beamed down the word "Kauai" before beaming it back up, letter-by-letter and taking off again._

While strolling down the beach, Kairi took a bit of time to try and strike conversation with J. She was still a bit worried on what happened after Beast's Castle. "J? You okay about what happened back on the ship?" she asked.

J was a good distance from Kairi, so he nodded without even turning to look at her. After a brief pause, Kairi brought something up. "Have you ever been to an island?"

J answered, as usual, without turning back, and looking forward as he walked. "The only times I've been on islands, they were brief moments and I didn't get enough time to enjoy the scenery." he answered.

Kairi smirked as she playfully asked, "I take it you get out a lot?"

J shook his head. "If you only knew…" he said, craftily.

Suddenly, something large and hard smacked J hard on the back of the head. As he recoiled, Kairi got a good look at what it was; it was a coconut.

J got back to his feet, massaging the back of his head and missing his sunglasses. "OW!" he growled J growled angrily as he found his sunglasses on the ground and put them back on his face. "Whoever did that is going to have a VERY bad day!" he threatened.

J had no sooner said this when a blue ball hit him in the chest and sent him into a palm tree. He got up with a snarl, changed into a jaguar and pounced at the ball, which uncurled to show a small, furry creature that looked a bit like a koala. The only differences were that this…thing was blue, had longer ears, and larger eyes and mouth.

Donald and Goofy suddenly got in the way of J, who stopped instantly. _What're you two idiots doing?! That thing attacked me! _J growled through telepathy.

Donald decided to match J's temper with one of his own. "Who're you calling idiots?!" he squabbled.

When Goofy spoke, he was doing his best to hold Donald back. "Ya can't hurt THIS guy, J! He's an old friend of ours!" Goofy explained. Goofy let go of Donald, then turned to the blue thing. "How've ya been, Stitch?" he asked, politely.

Stitch paused, then took in the duck and dog's appearance and smiled. "Donald?" he asked, "Goofy?"

Donald nodded. "Yeah, Stitch. It's us." he answered with a smile.

"Guys!" Stitch jumped at the two and knocked them down. He licked Donald and Goofy, covering the two in slobber before seeing Kairi and J. He eyed them nervously and noted that someone was missing. He scratched the back of his blue, furry head as he asked, "Where Sora?"

J got up off the ground and dusted himself off as he answered, "Due to events outside of our control, we were forced to split up, you little pest."

Stitch gave a small snarl to J, then took in Kairi's appearance. His ears perked and he smiled. "Kairi?" he asked.

Stitch rolled over and tackled Kairi to the ground. Before she knew it, Stitch was licking her. She couldn't help but laugh as she thoroughly scrubbed Stitch's head and tried to get up. "How do you know me…Stitch was it?" he asked.

Stitch nodded. "Yeah. My name Stitch. I know you, cuz Stitch travel with Sora." he explained, "He say he miss you a lot." Stitch turned to J and took in his appearance from his black jacket to his red eyes. "Who anti-hero?" he asked.

J rolled his eyes, then glowered back at Stitch. "Why does everyone call me an anti-hero?" he asked.

Donald pretty much thought the answer was obvious. "Because you ARE. Anyway, Stitch, THIS is a friend we've recently made called J." the duck explained.

J instantly knew that THAT was the wrong thing for Donald to say. "And if you're even THINKING about pouncing on me…" Too late, Stitch tackled J, who kicked him off before turning into a wolf and began trying to chase down the blue thing. Stitch quickly curled up into a ball and rolled away with a black wolf in hot pursuit. _I'm gonna KILL HIM IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!_

While they were running around, Goofy turned to Kairi and Donald. "Whadda ya make of THAT?" the dog-man asked.

"Ten to one on Stitch." Donald answered.

Meanwhile, on another part of the world, a girl wearing a deep red cloak was with an alien. The alien was a large creature with gray skin, two weird appendages around his mouth, blue eyes and a shark fin thing on his head. His face looked like a whale's and he had elephant-esque feet and three fingers on each hand. He was wearing a black suit with red lining, had a blaster attached to his belt, and was around ten feet tall.

"So, do we have a deal, chubbo?" the girl asked.

The alien seemed a bit offended by this and pounded his chest with pride. "My size isn't fat." he pointed out, "It's pure MUSCLE!"

The red-robed girl could easily be seen rolling her eyes. "Whatever, Gantu. Anyway, I'll help you find these experiment things on ONE condition. YOU help me find a heart-shaped thing that looks like it's made of crystal." she negotiated.

The alien, or Gantu as the girl referred to him as, thought this over. He then held out his hand, as though expecting her to shake it. "You have yourself a deal, Ms. Spinel."

The girl suddenly jumped up and whacked him over the head with her right arm. Oddly, a metallic clang echoed from the impact and Gantu clutched the spot where she hit him. "OW! What was THAT for?!" he strained.

The girl's voice was one of pure irritation. "NEVER call me that again unless you want another horn." she pointed out, popping her knuckles.


	107. Ohana

Chapter 107: Ohana

After J stopped trying to kill Stitch, stopping only from exhaustion, they decided to go to Stitch's 'Ohana' as he called it. They found a rather large house with a red and white ship just in its garage.

"And I thought OUR ship was weird." Kairi said, taking in the other ship's appearance.

As they went inside, Stitch went first and cupped his hands to his mouth. "Lilo!" he called.

A second or two later, a girl with tanned skin, black hair, brown eyes, and a red Hawaiian shirt with a white flower pattern on it walked into the room. "Hi, Stitch! Who're these guys you brought in?" she asked.

"These are Donald, Goofy, Kairi, and J." Stitch explained, "Donald, Goofy, and Kairi help Sora and me while I went away. J big stupid-head!"

J snapped. "THAT'S IT!" he roared. He made several convulsions and a few seconds later, he had a streamlined body, his hands had three fingers with sharp claws on them, and his feet had a large claw on the middle toe. He had black, scaly skin, and, as usual, his eyes remained blood-red. J had turned into a large raptor and gave chase to Stitch with a loud snarl. Stitch laughed, turned into a ball, and rolled away with the dinosaur close behind.

Lilo and Kairi stared as a huge ruckus emerged in the room behind Lilo. "I take it he doesn't like Stitch all that much." Lilo suggested.

Kairi shook her head. "Not really."

"One thing's botherin' me." Donald said, putting a finger to his "chin".

"What is it, Donald?" asked Goofy.

"How'd J turn into a dinosaur?" asked Donald. (can you hear Donald pronounce "dinosaur"?)

Goofy shrugged. "Maybe we should ask him once he's done trying to kill Stitch."

With a high-pitched screech, J jumped and stopped, comically, in midair as he heard something revving. _Where'd he get that chainsaw?_

J was soon darting away from Stitch, who had a chainsaw in hand. A few seconds later, Stitch was running from J who had the chainsaw. You get what's happening. Eventually, they stopped to catch their breath, but then J grabbed Stitch by the head in his three-fingered hand and lifted him clean off the ground. _Gotcha, you little rat._

Kairi gave J a scolding look as she went over to him. "Is fighting all you ever do, J?"

The black raptor simply turned to Kairi and tilted its head. _I think I'll do my best to act like I didn't hear you._

Stitch folded his arms as he said, "Not way to treat Ohana."

J turned on the spot and let out a curious noise. It wasn't loud enough to be a roar or snarl, but it still sounded ferocious. _Ohana?_

Lilo decided to explain, as Stitch was in no situation to do so. She didn't hear J's telepathy, so she took his lack of noise as curiosity. "Ohana is a Hawaiian word for family. Ohana means 'family' and family means 'nobody gets left behind'."

J mentally smirked, because it reminded him of when he, Scott, Ryan, and a couple other friends took out a cyborg. Well, AFTER they destroyed him anyway.

_Enter flashback…_

_J, Scott, and Ryan were wandering in the streets of Radiant Garden. Scott grinned at his two fellows. "Well, mates, I think we've come a long way since we first met." he said with a smile._

_Ryan nodded. "Here, here."_

_J simply stared forward, his red eyes invisible under his shades. "Whatever." he grunted._

_"So, I guess we're sort of a family, don't ya think?" asked the Aussie._

_Scott clapped his hand on Ryan's shoulder, who jolted slightly before answering in a nervous-sounding voice. "Yeah, kind of."_

_J simply scoffed, which Scott took as a yes. "So, if we're a family, it means no one gets left behind…or forgotten." Scott said to them._

_Ryan walked up to Scott and slugged him on the arm. "I've always wanted a brother."_

_J rolled his eyes as he said, "Yeah, yeah, warm and fuzzy feelings all around."_

_J skulked off for the alleyway and Scott and Ryan thought it best to leave him be. It was what he was used to._

_End flashback…_

J was, once more, chasing Stitch as Kairi walked over to Lilo, Donald, and Goofy. They sat at a table and watched the black raptor chase the little, blue alien around, casually.

"He'll be chasing him for a while, won't he?" Kairi asked, staring after them.

Lilo however, seemed to bounce in her chair, excitedly. "Donald and Goofy have been telling me the coolest things!" she said, excitement in her voice, "Like how they met Sora, taking down Heartless, that 'Ansem' guy, the Nobodies, Organization XIII, and meeting up with J and his friends."

Donald sighed slightly. "I told you, I don't think that 'friend' is the right word for J's deal with Scott and Ryan." he corrected.

Lilo ignored Donald completely and leaned on the table with just one question. "They also told me that YOU have a Keyblade, too! Can I see?"

Kairi nodded. "Sure."

Kairi summoned Flowering Strength and Lilo's eyes expanded by a considerable amount. The Hawaiian girl drew out the one word that made up her sentence. "COOL!"

Kairi dismissed the Keyblade as J changed back to sit down. She and Donald walked over, leaving Goofy to talk to Lilo. "Hey, J. Given up already?" asked Kairi.

J glowered up at her with enough ferocity in his eye to make her back up a few steps. "You wish." he said, "I'm just catching my breath."

Kairi saw this opportunity that Donald was curious about and asked the question while it was still in her head. "J, how'd you change into a raptor? Those things are extinct."

J was still catching his breath as he answered. "Does it…concern you?" he said, between gasps.

Again, Kairi found herself severely irritated by J's attitude. "You're in bad need of an attitude adjustment, J, you know that?" she pointed out.

J didn't seem too fazed by her serious question. "I get that all the time. Scott's even tried getting me therapy sessions. None of them worked. Rachel Ray banned me from coming within ten miles of her airing station and Oprah threatened to shoot me if I returned."

"Well, would it hurt you to smile every once in a while, for REAL?" Kairi asked.

J's scarlet eyes met Kairi's again and he answered in his same, cold tone. "I haven't really 'smiled' in years." J put a very cold emphasis on "smiled".

Kairi shook a few things out of her head. "Just tell us how come you changed into a Velociraptor."

"Utah." J corrected.

Donald turned and asked, "Wha?"

"Kairi said 'Velociraptor'. I turned into a Utahraptor." J explained, "If you've seen the raptors in Jurassic Park, their sizes were increased to make them more intimidating. Utahraptors are more along that size. (1)"

Donald looked about ready to yank a few feathers out of his head. "Just explain it, J!" he squawked, "There's no time for prehistory class!"

J spoke through gritted teeth, though his expression remained the same. "I'll deal with you later, featherbrain…"

Donald gulped as Kairi stood next to J. "Just tell us." Her tone was surprisingly quiet and calm.

J paused, having been asked politely, then answered. "Alright. I have to come in contact with an extinct animal's EXACT remnant for at least an hour." he explained, "It won't work on those cheap imitations you see standing in intimidating forms at museums." J's voice had a fleck of satisfaction, though his expression didn't show it. "I visited the Radiant Garden Museum of Natural History to get that form…among other things."

Donald cocked his head. "Can you get REAL dinosaur bones in a museum?" he asked, curiously.

"If you know where to look…" J then turned as they heard thundering noises outside. "I've got a REALLY bad feeling about this." he said, his eyes narrow.

J wasted no time and sprinted upstairs without question.

"C'mon, guys!" Kairi called, catching Donald and Goofy's attention.

"Stitch in, too!" the blue, furry thing said, raising a paw.

Goofy paused, then beckoned for Stitch to follow. "Sure thing, Stitch. Come on!"

Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Stitch, and Lilo ran upstairs to see a pair of aliens. The first was a very fat alien with a dark back, four eyes (the back pair were smaller than the front pair), a pink underbelly, and a yellow Hawaiian shirt.

The second was a pale green alien with dark green spots, a single eye, and a bulbous head. He also had a thin body, an antenna thing on the top of his head, three legs, a pair of three-fingered hands, and an orange Hawaiian shirt.

J's comment was more of a sarcastic remark than a joke. "Did we just walk into a sci-fi movie?"

Lilo arrived on the scene and answered, "No, they're some more members of our Ohana, Jumba and Pleakley."

The green alien, Pleakley, was running around the room and screaming at the top of his lungs. He also drew out the last word of what he said next. "We're doomed! DOOMED!"

Kairi didn't need to be a genius to see that J obviously wasn't impressed with this creature. "Could you be a little more specific?" he asked, "I get that phrase on a regular basis."

The large alien, Jumba, decided to be a bit more clear on things. His voice, unlike Pleakley's wimpy-sounding, high-pitched voice, was thick and European. "What Pleakley means to say is Gantu's back!"

Lilo took a step back as she asked, "Gantu? The guy who tried to kidnap me?"

Kairi scratched her head as she asked, "Who's Gantu?"

Stitch got in front of Kairi and explained. "He in charge of catching me, but catch Lilo instead. He also big stupid-head, like J."

J's lip curled into a snarl as he glared at Stitch. "Normally, I'd try to murder you, you little fuzz ball, but now doesn't seem to be the time. So, for now, just shut up."

J had no sooner finished speaking to Stitch when the shark-headed guy walked back and cuffed Jumba. "Now, Jumba, you're coming with me! I've got plans for you!"

Gantu hadn't even walked away when J suddenly made a convulsion or two and a tiger stood where he once was. Lilo stared at what J did and said, "COOL!"

With a roar, J pounced on Gantu and sunk his teeth and claws into Gantu's gray hide. Gantu yelped in pain and surprise, grabbed J, and threw him off, tearing the seat of his pants and revealing boxer shorts with little hearts on them. Stitch suddenly giggled like mad and Gantu noticed what happened.

"AAH! Why you little..." Gantu growled, but then his eyes widened, "Huh?"

Gantu suddenly searched the area. When J was tossed off, he had reverted to his human form. He glared up at Gantu, then transformed into something small and that none of them could see at the moment.

"Uh, what happened?" Goofy asked.

His answer came when J's telepathic voice said, _Down here._

J was now a small, black weasel-like creature with a pair white white stripes down his back. He was a skunk and Kairi knew ALL too well what skunks were capable of. "Uh-oh! Duck and cover!" she said, making sure to put a sizeable distance between her and the skunk.

The entire got out of the way just as J turned his back on Gantu and raised his tail to the shark-head. The next thing Gantu knew, he was in a world of eye-watering, nose-burning stench. He blindly grabbed the skunk by the tail as J turned back. While he was a skunk, Gantu had him by the tail, but as a human, Gantu had him by the leg. With a sudden snarl, J had transformed into a giant constrictor, possibly an anaconda, and wrapped himself around him. Gantu then grabbed him by the head and managed to unwrap himself. Gantu threw J aside and ran off with Jumba.

J growled again as he changed back into a wolf and ran after him. He sank his teeth into Gantu's heel and the alien yelped in pain. "OW! Oh, will you just get AWAY FROM ME, YOU LITTLE FREAK!?" Gantu asked, very digruntled by now.

Gantu kicked the wolf away with his elephantine foot and picked him up. The wolf changed back into J, out like a light. True, he had survived Heartless attacks, severe energy loss, a little, blue koala thing, and even a magnetism-controlling cyborg, but he hadn't been kicked by a giant alien's foot. Gantu then ran off with the two and a capsule thing.

"J!" Kairi called, trying to chase Gantu, but the alien was too fast. Each stride covered over six feet and he had lost her in minutes.

"This is a bit of a problem, don't ya think?" Goofy asked, worriedly.

Stitch suddenly seemed to smell something and his ears perked up as though he heard something. He ran over to a closet, opened it, and pulled out a sack. He opened the sack and pulled out a strange computer device. One touch of a button and an orb mechanism on top of the device opened up, revealing various-colored orbs about the size of a gumball.

"Cousins!" the koala creature barked.

Kairi picked up one of the orbs and looked at it, curiously. The orbs were blue, pink, green, yellow, or white, but all had a different three-digit number on them. "Cousins?" Kairi asked.

Pleakley looked at them and realized what was going on. "THIS is probably what Gantu was after!" he said, the explanation reaching them in seconds, "These are Jumba's other six hundred twenty-five experiments in their dehydrated forms!"

"Why, Stitch, you never told us you had cousins!" Goofy said, humor in his voice.

Stitch shook his head at Goofy. "Stitch never knew." he explained.

"Well, we've gotta find J and Jumba!" Donald pointed out.

"Knowing Gantu..." Lilo said, her hand on her chin, "He's probably gone back to his ship."

"We have one, but it's…offworld." Kairi said, the idea fading in seconds.

"We have a ship, too...but it's outta power." Lilo said, slightly crestfallen.

Donald then fiddled with the computer thing and opened it. He put something into the search engine: "electricity".

"What're you doing?" asked Pleakley.

"Trying to find a good power source." Donald answered, searching through the device.

The computer made several choices before stopping at a head with long ears on a lightning bolt. "Experiment 221." it said in a female monotone, "Primary function--Electrical surges."

"Does anyone see an orb that says '221'?" Donald asked.

Goofy held out an orb and Kairi looked at it. "Goofy, that's 155 upside-down." she explained.

Goofy turned the orb so that the number showed the numbers 155. "Oops. Sorry…"

Stitch sniffed the orbs a bit, then held out an orb that said 221. Kairi took it from him and held it in the palm of her hand. "We'll give it a test-run, first." she advised.

Lilo

Part of Stitch's family. Even though Stitch was evil at first, she managed to bring out the good in him. She's surprisingly tomboyish, does Hula dancing, and has some…unusual habits. She first appeared in _Lilo & Stitch_ 2002.

Jumba

A mad, alien scientist who created Stitch and his six hundred twenty-five cousins. He "stopped" after he created Stitch, but whether or not he actually stopped remains to be seen. He first appeared in _Lilo & Stitch_ 2002.

Pleakley

Jumba's partner while he was trying to recapture Stitch. He claims to be an expert on planet Earth, but he knows little to nothing about it. He's cowardly, overcomplicates common things, and believes that mosquitoes are an endangered species. He first appeared in _Lilo & Stitch_ 2002.

Captain Gantu

Originally a member of the Galactic Alliance, but he was fired after he tried recapturing Stitch, but caught Lilo instead. It turns out that he's working for an old partner of Jumba's and captured the fellow as well as J. He first appeared in _Lilo & Stitch_ 2002.

_(1) Well, it's true!_


	108. Experiment 625

Chapter 108: Experiment 625

On Gantu's ship, Jumba was suspended upside-down in some sort of containment unit, and J was unbound, save a metallic collar. "Are you as stupid as you look?" the shapeshifter asked.

Gantu started at J's remark, but chose not to retaliate. "Not quite, Earthling." he answered, regaining his composure, "I've seen your powers of shapeshifting and made sure that collar neutralizes it!"

J rolled his scarlet eyes again and sarcasm filled his voice. "Oh no, what will I do?"

Gantu grinned with a cone-toothed smile as he reached for his pocket. "Maybe you can deal with THIS little thing I found!" he answered.

Gantu held up a small, blue orb with the numbers '625' inscribed on it. THIS was enough to make Jumba gasp in surprise. "Experiment 625?!" the four-eyed alien said in surprise, "No! It has ALL the powers of Experiment 626!" J simply stared at him. Jumba noticed and immediately explained. "Stitch."

"Oh."

Gantu extracted a small vial of water and, ever so gently, tipped its contents onto the orb. The orb expanded several times its own size in a flash of greenish-yellow light.

"Way to go, doctor." J said, sarcastically.

Gantu quickly left the room and closed the door behind him as a yellow, furry thing appeared and let out a growl. J took up a fighter's pose and readied for a battle.

Meanwhile, Gantu was outside the room and had the side of his head pressed up against the door. "They should be screaming in terror right about…NOW."

There was a moment's pause and no scream. Then, J spoke through the door. "I thought you said this thing was DANGEROUS!"

Gantu clearly wasn't expecting this as he shot through the door in shock. "WHAT?!"

Gantu saw 625 with a small pile of sandwiches and J looking at Jumba with a cocked eyebrow. It turned out that 625 was a plump, bear-like creature with a large red nose, stubby limbs, and two buck teeth.

Jumba looked over at Gantu and chose THAT moment to explain. "It's true that 625 has all the powers of 626, but he is a bloody coward and hates fighting. Makes good sandwiches, though."

625 held out two sandwiches and, to J's surprise, spoke in a very clear, Brooklyn accent. "Ham or tuna?" he asked.

J took the tuna sandwich, stared at it for a while, and threw it at Gantu's face. The contents of the sandwich splattered all over the walls, and Gantu. Gantu growled as the fish remains splattered all over his face, covering him in its own unholy stench, then said, "I'll find ANOTHER means to deal with you! Enjoy your stay..." Gantu walked off, trying to get the sandwich remains off his face with a moan. "THIS is gonna need a good wash!"

The red-robed girl suddenly appeared next to Gantu. Gantu flinched as though someone had stuck a rotten egg in his face and forced him to smell it, then groaned. "What now, Spinel?" he asked.

The girl, or Spinel, clearly smiled under her robe. "Need help?" she asked in a spunky voice.

Gantu fingered his chin, then an idea struck him. "Hmm…you could go down to the surface and try to deal with the little pests down there."

Spinel thought for a while, then it hit her. That princess was down there as well as the little blue alien. "Deal." she agreed.

She nodded, then vanished in a flash of reddish purple light. Gantu then went to the showers and began to do his best to wash the smell of tuna off him.

In the cell, J was slightly kicking his feet, like he was listening to music, but was actually thinking of an escape plan. Something then struck him and he ALMOST smirked. 625 walked over with another stack of sandwiches and asked, "Wanna sandwich?"

J sighed as he realized that this plan would only work if he did this. "Sure." 625 had no sooner reached for one when J seized him by the scruff of his neck. The experiment screamed as J brought him to eye level and stared into his soul, scarlet eyes into beetle-black. J looked about ready to disembowel him with his bare hands. "On ONE condition—you take this collar off me."

J pointed at the collar to emphasize his point. 625's eyes darted from the collar to J and then back again. "Will you promise not to kill me?" he asked, timidly.

"Only if you don't hop to it." J answered, threateningly.

625, valuing his life, clambered on J's shoulders and the shapeshifter seemed to be straining to keep his back straight. "You need to lose some weight, sandwich boy!" he grunted.

625 was mildly offended by this as he spoke from behind J, trying to keep his balance AND fiddle with the collar at the same time. "Hey, I'm only big-boned."

J strained to keep 625 up, then replied, "But that stomach says you're wrong."

625 ignored that comment as he opened something at the back of J's collar. There were three wires—a blue one, a red one, and a green one. "Hmm…let's see what happens when I pull the GREEN wire." He pulled the green one and electricity pulsated through J's body until the experiment hastily put it back into place. "Sorry!"

J's whole body smoked as he recovered, then he said, "I hate you…"

625 inspected the wires again, then fingered the blue wire. "Let's see what happens with the BLUE one!" 625 pulled the blue wire and spikes popped out of the side of the collar and narrowly missed the plucky experiment. "AAH!" he screamed, "That was too close! Guess that leaves red…"

625 placed the blue wire back and pulled out the red wire. The collar suddenly started to contract, strangling J. He clutched at it and fell to the ground, trying to get some air. "Put it back, idiot!" he gagged.

625 jumped slightly as he frantically fumbled with the red wire. "Whoops!" 625 quickly put it back and, going with his instinct, he pulled them all out at the same time.

The collar popped off with a hiss of compressed gas being released and J got to his feet, trying to catch his breath. Then, after a glare at the experiment, he simply kicked 625, sending the creature tumbling. He then morphed into a gorilla and dismantled the device Jumba was in before changing back and letting him drop to the ground. "Time to get out!" he said in a tone similar to a military commando.

625 cleared his throat, then pointed out, "Ahem! We had a deal!"

625 was holding out one sandwich as if waiting for someone to take it. J rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. Would this ever end? "Very well, what sandwiches do you have? Got any meat?" he asked.

625 shook his head as he answered, "Nope. Only cheese." 625 beckoned to the pile of sandwiches, all of which had a single slice of cheddar in them.

J gave the experiment a flat look, then sighed, "Fine. Throw me one."

J changed into a fifteen-foot crocodile and snapped up a sandwich that 625 tossed him. _At least I didn't have to savor the taste._ he thought to himself.

J then made several convulsions as 625 screamed and got out the door. When he got out, he ran into Gantu, who had a towel around his waist and was still somewhat damp. The plucky experiment also made VERY sure to close the blast door behind him and leaned against it, gasping for breath.

"625?!" Gantu asked in surprise, "What's going on in there?"

625 gasped for breath, then answered Gantu's question. "I don't know, but I don't like it."

A horn suddenly burst through the blast door's surface with the force of a charging bull and narrowly missed impaling 625. The experiment screamed, then went off shuddering as the horn retreated back into the interior.

Gantu gaped at the sight of the hole that the horn left, then asked, "How's this possible? That shapeshifter can't use his power! That collar neutralized it!"

"Well, ya see, that's a problem…" 625 said, sheepishly.

Gantu slowly glared down at the yellow alien with a cold expression on his face. "What?"

"I took it off when I offered him a sandwich, because he said he wouldn't kill me." 625 explained, keeping his sheepish tone and shuffling his feet.

Gantu looked ready to brutally murder 625 on the spot and probably would have done so, if the horn hadn't pierced the wall multiple times. Suddenly, a three-ton rhino charged through the wall and changed back into J, who was clutching his head as if he had a headache. "Ow. THAT really hurt..."

There was suddenly a horn that had a rather cheesy trumpet blast. It sounded a bit like the tune "La Cucaracha". "That has got to be the lamest horn I've ever heard." J said, exasperated.

Jumba folded his arms, then warned, "Be careful, fine fellow, that's my ship you're talking about."

J simply shot Jumba a look. "I stand by what I said, moron." he said, indifferently.

A giant red ship appeared with Lilo in the driver's seat. Stitch waved and J made a rather rude hand gesture at him and scowled. Kairi shook her head as she saw that reply. "Yup, definitely in need of some attitude adjustments." she said to herself.

Experiment 625

The experiment Jumba made BEFORE Stitch. He has all Stitch's powers, but is a coward, lazy, somewhat overweight, and would prefer to sit around and make and/or eat sandwiches. He first appeared in _Stitch the Movie_ 2004.


	109. Spinel

Chapter 109: Spinel

To explain how Kairi and co. got up there, we'd have to go back to Kauai and back a couple hours, too. Kairi held the orb to the light. The orb was a bright yellow and had the numbers "221" on it. "So, with this, we can power that ship?" she asked.

"I think so." Lilo answered.

Goofy took the orb and also inspected it. It looked no bigger than one of the crystals from the trophy in Twilight Town. "But, uh…How do we get 'im out?" he asked.

Donald gave Goofy a weird look, then asked, "And the fact that Pleakley said 'in their dehydrated forms' doesn't give you a hint?"

Goofy scratched his head, pretty clueless on what Donald said. On seeing the knight's expression, Kairi explained it to him. "We have to get it wet."

"Oh! Why didn't ya say so the first time?" he asked.

The group went to the bathroom sink, filled it with water, and plopped the orb in it. It glowed bright green and the next thing they knew, a creature that looked like Stitch appeared. Sure, it LOOKED like Stitch, but it was yellow, was more slender, and had two long antennae. It was also taller, had a brown nose, and had electricity sparking on various places of its body. The thing cackled and flew away into a lamp and caused an electrical surge. The lamp sparked until its light bulb exploded like a gunshot. Experiment 221 then flew out of the window and into the night sky.

Kairi, Donald, and Goofy stared at the place as well as Lilo and Stitch. All were pretty shocked at what had just happened, so they were abnormally quiet as they stared. That was...until Donald broke it with, "Well, THIS is a fine predicament."

Goofy put a fist into his palm and said, "Looks like we've gotta go experiment hunting."

Kairi, Lilo, Stitch, Donald, and Goofy took a hover car that was parked in the garage. Lilo then pulled out a few pair of sunglasses and she turned to Stitch with the sound of a whiplash. Stitch then looked forward with the same noise. The group braced themselves, then took off.

Meanwhile, in the city, Experiment 221 was causing electrical mayhem. It entered any electrical device, then ramped it up with so much power that its generator exploded into a smoldering pile of scrap metal. And that generator could belong to either a toaster or a computer. Its rampage continued until someone caught him in a glass capsule. It was the girl that Gantu was talking to earlier.

"Hello, little shocker." she said, watching it struggle, "Let's see if they're REALLY up to rescuing you."

After some intense searching, Kairi and co. came up with nothing. They did, however, find a half-wrecked town. Lamps had shattered, game stations had short-circuited, and Circuit City had virtually gone out of business. "I gotta hand it to this experiment." Lilo admitted, "It sure is easy to follow."

As they rode through the city, the trail of shorted-out electrical devices and angry townsfolk suddenly ended. They got out of the car and looked around.

"Oh, great! How do we find the experiment NOW?" Donald asked, frustrated.

Kairi looked around and scratched her head. "Where could an electric surge-creating delinquent experiment go?" she asked herself.

Goofy seemed to think long and hard on this until someone else spoke up. "In my hands, that's where."

The girl in the reddish-purple robe appeared with 221 in a glass capsule. He sparked madly, but nothing happened since glass refracts electricity. It gave up on that method, then started trying to claw its way out.

"Another Crystalli I take it?" Kairi asked with a raised brow, "And what did you do with the experiment?"

The Red Robe laughed a single "ha". She then held up the container with the struggling experiment still inside. "Well, you didn't need to be a genius to see THAT."

The Crystalli flung off her robe to show shoulder-length, deep-red hair, and matching eyes. Her face was oddly tight and clenched, similar to J's expression, but had a slight smile on it. On her right thigh was a piece of red gemstone. "The name's Spinel and these…" Spinel snapped her fingers as several crystals slammed into the island. As they shifted into their new forms, she finished her sentence. "Will be your opponents."

The crystals finished their transformation and revealed creatures that had spikes for heads, spindly arms and legs and a single, red eye in the middle of their head. Both of their arms were long and spike-shaped, but the one on their right hand was longer and ended in a barrel similar to a sniper rifle.

Donald pulled out a copy of 'The Pocket Guide to Crystalli, by Sakuzy', and quickly flipped through the pages. He put his finger on an exact replica of what stood before them.

"These things are called Crystalli Snipers! They won't be leavin' in a hurry, but they can turn-" Donald's statement was cut off when all the Snipers vanished in an odd, wavering experience. They went from plain sight to pure invisibility in seconds, leaving Donald stupefied. "Invisible."

As Donald and Goofy searched the area for their opponents, their weapons ready, Stitch joined them. At the same time, Lilo sought shelter and Kairi made to help, but Spinel got in the way. She smirked as she popped her knuckles. "Oh no you don't, Princess." she taunted, "It's just gonna be YOU and me. Got it?!"

Kairi glowered at Spinel with cold eyes as the Flowering Strength sparkled to life in her hand. "My pleasure…" she returned.

Spinel seemed to flex her muscle as red light engulfed it. When the light faded, a bright-red, metallic gauntlet had fixed itself on her arm. Spinel beckoned with her right hand, showing off her gauntlet.

Neither spoke, then suddenly, Spinel threw a punch with her gauntlet-clad arm. Kairi narrowly dodged and Spinel ended up punching a boulder, which shattered like glass on impact.

Kairi did NOT want to think about what would have happened if she had been in that boulder's place. _Well, THAT thing's tough. _she thought to herself.

Kairi didn't have much time to think, because Spinel was coming back for more. She quickly spun away like a dancer, narrowly missing the gauntlet and a small crater appeared in the ground she was on one second ago. Kairi saw the opportunity and took it, smacking Spinel across the face with her Flowering Strength. Spinel staggered slightly, but Kairi was coming again and the Crystalli Host raised her gauntlet-clad arm. The Keyblade smashed into it, creating no more than a metal CLANG and a small shower of impact sparks.

"PSYCH!" Spinel said with a smile, then flung her arm to the side, knocking Kairi to the side and sending her falling to the sand. She quickly rolled on impact just as a metal fist came crashing to the ground. A split second later, Kairi was back on her feet, her Keyblade at the ready. Instinct acted up and she ducked right under a punch from Spinel that created a sizeable hole in a nearby building.

Spinel pulled her fist out and charged again when suddenly, a thin beam of pure energy shot virtually from nowhere and hit the ground right between the two. Spinel rolled her eyes as she barked, "Blasted Snipers! GET YOUR OWN TARGETS! SHE'S MINE!

Spinel charged again and Kairi moved to the side, but apparently, that was what Spinel anticipated. She brought her gauntlet slamming into Kairi's midsection and sent the Princess of Light flying backward more than ten feet.

Kairi staggered to her feet, using her Keyblade as a crutch and saw Spinel stifling a laugh. "Is that the best you can do?" she asked, "No wonder you need those idiots to protect you!"

Spinel charged again and Kairi had to think fast now. An idea struck. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a summon charm: the Lion Charm.

_Enter flashback…_

_Narnia..._

_Aslan smiled, then beckoned with his large head. "Now go. The next world awaits. And I have something for you, Kairi."_

_Kairi's heart hammered when Aslan addressed her, but she stepped forward and Aslan beckoned a small crystal to her with his paw. It had a picture of a golden lion engraved on its surface. Kairi picked it up and pocketed it._

_"If you ever need my help, use this and I will come to your aid." Aslan said, the wisdom ringing in his voice._

_Kairi smiled. "Thanks, Aslan. I will use it."_

_End flashback…_

Kairi held out the Lion Charm with a smile, then raised it above her head.

"Aslan!"

A replica of the Stone Table appeared as the sun began to rise behind it. A figure stepped into the sunlight and Aslan, the great lion, stood right between Kairi and Spinel.

Aslan looked at Spinel with fierce eyes then let loose a loud roar that seemed to shake the earth itself. The roar stopped Spinel in her tracks and, for the first time ever, the Crystalli looked afraid. Kairi got on Aslan's back like a horse as he took off like the wind. The true king of Narnia pounced and actually landed on Spinel like he was attacking a gazelle. Spinel screamed as she was pinned to the ground, but was quite surprised that Aslan didn't kill her. Instead, he jumped off her just as Kairi jumped off Aslan. The Princess of Heart jumped off Aslan and struck Spinel while she was down. She got back on Aslan as he came back and repeated the process, this time catching her with a single swipe of his claws.

Spinel got to her feet, then growled, and vanished in a flash of light, leaving the capsule with 221 inside.

Meanwhile, with Donald, Goofy, and Stitch, they were fighting the Snipers. It was hard to fight something that turned invisible the instant you caught sight of it. And the fact that they fired laser beams while still invisible made it all the more difficult.

Still, the trio had one advantage: Stitch. Stitch was small and obnoxious, but NOT helpless. The little creature had the IQ of a supercomputer, the strength of an army, and could see in the dark. Sure, it wasn't the same as being able to see invisible objects, but Jumba didn't install that.

Stitch sniffed the air, then snarled as he leapt into the air. He latched onto something, which tried to thrash him off. For Donald and Goofy, it was a pretty unusual sight to see Stitch hover around in midair like he was caught in the wind. "O-kay, that's weird." the court mage admitted.

"How are we going to FIND these guys?" Goofy spread his arms out, including his shield arm, on the word "find" and his shield hit something. Goofy turned behind him to see a Crystalli Sniper standing right behind him, fully visible, and looking dazed. It then fell backward with a crash and remained motionless. "Gawrsh…" he said, amazed that he had done it.

Stitch was still trying to thrash a still-invisible Sniper when he bit down on something. With a crackle similar to static on a TV, the Sniper came back into view. "Iggie-no-baga!" Stitch barked. Donald stared, confused at Stitch, who put it simply. "ATTACK!"

Donald cast Firaga just as the Sniper jabbed Stitch off with its left arm. The fireball caught the Sniper full in the chest and fell to the ground with an echoing moan.

Goofy pumped his fist into the air as he said, "Alright! Two down!"

Donald looked around, but the Snipers were keeping VERY quiet now. "But how many more to go?"

Stitch sniffed the air, then shrugged as he said, "Dunno."

Suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the entire city and the Snipers crackled back to visibility. They looked at each other; apparently the roar disrupted their ability to stay invisible. On instinct, Stitch clambered up the building with arcane agility and tackled a nearby Sniper. As it thrashed to get the blue creature off its face, the other snipers opened fire. Donald and Goofy dodged here and there, trying to avoid the lasers.

Stitch, however, had other plans for the Sniper. He ripped the Crystalli's left arm off and jammed it deep into its chest plate. The Sniper writhed like a cockroach that had been stepped on, then slumped to the ground.

Stitch took the other arm and inspected it. He jarred it and a single blast of red energy erupted from its barrel, narrowly missing his ear. "Ooh…" he said, impressed.

Stitch aimed the Sniper's gun arm at one of the faraway Crystalli, then jarred it. The scarlet blast shot from the barrel and hit the furthest one away. It hit the Crystalli in its single eye and knocked it to the floor, and there it lay, perfectly still. Stitch repeated the process, laughing somewhat maniacally, until all the Snipers were lifeless husks. Stitch raised his arms into the air with a triumphant whoop. "WA-HA!"

Lilo got out of her hiding place, as Spinel was now gone, and went looking for the capsule. She found the captive experiment 221 and picked it up. She then went up to Donald and Goofy as Stitch clambered down the building. "We've got Sparky!" she announced.

Goofy scratched his head. "Sparky?"

Lilo beckoned to the yellow creature in the container, which was clawing at its glass prison frantically. "It's what I decided to call him." she explained.

Donald looked a bit exasperated as he pressed his hand into his forehead. "Something tells me that she's gonna be naming EVERY experiment she finds."

With a force similar to a strong gust of wind, Kairi arrived. She got off Aslan's back to join the others. "May you follow the way of wisdom." Aslan said, then walked off and vanished back to his own world in golden sparkles.

Kairi got a good look at 221, then said, "Well, now that we've got him, we should get Sparky to the ship."

Stitch looked at Sparky, who was still in the container. At first, Sparky snarled at Stitch like an enraged dog, then Stitch tried something. He lowered his ears, then propped them back up. Sparky was confused, then mirrored Stitch's movement. Stitch cocked his head, then grew an extra pair of arms. Sparky did the same. Finally, Sparky mirrored Stitch when he picked his nose with his tongue.

Stitch smiled, then hugged the container that Sparky was in and screamed, "Aloha, cousin!"

Sparky was a bit confused at what Stitch just said, then slowly produced the same word, but in a different way. "Cou-zzzz-in." it buzzed.

As the group got to Jumba's giant, red and white ship, they strapped Sparky up to the power core and restored the ship to full power. With Pleakley piloting the ship, the group took off after Gantu's ship. When they found the shark-faced alien's ship, Donald honked the horn and it emitted a cheesy trumpet blast. After a second, the group saw J at one of the ship's windows. Stitch waved while J made a rude hand gesture and a scowl.

Kairi sighed to herself. "Yup. Definitely in need of some attitude adjustments." she said to herself.

Sparky

Or Experiment 221, as Jumba calls him, he's one of Stitch's 625 cousins, all of which were created by Jumba. He was designed to create electrical surges and went on the rampage for a while before Spinel captured him in a glass container. Now, he's with the good guys. He first appeared in _Stitch: the Movie_ 2004.

Spinel

Another member of the Crystalli and a probable ex-friend of Sakuzy. She wields a steel gauntlet, which can shatter a boulder with a single punch, and is…just plain scrappy. She doesn't seem too impressed with Kairi, though.

Crystalli Snipers

The Crystalli that are commanded by Spinel. They may seem weak in appearance, but they can turn invisible and shoot lasers, all the while going undetected.

_That would be Aslan's Kingdom Conquer._


	110. Help

Chapter 110: Help

With a little help from Stitch, Kairi and co. boarded the ship and they saw 625 at the computer. Gantu came thundering into the computer room and goggled at the experiment. "What are you doing?!" the whale-like alien asked in disbelief.

625 simply looked at Gantu and answered with a calm demeanor. "Placing an order for sandwich supplies. We have nothing but cheese. Want some balogna?"

Gantu looked EXTREMELY grouchy at 625. "NO! I DON'T want balogna!" Gantu paused for a while, then added, "Too fatty."

After a confused silence, Kairi shoved 625 out of the seat. "HEY!" the experiment said as he tumbled to the floor.

As Kairi got into the pilot's chair, she took in the ship's controls. It was easy enough to seize the controls, but it was another to actually work a craft she had never flown before.

"Stay away from…" Gantu didn't finish his sentence, because J got in the way, as did Donald, Goofy, and Stitch. J whipped off his sunglasses and pocketed them, while Donald held out his staff, Goofy his shield, and Stitch his blasters.

"Now, are you SURE you want to finish that sentence?" the shapeshifter asked, threateningly.

Gantu didn't answer, but he took out his blaster and shot at Kairi, narrowly missing her. The blast of energy did, however, hit the cheese sandwich that 625 had on the dashboard. In the end, the sandwich's cheese melted and the bread was a crispy brown. "ALRIGHT! Grilled cheese!" 625 said as he took the sandwich in his furry hands.

As 625 happily munched on his sandwich, Gantu made to fire at Kairi again. However, J had turned into a bull and rammed him with his head a second before he fired. Gantu jerked back and the stray shot from his pistol hit a porthole. The powerful glass shattered as air escaped through it and started sucking things outside. One of which included the experiment orbs, which Lilo, for reasons hither-to unknown, brought with her. The orb mechanism on the experiment containment chamber opened up and the orbs fell to the world below.

"Uh-oh…" Kairi said as she saw the whole thing, "Looks like we've gotta go back!"

Kairi knew that this ship's controls had to be similar to a Gummi Ship's and steered the turned the ship and drove it into the world, where it crashed near a waterfall and the entire crew was all spewed out. Gantu regained his composure and found an orb that said '611'. He picked it up and looked at a special computer given to him before this mission.

"Experiment 611." it said, "Primary function—Ultimate super weapon."

Gantu was clearly pleased at this as a smile crossed his face. "Well, as luck would have it...I found Experiment 611! The ultimate super weapon!" he said with pride. Suddenly, a huge impact, like a giant footstep, sounded right behind the fish head. Gantu had a look of absolute terror on his face, but turned around VERY slowly. It was J, who had turned himself into a black, all-too-familiar Tyrannosaurus Rex. "Oh, blitzsnak..."

J the T-rex roared with enough ferocity to send Captain Gantu packing with the dinosaur close behind. Kairi didn't know whether to get the orb Gantu dropped, or just drop laughing. Halfway through the chase, J stopped, because someone with a grey fringe, a mustache, a grey suit, and a Texas accent addressed him.

"J, I need to talk to you." he said.

J clearly knew this man as a fleck of mild interest came from his mind. _Well, Dr. Phil McGraw, we meet again._

"You've got an anger problem, and you know it!" Dr. Phil scolded.

J mentally shrugged. _So, what if I do? _he asked.

Dr. Phil pointed a finger at J. "J, don't sell me the Taj Mahal and say it's an outhouse." he ordered.

Strangely, Gantu pointed an accusing finger at the dinosaur. "Yeah, J, stop doing that!"

Dr. Phil moved ever closer to the behemoth, which in retrospect, seemed like a pretty bad idea. "It's time we opened up a can of honesty. You're thinking about eating me RIGHT NOW, aren't you?" J looked calm enough, but from his point of view, Dr. Phil had a large neon sign over him that read "eat me". "Aren't you?" Dr. Phil repeated.

J paused and had a rather malicious look in his eye. _Now, what would give you THAT idea?_ When J finished his sentence, he was salivating slightly and a large drop of dino spit splashed on top of Stitch's head.

"J, your friends are here." Dr. Phil pointed out, "And I need you to help them, help me, help you, help me, help you."

Kairi went up to J and asked, "Uh…J? Exactly how many times have you had this kind of session?"

_You tell ME. I lost count._

"Then, how come they haven't had any effect on you?" she asked, sternly.

J's voice suddenly had an angered snarl in it. _If you had a past like mine, it'd be hard to get rid of this attitude, too!_

Donald noticed that they were one person short and pointed an accusing finger at J. "J! You ate Dr. Phil!" he quacked.

J licked his chops and seemed SLIGHTLY, I repeat "slightly", satisfied. _It's amazing. He tastes just like Ben Affleck._

Something seemed to be struggling in J's stomach and it was, unmistakably Dr. Phil. "Anger does NOT equal respect!" he groaned.

J seemed VERY fed up as he directed his thought at Dr. Phil. _DIGEST ALREADY!_

Stitch snarled, then said three words that J didn't recognize as English. "Meega naga quiesta!" he barked.

After a slight pause, J tilted his large head slightly, keeping his gaze on Stitch. _Normally I'd make a sarcastic remark, but I didn't understand a single word you said, space teddy._ J turned his attention back to Gantu as his voice hinted malice. _Now, where was I?_

J roared viciously as he proceeded to chase a screaming Gantu again. The rest of the group stared as he pursued the poor alien.

Dr. Phil McGraw

A TV psychiatrist who Scott hired to give J some help…multiple times. THIS, however, was the final time, seeing as J ate him.


	111. Nostalgia

Chapter 111: Nostalgia

After a long day of J trying to kill Gantu, the shapeshifter decided to let him off the hook…for now. Even in his T-rex form, J looked somewhat sickened.

"You okay, J?" asked Goofy.

J shook his head with a quiet growl. _No. Dr. Phil doesn't agree with me._ he groaned, mentally.

Donald pointed his feathery finger at J in curiosity and asked, "Why can't you change back?"

J focused his large, scarlet eye at Donald and answered, making his thoughts known to anyone wondering about it. _I've been in this for more than an hour to try and digest the psychiatrist. _he explained,_ My powers are…complicated. If I stay in the form of an animal, or person for that matter, for over an hour, I'll remain in that form until sunrise._

Kairi's jaw dropped. "So, basically, you're stuck until tomorrow?" she asked.

_Yes._

Kairi was amazed that they could sleep that night, because J, in his T-Rex form, snored. Not that light bit that you hear every night from your mom and/or dad. The snore that J emitted in his dinosaur form sounded more like a truck engine backfiring. Kairi couldn't stand it anymore and silently slunk out of bed.

Kairi saw where everyone slept as she walked through the house. Lilo and Stitch, she knew, were in their appropriate rooms, as were Jumba and Pleakley. Donald was sleeping in a spare bed and Goofy was on the couch, with his mouth open and drooling freely with his tongue sticking out. She sat down on the sandy beach and was immensely reminded of nighttime on Destiny Islands. She sighed in nostalgia.

_Shouldn't you be in bed?_

Kairi turned around in surprise and was quite shocked to see an all-too-familiar black T-Rex. After calming herself, she asked, "Couldn't sleep either, huh?" She laughed at herself for not noticing a five-ton reptile sneaking up on her. It was a wonder she didn't hear him coming.

_I woke up with that fuzz ball on my nose. _J answered,_ By the way, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. These powers are a bit bigger than me._

J stood next to Kairi and stared out at the sea. Things were quiet until Kairi broke that silence with a question. "J, why are you so withdrawn?"

J simply laid down, with difficulty of course. The position he was in was that his legs were flat on the ground and that his stomach was touching the ground. _There was a time when I wasn't…I was once as carefree as any other person was._

Kairi sat down, too. If she knew how things went, this was going to be revealing to personality, long, and a good story. "Really?" she asked, turning to meet J's giant eye, "Well, what happened that made you this way?"

J paused, then answered. His telepathic voice was now quiet, but dead serious at the same time. _Before any of this ever happened, I had a family…and a sister._

_Enter flashback…_

_A young boy with blue eyes was playing with a girl with the same eye and hair color. They were laughing and having the time of their life together as they played in the sandbox. The boy was, without a doubt, J._

_**We were inseparable, doing everything together. Whenever she was in trouble, she could count on me to get there and fix everything.**_

_The younger, flashback J was standing between the girl that was his sister and a rather large bully. When the scene changed again, J was storming out of his sister's room._

_**Even when we were angry with each other, we would make up almost instantly.**_

_J's sister walked, cautiously into his room. When the much younger J looked up, she froze right in her tracks, then hung her head. "Big brother...I'm sorry."_

_The younger J paused for a moment, then walked over and hugged her. She did the same with a tear trickling down her face._

_**Everything was perfect…until HE came.**_

_The shady figure Kairi saw on J's mural appeared and started advancing on them. The figure had the same coat, the same hat, everything._

_"Karen, run!" the much younger J shouted, valuing his sister's life._

_J's sister, Karen, did so and ran into her room. The figure flicked his finger and J was slammed against a wall. He then nicked an area of his head without making any such form of physical contact, but did nothing else. There was a flash of white light and the next thing he knew, the flashback J pushed a piece of debris off to discover that his whole house was in ruins._

_End flashback…_

Kairi was shocked. It looked like Namine was right about having more than a bad thing happen to someone he loved.

_On that day, that man killed my parents and wrecked my whole house. _J explained,_ I woke up with these eyes. I don't know how I got them, but they just appeared._ J shifted slightly to get into a more comfy position, then continued. _I never saw my sister again after that day. Two years later, I first used my shapeshifting powers to escape from the same man. I then went on the run when I found my grandparents were dying of lung cancer. I later became a rogue in Radiant Garden, but I only stole what I had to in order to survive._

Kairi was silent again. She had never heard of someone with such a horrible life. After a pause, she finally found the strength inside to speak. "I didn't know how much you lost." she said, almost apologetically.

J continued with his little life story when Kairi finished. _I met Scott, Ryan, and some other friends. We all had similar experiences, so we found it best to stick together._

"And your sister?" Kairi asked, curiously.

J tried to shrug, but his arms were too small, so he shook his head slightly. _Gone._

Kairi looked at him with a mix of doubt and worry. "She's…dead?" she asked, quietly.

J shook his large head. _No. Just…gone. _he corrected,_ They didn't find her. But if she's out there, I swore I would find her and protect her with my life this time._ J suddenly stood up as the sun started to rise above the vast ocean, then turned to Kairi. _You're a good person, with a good heart. But what it all boils down to is that you can't keep anyone forever._

Kairi got to her feet and matched some of J's cold attitude with some of her own. Her sarcasm showed in her voice. "Oh, that's a real bright outlook on the world." she said, but suddenly, it faded as she asked, "What about you and Scott?"

J eyed Kairi with what could have been a cocked eyebrow. _Scott understands what I've been through and sympathizes. Now, he thinks we're the best of friends. Sometimes he's nearly had himself killed in fights, because he thought that I'd do the same for him._

Kairi had a better answer as J slowly turned back into a human. "I don't think so."

J slipped on his sunglasses and cocked an eyebrow. "What?" he asked.

"I don't think that Scott ever thought that you'd sacrifice your life for him." she answered.

J paused as he made to walk away "What DO you think?"

"I think that it's because he KNEW that you'd do the same for him." she corrected.

J thought this over, then walked off for the house without another word.

Kairi then found herself thinking about whether or not Sakuzy, Joyex, Riku, or Sora would sacrifice their lives for her. Strangely, her train of thought then wandered to if Sora would miss her if she died, then to how Sora felt about her.

Before she could ponder it any further, a bronze heart floated out of the sands and into her hand. She then saw, in the Pure Heart's reflective surface, that she was smiling. She pocketed the heart, then walked back. Despite it being almost six-thirty AM, she was already wide awake. She went off to wake the others; they still had a job to do.

Meanwhile, back at the waterfall, Gantu and 625 were sitting near their ship, which was a complete wreck. 625 was munching on sandwiches and Gantu was looking extremely disappointed. 625 then held out a sandwich and asked, "Wanna sandwich?"

Gantu answered without turning to the experiment and with a very grouchy tone. "NO! I DON'T want a sandwich!" After a little pause, Gantu seemed a bit calmer as he made a counteroffer. "Unless you have egg salad…"

625 shook his head. "Nope. Only cheese." 625 then seemed to be a bit ticked off as he put a hand on his hip. "Now weren't you paying attention?!" he asked, accusingly.

_I love 625! He was my favorite character on Lilo & Stitch the series. I had to put him in here, because I was a bit disappointed that Mrfipp didn't put HIM in his previous fics...save a cameo in All's End._


	112. Communications

Chapter 113: Communications

Riku and Joyex's ship…

Riku walked into the main control room to find Joyex on a roller platform and working on the computer from underneath it, like a car mechanic. "What're you doing?" Riku asked.

Joyex rolled himself out with a few wires in his hands. "Trying to widen our communications so we can contact the others." he answered.

Riku stared at the control panel as he asked, "You can work on this?"

Joyex nodded. "Yeah, my other was a real smart guy, and so am I."

"Smart?" Riku let out a snort. "If you're so smart, then why do you act like an idiot all the time?"

Joyex eyed Riku suspiciously, then responded, "I don't act like an idiot. I just like driving people crazy."

"In that case, you succeed all the time." Riku complimented.

Joyex rolled himself back under the computer before saying, "Thank you." There was some sparking from under the dashboard and Joyex's voice spoke from under it. "Okay. Riku, could you turn on the juice…?"

"Sure."

Riku turned on the com-link with a simple flip of the switch, but soon wished he hadn't. Electricity pulsed under the computer and Joyex screamed as he got jolted. He then rolled himself out to show his hair was standing up and his ponytail was all bushy like an extremely irritated cat's tail. He was wearing a calm, yet angry, expression as he stood. "You didn't let me finish." Joyex said, trying not to scream, "I meant to say, 'Turn on the juice when I get out'."

Riku could only utter ONE word. "Whoops." Joyex scowled slightly as Riku raised his hands, uneasily. "Well, look on the bright side. Consider us even for the noogie deal." he said, trying to get Joyex to lighten up.

Joyex rolled his eyes, then turned on the juice as he got out from under the dashboard. The computer hummed to life in an instant. "I did it! We're live!" he exclaimed, excitedly.

"Well, then move over, half heart!" Riku shoved Joyex away and quickly typed a message and sent it to Sora's ship in an instant.

"What did ya send him?" asked Joyex.

"I told him we've got a Pure Heart and are gonna get another one RIGHT now." Riku answered.

Joyex studied the map. "The next world WE'RE close to is called Prydain, but we won't be getting there for a while."

"Exact time, please." Riku demanded.

"Three days."

Riku laid back and sighed. "It's going to be a LONG ride…" he groaned.

The next three days passed without notice, even Riku's seventeenth birthday came and went and Riku didn't even bring it up. Riku then grinned to himself. On the islands, Sora wouldn't let ANYONE forget that his birthday was coming for a second…at least before he turned ten.

The day when they were going to enter Prydain then came and they entered the world, ready for the great unknown.


	113. Gurgi

Chapter 114: Gurgi

_A pitch-black cauldron appeared as green smoke started to flow from its opening. The word 'Prydain' appeared from the green smoke and dissipated._

Joyex and Riku were walking through a dark forest with jagged rocks and twisted trees. Joyex inspected his surroundings and asked, "Boy, is this place creepy or what?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Thanks for stating the obvious, Captain Cliché." he said, sarcastically.

Joyex however, passed off the sarcastic remark, because he said, "You're welcome!"

Riku slapped himself in the face as he sighed, "Why am I with this guy?"

The two continued until Joyex heard rustling in the bushes. He stepped forward and heard it again. He stepped backward and saw that the bush followed him. He let out a scream, then took off at top speed. Riku saw Joyex dash toward him and stop, looking slightly paranoid. "Riku! I'm being chased by a bush!"

"What are you talking about?" Riku asked in a "what the heck" sort of way.

"Satan's bush!" Joyex answered, "It's stalking me!"

Joyex broke into a run AGAIN and the bush indeed followed him. Riku stared, wide-eyed at it as Joyex ran in circles around a tree with the bush in hot pursuit. "O-kay, THIS is weird." he admitted.

Just as things couldn't get any worse, something jumped out of the bush and tackled Joyex. Riku could get a good glimpse of it, but Joyex was still so frightened that he couldn't get a good glimpse at it until he wrestled it off.

This creature had a dog-like face and ears, was about three feet tall, and covered in gray fur. It also had a humanoid body, and a small "beard" and mop of white fur on the top of its head. Riku was a bit…confused. Nothing he'd ever seen had the face of a dog and the body of an ape of sorts. Suddenly, the tiny creature spoke...and in rhyme of all things. "Taran left Gurgi, all alone and scared, but he didn't know that there would be people who cared."

Joyex had finally calmed down long enough to breathe a few words out. "So…your name is Gurgi?" he asked. The creature nodded, eagerly. "And…you speak in verse?" he added.

Gurgi sighed as he nodded. "Ah, it be the effect of Gurgi's curse, to eternally speak in rhyme, or verse." he replied.

Riku crouched down so that he was eye level to the odd creature. "Alright, Gurgi, do you know anything about a Pure Heart?" he asked.

Gurgi scratched his chin, then shrugged as he said, "Gurgi knows many things, from mice to men, but this heart that is pure is not one of them."

Joyex put his fingers to his forehead as he shook his head and sighed in exasperation. "Alright, this little dog…monkey…thing isn't gonna help us." he pointed, "Let's just leave him." Joyex turned to leave, but suddenly tripped and landed on the ground with a cry. "What the?"

The Nobody turned around to see that Gurgi was bawling his lungs out and had a white-knuckled death grip on his ankle. "NO! NO! Don't leave Gurgi like this, all alone!" the creature begged, "If the Horned King found him, he'd make Gurgi lifeless as stone!"

Riku managed to pry Gurgi off Joyex's ankle and helped the critter to his feet. "Well, if he'll do THAT all the time, I guess we'll have to take the little guy with us."

Gurgi whooped for joy and jumped into Joyex's arms, snuggling up into the Nobody's chest. "Alright, NOW he's just creeping me out." Joyex said to Riku out of the corner of his mouth.

The two then set out with Gurgi by their side. Another reason to keep Gurgi close was because he knew this world well. It would be better than just wandering aimlessly through the forest.

An elderly Crystalli was watching them from the branches of a nearby tree. He smirked and chuckled to himself as he shook his head slightly. "Joyex. Easily tracked as always, I see..." The old man smirked as he leapt through the branches with agility like a monkey.

Meanwhile, in a dark castle, Pete was talking to a "man" in a black cloak that had a red hood and sleeves. He had a skull for a face that was the color of decay, glowing red eyes, and curved, demonic horns.

"Well, Mr. Horned King, thanks to you, I've got Heartless just about EVERYWHERE in Prydain." he congratulated, "Now, just concentrate on gettin' that there Cauldron to make some invincible Heartless!"

The Horned King let out an angered roar as he pointed a skeletal finger at Pete. "Never you mind, imbecile!" he snarled, "I will conquer this world BY MYSELF!"

Pete backed up a step, not wanting to get TOO comfy with this guy. "Okay, okay, no need to get touchy!" he reasoned, "Just do your best to turn that kid and princess into Heartless."

The Horned King would have smiled if he had the proper face, but his echoing laugh more than made up for it. "My pleasure." he said, his voice full of malice.

Gurgi

A small creature who lives in Prydain. He's small, furry, refers to himself in the third person and speaks in rhymes, like Bob Dole, only minus the rhyming deal. He first appeared in _The Black Cauldron _1985.


	114. Taran

Chapter 115: Taran

The entire group had been navigating the forest of Prydain for an estimated two hours now, and every tree looked the same here: gnarled and twisted. "Exactly how much longer do we have to stay with this guy?" Joyex asked, impatiently.

"Of course, when you say 'we', you mean 'you'." Riku added.

"Naturally." Joyex, of course, was referring to Gurgi. To be frank, he was sick of the little dog…monkey thing with its craving for apples and mischievous nature.

"I don't know why you're so irritated with him." Riku said, confused.

Riku, actually, liked Gurgi. Not because they shared some VERY deep similarities (well, to be honest, they didn't have any similarities), but because Gurgi was the only thing that could drive Joyex crazy.

"He's three feet tall, refers to himself in the third person, and SPEAKS IN RHYME!" Joyex shouted, "WHAT DO YOU THINK?!"

Gurgi wandered back, munching on an apple, and completely oblivious to the conversation. Suddenly, the forest parted to make way for a dark-looking castle at the base of a jagged-looking mountain. Riku pointed to the castle and asked, "Is THAT where the Horned King lives?"

"Yes, that's his castle, but Gurgi would rather not go. However, if that is what Joyex wants, it shall be so." Gurgi answered.

"Well, if that's the case...I'm going!" he said, much to Gurgi's chagrin.

"Next stop, Horned King's castle…"

Joyex froze in his tracks as he turned to Riku. "Wait...You know this guy?"

Riku turned to Joyex, his expression solemn and hardened. He obviously didn't like this type of memory. "I worked with Maleficent once. Remember?" he reminded, "Apparently she and the Horned King are old friends. I heard her trying to get him to join her more than a year ago, but apparently, he turned her down."

Joyex shrugged. "Well, it seems as if he's gotten a change of heart." he guessed.

The trio walked towards the castle only to see several Heartless circling it like vultures. They were large, reptilian, had wings, curving horns, and no arms, but powerful hind limbs. Dragons. The Dragon Heartless suddenly spotted them and flew at Riku and co. with a screech like an eagle after a rabbit.

Joyex allowed his humorous grin to spread across his face as he said, "THIS should be fun."

Riku summoned Way to Dawn and Joyex readied his chain whip. Gurgi, on the other hand, screamed and ran for cover.

One of the Dragons dove at Joyex and snapped at him. The Nobody jumped up, the Heartless' teeth narrowly missing his foot, and tied his whip around its mouth.

"Yee-HAW!" the Nobody whooped as he rode on the Heartless like a bucking bronco, just like he did with the Crystalli Fossils at Gamma Quadrant. Riku rolled his eyes in disbelief. No matter how much Joyex could grow on a guy, he was still a HUGE showoff.

Riku dodged away from a Dragon's kicking legs and launched a Dark Firaga at it. The fireball raced through the air and took the Heartless' head right off its neck. Before the Heartless vanished, its body jerked and squirmed around like a beheaded chicken. "Okay, that was freaky." he admitted.

Riku turned his attention back to the battle and jumped at another Dragon, which spat a burst of lightning at him. Riku narrowly dodged that blast and caught one of its wings with his Keyblade. Riku then jumped to the next one and looked ready to jam his Keyblade into its back, but it did a somersault that turned the tables on him. Riku improvised by dropping to the ground and jumped again. When the Dragon somersaulted again, Riku saw it coming and turned to smash it in the head. However, in midair, ANOTHER Dragon came out of nowhere and hit Riku with a breath of forked lightning. Electricity flowed through Riku's body and he plummeted to the down and ended up in the talons of the same Dragon, out like a light.

With his battle, Joyex steered his Dragon Heartless into the ground and it vanished. He laughed in satisfaction, but then saw one flying away with Riku in its talons. "D'OH!" Joyex sighed a long, drawn-out sigh, then turned to Gurgi. "C'mon, Gurgi! We've got a Keyblader to save..."

Gurgi peaked out from behind a tree and was slightly jittery. "Why, rescuing your friend won't be as easy as pie. The only thing Gurgi asks Joyex is 'why'?"

Joyex then offered something Gurgi wouldn't turn down in a million years. "Help me and I'll give you as many apples as you can eat!"

Gurgi sprang from behind his tree and was at Joyex's heels in an instant. "Gurgi ALWAYS is happy for some crunchies and munchies!"

"I'll take THAT as a yes! In that case, let's go." Joyex said, kneeling down. Gurgi sprang onto Joyex's back and piggybacked the whole chase of the Dragon.

Riku woke up to find himself in a dingy jail cell with only a single window, iron bars, and a large puddle in the corner. He saw his reflection in the puddle of dirty water and saw that his silver, shoulder-length hair was standing up at odd angles. THIS was the obvious effect of the Dragon's lightning attack.

"Ow...Lousy lightning." Riku muttered. After a failed attempt to make his hair lie flat, the so-called Prince of Darkness looked at his right hand and clenched it into a fist. "Wish I still had my diamond fist, then I'd be out of here EASILY." Riku then slapped himself in the face. "DUH! Way to Dawn." he said to himself.

Riku summoned his Keyblade and pointed it at the lock. The doorway to the cell he was in swung open and he quickly ran through the labyrinth of a hallway. After a few seconds, Riku could have sworn that he had been to the same area twice, and stopped for a rest. "Ugh. How can anyone get anywhere in here?" he asked.

A voice suddenly rang through the hallway. Riku guessed it belonged to an old, British man. "Now, THAT is a stupid question."

Riku then heard the sound of a very tight string being snapped, as though someone had accidentally snapped the cord of a stringed instrument. The next voice that spoke belonged to a girl. "Fflewder!"

Riku lowered his voice as he spoke to himself. "Probably some of the Horned King's servants..."

Riku summoned his Keyblade and whirled around the corner, expecting some form of sentient beast. Instead, he saw three people—a boy, an older man, and a girl. The boy had brown hair, green clothes with gold lining, and a pair of boots. The girl was wearing a simple dress and had blonde hair. The older man, on the other hand, was carrying a harp and seemed VERY frightened when Riku whirled around the corner.

Riku's Keyblade sparkled out of existence as he folded his arms across his chest. "Okay, I don't think you're in with the Horned King." he said, folding his arms.

The boy looked greatly offended and Riku had the sudden feeling that he said the wrong thing. "Horned King?!" he asked, "Why would we work with him? Because of him, Hen Wen is dead!"

Riku scratched his head at the name "Hen Wen" and asked, "Who's Hen Wen?"

"She was a pig who could foretell the future." the boy answered, then shook it off, "But, that's beside the point. I'm Taran, this is Princess Eilonwy and the guy with the harp is Fflewder Fflam."

Riku smirked at the name Fflewder Fflam. "Now, THERE'S a hard name to pronounce." Riku allowed himself to laugh a bit, then screwed up his face to remember something. "Taran…that sounds familiar." Riku then snapped his fingers as the name hit him. "Oh yeah...Gurgi mentioned you! He said that you left him in that forest."

Taran gaped at Riku on the name and asked, "Gurgi? That fuzzy guy who loves apples? I didn't leave him there. He stayed there on his own."

The girl, Eilonwy, stepped forward and said, "Enough small talk, Taran. Riku, could you get us out?"

"Maybe. I don't know how to get ANYWHERE in this dungeon…" he said, looking around the dungeon.

"Well, in that case, we're done for!" Fflewder said, smacking himself in the forehead with a free hand.

Riku held up a finger to silence Fflewder and continued. "OR…we could improvise." Riku aimed an open palm at the wall and a Dark Firaga blasted through it, creating a large crater.

"Well, THAT was subtle." Fflewder said in surprise.

The group exited through the hole, then fled into the wilderness.

Pete walked into the Horned King's throne room, looking jittery and…scared out of his wits. The tyrant of Prydain turned to the oafus cat, his red eyes filled with fiery fury. "Uh…Mr. Horned King, sir?" Pete said, nervously.

The Horned King impatiently asked, "What is it?"

"Uh…the brat, the princess, and that harp guy have hit the road with that Riku fella." Pete explained.

The Horned King seemed ready to rear out of his chair and roar at the top of his lungs, but then his skeletal hand unfurled and he scratched his skeletal chin. "Riku?" he asked, interest in his echoing voice, "I remember Maleficent talking about him all the time. And he escaped with Taran, Eilonwy, AND Fflewder Fflam?"

"Um…yes." Pete answered.

The Horned King rose to his feet and glowered at Pete with his flaming eyes. "YOU IDIOT!" he snarled, "If they get away, they could find the Black Cauldron! We must NOT let that happen!" Pete suddenly punched himself in the face, leaving a curious Horned King staring at him. "Exactly what are you doing?" he asked.

Pete recovered from his own blow and shook the cobwebs out of his head. "Punishin' myself FIRST so you can't get me LATER." he explained.

"No matter." The Horned King said, "The prisoners may have escaped, but we could use this to help get the Cauldron…"

Pete seemed to brighten up a bit as the Horned King broke into a deep, echoing laugh.

Sapphire was standing outside a window with his feet on his fan blades, which he lodged into the tower. Sapphire's mouth curved into a malicious smile. "So can I." he added. Sapphire snapped his fingers and several man-sized crystals hovered around him. "Move out."

Taran

Originally an assistant pig-keeper, now a hero of Prydain. He was originally supposed to protect the precog pig, Hen Wen, but she died when she was thrown out a window. He's now joined forces with the high-spirited princess, Eilonwy, and the unusual Fflewder Fflam. Apparently he was friends with Gurgi for a while, but, when he approached the Horned King's castle, the creature scampered. He now has an enchanted sword and is itching to use it. He first appeared in _The Black Cauldron_ 1985.

Princess Eilonwy

A princess who was captured by the Horned King for some reason. She escaped with Taran and Fflewder Fflam, all of which escaped with Riku. She's surprisingly bubbly and high-spirited, in other words, Ryan Syrus would REALLY interact well with her. She first appeared in _The Black Cauldron_ 1985.

Fflewder Fflam

A REALLY hard name to pronounce, eh? Anyway, he was found in the Horned King's castle and carries around a harp. The reason he does this is because, every time he lies, a harp string breaks (it's a running gag). He first appeared in _The Black Cauldron_ 1985.

Dragons

A species of Heartless that is native to Prydain. They're the size of a man, can fly via batlike wings, and can breathe lightning. They look a bit like Wyverns, but are larger and an acid-green color.


	115. Three Witches

Chapter 116: Three Witches

Riku and co. stopped in the middle of the forest for a break. Riku started a fire with a Dark Firaga, which really amazed Eilonwy, who was mending Fflewder's apparently torn pants. Taran, on the other hand, was swinging his sword around until he popped the tip of the blade into the ground. Riku could only barely make out some sort of brag about how HE got them out of the castle.

Sarcasm was apparent in Riku's voice as he said, "Sure it wasn't. C'mon! If it wasn't for ME, you'd still be stuck in that castle!"

"An excellent point." Fflewder said with a finger extended.

No harp strings broke and everyone stared. Even Fflewder had been expecting a string to break. "Well, THAT'S a first." Taran said, amazed.

Fflewder looked mildly offended as he pointed a finger at Taran. "It most certainly is NOT!" A string snapped and the man looked VERY embarrassed as he glanced at it. "Or…maybe it is."

There was suddenly a rustling in the bushes and was enough to cause both Taran and Riku to turn to it. "The Horned King's Heartless?" Taran asked, his sword at the ready.

"Most likely." Riku replied.

Taran held out his sword and Riku summoned his Keyblade. Fflewder and Eilonwy hid, but the princess kept her head above the hiding place, looking excited. "Please, let this turn out to be a good fight!" she practically begged.

Riku seemed a bit confused by this statement as he turned, uneasily, back to the bush. "She scares me..."

Riku resumed his position and pointed his Keyblade into the bushes. Oddly enough, a familiar voice came from the bush. "WE SURRENDER!" it screamed.

Riku dispelled his Keyblade, then said, "There's only ONE guy who'd act like THAT."

Joyex and Gurgi popped out of the bushes. Joyex had a huge tub of apples tied to his back and a can of something that said 'Heartless-B-Gone'.

"Joyex?!" Riku said, shocked.

"Gurgi?!" Taran asked in surprise.

Joyex gasped for breath, then said, "Us."

"Munchies and crunchies!" Gurgi snatched an apple from Joyex's sack and started munching on it. Joyex paused, then dropped to the ground, apples spilling from his sack.

"Alright, I give up, what did you two do?" Riku asked, giving Joyex a reproachful glare.

Joyex got up, dusted himself off, and then took a seat in front of the bush where Fflewder and Eilonwy were hiding. "Well, when you were captured, Gurgi and I did the only thing logical—we hit the road when you were captured by those Dragons."

Riku rolled his eyes. He'd seen this coming. Taran also had a similar question for Gurgi. "What're you doing back here, Gurgi?"

Gurgi drooped slightly, but looked up at him with a still-cheerful face. "Gurgi felt lonesome, and that is true. He would like a friend, and he chose YOU."

Eilonwy and Fflewder came out from their hiding places. Before they could even introduce themselves, Joyex held out a finger as though saying, "uh-uh-uh". "Alright, no need for an introduction. I've already read the Chronicles of Prydain." Joyex explained.

Riku scratched his head as he asked, "What're you talking about? You've never met these guys."

Joyex put an arm around Riku's shoulder and said, "Never YOU mind, my silver-headed, pretty-boy friend."

The look on Riku's face indicated he was just about ready to horribly murder Joyex HERE and NOW. "STOP calling me that." he growled.

Joyex released Riku and shrugged as he said, "But you told me you got dates for every day of the month at your school and accepted about one or two of them."

"YOU, I'm ignoring." Riku said, flatly.

Suddenly, three women appeared seemingly from nowhere and it scared the wits out of Fflewder and Joyex. They were short, ugly, green, had warts, and were all in purple. Witches. Joyex finally managed to calm down enough to get his feel of courage back. "Hey, if they're witches, why didn't they just send flying monkeys?" he asked.

The witches raised an eyebrow and turned to each other. "What's he talking about?" one of them asked.

"I don't rightly know…" another one answered.

Riku gave Joyex "the look". "Joyex, THIS is Prydain, NOT Oz." he explained.

"Oh."

The witches gathered around the group, making Joyex ESPECIALLY sick just looking at them. One of the witches pointed a spindly finger at Taran as though accusing him. "We know that Taran is searching for the Black Cauldron!"

"Not just find it, but to destroy it, too." another corrected.

"But in order to do so, someone must sacrifice their heart to the darkness!" the third one said, her finger raised.

"But don't worry, once it's gone, we shall bargain!"

The witches then vanished, leaving them all a bit dumbstruck. Joyex blinked a few times to try and figure out if any of it actually happened. "O-kay…THAT was one of the freakiest things I've ever seen. And it was short-lived too…" he said as he played around with his ponytail.

Riku thought to himself, speaking out loud from his memories. "The Black Cauldron..." he said, "I've heard Maleficent mention that the Horned King was after it, but she was pretty vague on the details."

"I'll keep it simple." Taran spoke up, "Any dead body dipped into it turns into a zombie."

"Instantly, my mind wanders to those cheesy horror movies." Joyex said to himself. It sounded, to him, like not such a big threat.

Riku looked toward the castle and clenched a fist. "If he's with Maleficent, then he must have a plan for the Heartless, too. We have to find the cauldron AND this world's Pure Heart. Do you guys know where either are?"

"We, most certainly, do NOT." Fflewder said, shaking his head.

A harp string broke AGAIN and Riku said, with a flat look, "That harp says you're wrong."

Taran went over to Fflewder. "Allow me." he advised, then decided to answer Riku's question, "Alright, Riku, we know where the Cauldron is, but not this Pure Heart. BUT we might find it along the way."

Riku nodded, then summoned Way to Dawn. "Let's go, then."

Riku and co. turned to the mountain and made their way back to the castle.

Witches

Three witches who inhabit Prydain. They said that, in order to destroy the Cauldron's power, one of them would have to surrender their heart to the Darkness. Still, they will bargain…for something. They first appeared in _The Black Cauldron_ 1985.


	116. The Black Cauldron

Chapter 117: The Black Cauldron

Riku and co. came to the foot of the all-too-familiar giant, black mountain. Right at its base was the Horned King's castle. "Is this the place, Taran?" he asked.

Taran nodded. "Pretty much. In order to find the cauldron, we'll have to go around the castle."

A question suddenly sprang to Joyex's mind. "Wait just a cotton-pickin' minute…how do YOU know about the Black Cauldron?"

Taran turned to Joyex and answered, "You see, before Hen Wen died, she showed me where to find it."

Joyex looked around, his eyes darting from place-to-place. "Will any, uh...unwelcome visitors be joining us?" he asked, nervously.

Taran looked back at the mountain. "Yeah. Unfortunately, I had to show the Horned King, too."

Riku pondered this for a moment, then simply said, "We'll…make it fast."

Eilonwy suddenly realized what one of the witches said. "But, wait. The witch said that one of us will have to give our hearts to the darkness."

Joyex walked towards the mountain. "I'll do it. I'm sure my quarter of a heart will count."

Someone grabbed Joyex's arm and he froze in place. Riku walked past and stopped a few steps from the Nobody as he said, "Sakuzy needs you, Joyex. I'll do it."

Riku suddenly felt a painful tugging on his head and saw Joyex, who had a fistful of his long, silver hair. "Who do ya think is gonna be best man at their wedding?" the Nobody asked.

Riku simply punched Joyex in the gut and saw Taran walking towards the mountain. "I'll do it."

THIS earned a response from Eilonwy. "NO!"

Eilonwy grabbed his arm, trying to stop him while Gurgi ran past. "Taran's like Gurgi, they both want fun. But, while Taran has many friends, Gurgi has none."

Gurgi then started clambering up the mountain. Riku and co. looked up to see Dragon Heartless circling them from above. "Gurgi! GET BACK HERE!" Taran called.

Riku growled, frustratedly, "He's going to get himself KILLED!"

"We, most certainly, do NOT have to save him!" Fflewder said, another one of the harp strings snapping.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Let's go get him before those Heartless do..."

The entire group climbed up the mountain until they came into a deep, dark cave. Save the small light the entrance gave, it was pitch-dark in there. Suddenly, a pain shot through Joyex's right foot. "OW! MY FOOT!"

The pain vanished in an instant and Taran spoke up first. Apparently, he accidentally stepped on Joyex's foot judging by the way he apologized. "Oops! Sorry."

Soon, a dim light came from the dark interior and continued inward to see a cavern easily larger than they had expected the cauldron to be in. Right at the edge of the cavern was a LARGE, pitch-black cauldron, which was bubbling with green liquid. The liquid, it turned out, was the source of the light. Then, before any had time to take in what happened, Gurgi jumped right into the cauldron and vanished without a trace.

"GURGI!!" Taran called.

Joyex simply stared at the Cauldron. "Usually, I'd say something that sounds completely stupid, but THIS seems to be a serious moment."

After a prolonged silence, a voice rang through the cave. One that chilled everyone to the core. "Well done, Taran." The group turned to see the Horned King with Pete, who looked smug as usual. The Horned King would have smiled if he had a proper face. "I thank all of you for leading me here. Because of you, I can use the Black Cauldron to RULE THIS PITIFUL WORLD!"

Pete rubbed his hands together, eagerly, then said, "Alrighty, then! Let's get this started!"

Pete snapped his finger and several Armored Knight Heartless appeared and marched toward the entire group. Riku, Joyex, and Taran got ready to fight, but there didn't seem to be much of a threat, seeing as the Heartless marched past them, toward the cauldron.

Joyex almost laughed as he pointed at the Heartless. "Ha! Look, Riku. Those morons don't even know where we are!"

Riku kept his Keyblade at the ready and his words were as serious as ever. "Don't count on it…"

Joyex turned and saw that the Heartless had jumped into the Black Cauldron. The cauldron bubbled for a while, then remained still. Then, slowly, the Heartless emerged from the bowels of the cauldron. The main differences now were that they had sickly-green skin and glowing red eyes. "Oh no…"

As the Heartless emerged from the cauldron, they walked, zombie-like toward their master: the Horned King. The way they walked now was enough to make Pete snap his fingers to make them disappear. It didn't work, so he tried again and again to no avail. "What in the name of Pete is going on here for Pete's sake?!"

The Horned King turned to Pete with his burning eyes and skeletal grin. "Ah, a special breed, these Cauldron Born Heartless. They are spawned from the Black Cauldron and only listen to ONE master—me." The Horned King burst into a fit of deep, evil laughter, then pointed his skeletal finger at the group. "Now, Cauldron Born Heartless…ATTACK!"

The Cauldron Born Heartless about-faced, then marched upon Riku and co. Joyex had obviously dealt with the Armored Knight Heartless, because he took his chain whip out. "NO PROBLEM!" he said, proudly.

Joyex got out his chain whip and leapt RIGHT into their midst. With a single move, he brought the blade of his whip shearing through most of the Heartless' midsections, but caught one in a headlock and brought his blade right through its head and sliced it, vertically, in half. He jumped off and dusted off his hands. "Piece of cake."

His victory was short-lived, seeing as the fallen Heartless simply got back to their feet and their wounds healed over. He looked frustrated as he hacked another one's head off, but the body of the Heartless simply picked it up and put it back on its shoulders. Joyex growled in frustration. "Cauldron Born Heartless, why won't you DIE?!" he asked, frustratedly.

The Horned King laughed, maniacally, as if it were a simple question before answering. "A special object, this Cauldron." The Horned King had seemingly vanished to the other side of the chamber and was now stroking the cauldron's side like it was some sort of unique pet of his. "Any Heartless put into it becomes invincible, just as most would use a corpse. And as for the zombie spawned from it, YOU CAN'T KILL IT!"

Joyex dropped his chain, comically, and his jaw fell open before he replied with just two words. "We're dead."

Riku took a battle pose as he turned to face the Horned King and the Black Cauldron. "Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Riku and Taran ran over to the Horned King, who spread his hands and shrouded them in a dark veil.

Joyex made to go after them, but Pete simply got in the way with his arms outstretched. The Nobody prepared himself and Pete cackled before getting ready to rumble. "Hit me with your best shot, Fat Stuff!"

Pete then seemed to be physically injured by this as he lurched back slightly. He then pointed an accusing finger at Joyex and came right back at him by saying, "FAT STUFF?! YOU CALLED ME FAT STUFF?! You lousy, son of a…"

Joyex cut him off as he said, "DON'T call MY mother a…"

Suddenly, a very familiar voice rang through the entire area. "A what? Joyex looked up and saw Sapphire right at the entrance. He straightened up, then walked over to the two. "What happened to the strict ban on swear words?"

Joyex pointed at Pete, who glared accusingly at him. "Actually, the tubby tabby didn't get the words out." he pointed out.

Sapphire walked over to Pete and looked him over. He nodded, then took a step back as he said, "Joyex isn't worth your time. If you want a fight, fight me."

Pete paused, then laughed out loud as he heard this old man challenging him. "You made a big mistake, grampa. You're an old coot fightin' the mighty Pete!"

Sapphire put up his fists in a kung-fu stance with a calm demeanor on his face, then cricked his neck. "Humor me." he said in a challenging tone.

Pete cracked his knuckles, hoping to intimidate the blue-clad Crystalli Host. It didn't work. "Good idea, ol' timer..."

Pete ran at Sapphire only to see the elderly man vanish and reappear to kick him in the seat. Pete stumbled forward as Sapphire clicked his tongue. "Predictable."

Pete wheeled around to see Sapphire's fist appear several times in his face. The fat cat summoned his exploding balls and threw them at the old man, who dodged them and actually caught one of them on his forearm before throwing it at a wall. The ball exploded on contact with the wall and blasted a few rocks loose.

Pete growled, then threw several punches with enough strength to shatter stone. None even touched the old man. "I can see the success of your training." Sapphire said, sarcastically, "It was a waste of your master's time."

Pete, fed up, seized Sapphire around the hem of his robe and threw him as hard as he could against the wall. Joyex was surprised that his Somebody's master had been caught so easily. Sapphire cringed and actually looked like the 'crotchety old man' that Pete basically described him as. "I surrender! I-I'm too weak!" he choked.

Pete laughed and approached the old man for victory. Joyex simply grinned. He KNEW what was coming next. "Oh, c'mon, Pete. That is OBVIOUSLY a trap..." Joyex muttered to himself, inaudible to Pete.

"Guess your meager skills couldn't hold a candle to the skills of…" Pete tried to take a dramatic pose, but something in his back cracked and he recoiled. In the end, he settled for flexing his muscles. "Perhaps THAT'LL teach ya to mess with the MIGHTY PETE!"

Pete walked closer, as if trying to rub it in Sapphire's face, but the old man looked up at Pete and grinned. He sprung at Pete and punched him twice across the face, kicked him in the stomach, and kneed him in the crotch. Pete screamed in a high-pitched voice and fell to the ground, clutching his manly area.

"THREE things of combat you must learn, oaf." Sapphire pointed out, "ONE: NEVER get cocky. TWO: NEVER underestimate your opponent, even if he's an 'old coot'. And THREE: if the bait is OBVIOUS, don't take it (1)."

Joyex stared, then asked, "Uh…Sapphire?"

Sapphire turned to face Joyex. His expression was one of casual indifference. "WHAT, Nobody?!"

Joyex raised his arms to make himself seen, then asked, "Aren't you gonna try and kill me now?"

Sapphire's face remained the same and changed only when he spoke. "Not really. I thought that I'd try the idiot, but he didn't fit the bill. Next on my list is Riku. Don't interfere or you'll end up like that poor creature." Sapphire pointed over to Pete, who was still on the ground, twitching. "You CAN, however, deal with my henchmen…some other time."

Unbeknownst to Joyex and the rest, several crystals lodged themselves in the mountain just outside the cave entrance. Inside the mountain, however, Sapphire strode over to the arena that was housing a battle with the Horned King. The elderly Crystalli then waited with his hands clasped behind his back, standing as still as a statue.

Riku and Taran battled the Horned King with EVERY intent to win. The pronged tyrant had cast a spell that caused a sort of black hole to be created in the Cauldron. And that black hole seemed to be getting bigger. Taran eyed it carefully. "Looks like we've gotta finish him quick." he said, uneasily.

The Horned King cackled, then shook his skeletal head. "I'm afraid you won't get much of a chance, boy. I'm NO pushover." he pointed out.

Riku, without any further hesitation, cast Dark Break. He jumped into the air and came down on the Horned King multiple times with Way to Dawn, but he only got in three blows. After the third, the tyrant summoned a sword the color of fresh blood to parry the rest. When Riku landed on the ground, the king laughed. "Did you really think that Maleficent was stupid enough to not arm me against you?" he asked, stifling a laugh.

Riku charged the Horned King and chopped madly at him with his Way to Dawn. Not one swing hit the King as he parried with his scarlet blade. The Horned King sidestepped Riku, then took a swing at him with his blade only to meet the silver sword of Taran, who had blocked for him. "Don't forget. You're not doing this alone, Riku!" he said, glancing over his shoulder.

Riku could only smile at Taran, then continued his assault on the Horned King. He took a swing at the tyrant only to see him sidestep the attack and almost hit Taran, who was caught in mid-swing. The Horned King used this moment of awkwardness to smack Taran hard across the face with the back of his hand. Apparently he was stronger than he looked.

The Horned King mentally smiled as he realized how easy this was. All he had to do now was weave between the two and keep evading any move they made against him. It was as though he was fighting them in turn, rather than both at once like they were intending. THIS was too easy.

Riku had had just about enough of this fight that he pulled out the Cactus Charm again in an attempt to end the fight.

"Cactoid!"

The Cactoid that Riku used at Gamma Quadrant appeared again and its quills fired everywhere as though someone set of a bomb in a pincushion. The quills raced everywhere, but the ones that nearly reached the Horned King were sucked into the Cauldron. Taran cursed something under his breath, then went for the Horned King again. The Horned King met him in midair and pushed him back.

"This is too easy, boy. Your moves are too predictable, so they're no match for me." the skeletal tyrant pointed out, his sword still at the ready.

Taran smiled as he jumped back from the king's scarlet blade and landed next to Riku. The two of them nodded.

"Taran!"

"THIS is why I should be a hero!" Taran's sword sparkled like diamond and fired something at the King's sword, which snapped in two. As the Horned King stared at the remains of his shattered blade, Riku was there to meet him and caught him in the midsection with Way to Dawn. The Horned King lurched forward as Taran came to meet him with a slash of his now-glowing sword. When Taran finished his strike, the Horned King clutched the wound in his chest and inspected it. It was leaking green blood now…

Riku took his chance and shot a Dark Firaga at the fallen tyrant. The Horned King simply roared back to his feet and caught the blue fireball in his hand. With another roar, the skeletal tyrant sent the blast back at him. Riku and Taran were sent flying by the rebounded spell's explosion and landed in heaps.

"FOOL!" the Horned King roared, "Do you really think that you can harm me with my own element?!" The Horned King advanced on them with a hand engulfed in emerald flame, but suddenly stopped. Part of his robe was now being sucked into the black hole in the cauldron. "WHAT?!" he roared in surprise, "NO! NO!!"

The Horned King tried to cling to something, but nothing was there for him to hold. Since he had more mass than that of Riku or Taran, he was affected by the black hole more than both of them. Slowly, he was dragged toward the Black Cauldron and, with a roar in fury, was sucked into the Cauldron's depths. Oddly enough, the black hole seemed to vanish at the loss of its master, winking out of existence in the span of three seconds.

Riku wiped sweat from his forehead. "Whoa. THAT was close." he said with relief.

"Riku! The Heartless!" Taran pointed at the army now approaching them only to see that the Horned King's control had vanished and the Cauldron Born Heartless were disappearing into thin air.

Riku then heard the all-too-familiar noise of clapping hands. He turned to see the old man, Sapphire if he recalled, and pointed the Way to Dawn at him. "Well done, Riku. Well done." the elderly Crystalli congratulated. Sapphire stopped clapping and strode over to the arena where the Horned King had fallen.

"What do you want?" Riku asked.

Sapphire looked up at Riku; the boy's tone was annoyed and angry. The Crystalli lifted a finger and answered, "Interesting you should ask. I want a battle to remember, because the oaf I fought earlier was no match for me."

Pete was no longer there, most likely back at the World that Never Was, giving a report to Maleficent. Sapphire ignored the fact that Pete disappeared and took out the fan-blades he used on Sakuzy and Sora back at Radiant Garden. "Sakuzy and Sora were hardly a challenge for me. Let's see if YOU do any better, Riku."

Riku took a step forward just as Taran began walking over, too. "Began" was the right word, because Sapphire held up one of his blades as though saying "stop there". "No, boy. I only want to fight Riku, no more, no less. Don't worry. You'll still have him when I'm done, one way or another."

Taran flinched, then remained at his position as Riku shifted the angle of his Keyblade. At first, the two simply circled each other, looking for an opening. After a few seconds of circling, Riku just couldn't wait anymore; he sprang. Sapphire met him in mid-swing and took a swing with one of his fan-blades. Riku barely evaded it and hacked at Sapphire's legs only to see that Sapphire was no longer in front of him.

"Well, you're fast, I'll give you that. But you'll have to be faster than that to strike me."

Riku whirled around at the sound of the voice just in time to see Sapphire swing at him with his fan-blades. Riku ducked under the first one, but the second caught him across the shoulder and left a gash that dyed Riku's shirt red. Riku clutched the wound, but got right back up and started hammering away at Sapphire, who simply blocked each attack with his fan blades.

"I was hoping you'd be more of a challenge, Riku. At least more than Sora, but so far, I'm not impressed." Sapphire said, casually. Riku put his hand forward and a ball of dark flame erupted from his palm. Sapphire wasn't worried, for he simply moved his forearm in the way and the blast of fire reflected back at him. "HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING?!" Sapphire asked in almost a roar.

Riku had one trick left; one that he guessed Sapphire wouldn't be able to counter.

"DARK AURA!"

Riku momentarily floated in midair, then darted at Sapphire from behind, striking with Way to Dawn again and again. THIS move had been the end of Organization members like Lexaeus and Vexen, even his own replica. None of the swipes even touched Sapphire, for the old man jumped in midair and parried each strike with his fan blades, angling them off to the side.

When Dark Aura finished, Sapphire was still standing, not a scratch on him. "Impressive, but not enough to stop me." he said, brushing some dust off his shoulder.

Riku was amazed that Sapphire had accomplished such a feat and turned with gritted teeth. "How the...?" Riku asked, dumbstruck.

Sapphire turned to face Riku, his fan-blades at his sides. "I trained a boy who used darkness, just like you." he answered, "I had trained myself to defend against the Dark Aura, because he used it on me. And by the way…" Sapphire took his fan blades, then threw them like boomerangs. "Think fast!"

Riku blocked the first fan blade with relative ease, but had to duck under the other. When he came back up, Sapphire came soaring at him and planted the heel of his boot right between Riku's eyes in a thrust kick. Riku fell to the floor as Sapphire caught his fan blades and then put them right at the boy's neck. "Dead." he said. Sapphire dispelled the fan blades and walked to the exit of the cave.

"Aren't you going to kill me?" Riku asked.

Sapphire paused and Riku could see a smile even when the old man's back was turned on him. "I only kill those I see as threats. You're no threat to me, I'm afraid. I'll just leave the killing to the Crystalli…"

Sapphire snapped his fingers, then vanished in a flash of blue light. Riku pounded the ground with his fist, then slowly got to his feet. Fortunately, Taran was there to help. The green-clad boy held out a hand, which Riku took and used to pull himself to his feet. "Thanks." Riku said with a slight nod.

"Anytime."

At that moment, Eilonwy and Fflewder joined them. "YOU DID IT! You stopped the Horned King!" Eilonwy cheered, virtually bouncing with joy.

As Riku got to his feet, he shrugged off his lack of energy and turned to hear the distant marching of feet against stone. The Crystalli were coming; it couldn't be anyone else. "Looks like we'll be having some Crystalli on our hands..."

Joyex readied his chain and looked extremely focused. "If they were summoned by Sapphire, THIS is gonna be BAD." he said, cautiously.

Riku held back a laugh, only producing a small scoff. "C'mon, the worst that can come are those Neo Soldiers, which keep coming after you, even if you chop their heads off!"

Four Crystalli entered the room and were a kind that Riku had never seen. They were Crystalli that were as tall as a grown man with a similar build, had arrow-shaped heads (UPSIDE DOWN arrows) with a pointed "X" in the middle of their face and thick, jagged armor. Their eyes were scarlet and met near the X's vertex (The place where two lines meet). In each hand was a sword easily longer than a Keyblade.

"You HAD to say that." Joyex groaned, then got to explaining, "THESE are Crystalli Paladins…and they die hard."

Riku glanced at Joyex out of the corner of his eye and asked, "Do they keep coming if you chop off their heads?"

"No…"

"Good."

Joyex simply finished his statement by saying, "Because they won't let you chop them off and live to tell about it."

"Bad." Riku corrected himself.

Riku summoned Way to Dawn and charged at the Paladins. He swung at one, but the ocean-blue Crystalli simply blocked Riku's blow with one of its swords. When Riku saw that this attack didn't work, he swung again only to meet the same result.

As Riku looked a little closer, he noticed that his opponent was battle-scarred. There was a small crater in its chest surrounded by a corona of soot. The Paladin looked like it had taken a fire spell directly. There was also a large gash that went from its left shoulder all the way down to its chest; a gash that might have come from a Keyblade. This thing had fought a Keyblader and survived. The Keyblader, he guessed, DIDN'T.

As Riku backed off, the Paladin took a swing at him with both of its swords. It had become a whirling blur of destruction that Riku could barely avoid. When it finished spinning around like a buzz saw, the Paladin took both its swords and swung only to meet Riku's Keyblade. Riku saw an opportune moment and stabbed only to meet the Paladin's swords again. Joyex WASN'T exaggerating, these guys were tough, seeing as the Crystalli easily removed the blow. Riku threw out his foot to kick, but the Paladin caught it with the flat side of the blade and Riku almost lost his balance. He staggered to his feet just as the Paladin advanced on him, swords whirring through the air.

Riku then saw how Joyex was doing and couldn't believe what was going on. Joyex was playing around with three, dancing around them and probably annoying the heck out of them. "C'mon, is that all you got?! IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?!" the Nobody challenged at the top of its lungs.

Out of irritation, a Paladin took a swing at Joyex and the crew had barely noticed that the Paladins were HERDING them out of the cave, towards a three-mile drop. Riku mentally sighed in disbelief. _No wonder we're losing to them. They're getting smarter…_

At that time, the lead Crystalli Paladin was so irritated that he swung his sword at Joyex only to misjudge its swing and end up falling to its death. Joyex almost sighed when another swung at him and actually forced Joyex off the cliff's edge. Joyex acted on instinct and but threw part of his whip around their legs. The Paladins stared for a while, then went flying after him in the blink of an eye.

Riku still had quite a bit of trouble, but then cast something he didn't really want to…not in this condition anyway. He hovered for a moment before flying in various directions with his Keyblade out and shattering the Paladin in seconds. The remaining Paladin reached for Riku with its remaining hand, then fell to the ground, twitching feebly. Riku finished the Dark Aura, then fell to the ground, breathing raggedly. "I'm okay...I'm alright..." he gasped.

Riku then went to the place where Joyex fell. He saw his chain's blade lodged in the cliff's wall and he was, predictably, dangling by the chain. He grinned sheepishly. "I love my chain." he gasped, "Now, would you kindly heave me up? My arm's cramping."

Riku dislodged the blade of the chain and hauled Joyex up, with extreme difficulty. When he was hauled back up, Riku gasped for breath, not from the Aura, but from heaving Joyex's carcass back up. When Riku spoke, it was between gasps. "You REALLY…need to cut back…on the jelly donuts!"

"Hey, I can't help it if they're delicious!" Joyex was obviously trying to defend himself.

At that moment, the three witches the crew met in the forest suddenly floated right in front of the crew. THIS was enough to make Joyex jump back a few feet. "IS THIS GOING TO BE A REGULAR THING WITH YOU?!" he asked, furiously. The witches simply ignored Joyex's comment and flew into the cave. Joyex looked after them. "HELLO! We're over HERE! I know you can hear me. I'm talkin' to you!" Joyex shouted, waving his arms around like a windmill.

"C'mon, let's see what they're up to…" Riku said, catching Joyex's attention.

As the group went into the cave, they saw the witches standing in front of the cauldron. They looked somewhat…impatient. "We have come for the Black Cauldron, but NOW it is time to bargain!" one of the witches said.

Before anyone could even utter a single word, Taran stepped forward. "We want Gurgi back!" he ordered, pointing at them with his sword.

After a stunned silence, the witches snorted. "Impossible!" the second one said, rolling her eyes.

Now it was Eilonwy's turn to try her luck. "Please!" she begged, drawing the word out.

The witches simply turned their back on her. "No."

Taran then did something that even Riku thought he wouldn't do. "We'll give you this sword…" he offered.

Taran held out his sword, which one of the witches took. Riku was a bit shocked that Taran would give up his blade just to get back the little creature. Then, one heck of an idea sprang to his mind. He turned his back and shrugged. "Ah well, they probably couldn't bring him back anyway. Probably TOO tough a job for them."

The witches forgot about the sword completely and stared at Riku in shock. "WHAT?!" they asked.

The first witch, in pure protest, shook her fist at Riku. "We can TOO bring back that…thing! Watch THIS!"

All three witches snapped their fingers and Gurgi's body came out of the cauldron's depths. It floated for a while, then fell, lifelessly, to the ground. The witches, satisfied with their work, flew away with the Cauldron and the sword.

"Gurgi!" Taran rushed over and picked up Gurgi's body, Riku just stood there with his mouth open, and Eilonwy stroked the little guy's fur.

Riku went over, as did Joyex, both their expressions solemn. "The guy was a pest, but he didn't deserve that." Riku said, looking at the ground and shaking his head.

Joyex nodded. "I got to know the guy better than YOU did. He just wanted some friends."

Gurgi, much to everyone's surprise, twitched slightly and opened an eye. "Munchies and…crunchies." he said, weakly.

Everyone from Riku to Fflewder were all struck by this and Joyex tossed Gurgi an apple, which he immediately started gorging himself on. When he stripped it to the core, he threw something at Riku, which he caught.

"Gurgi found it in the Black Cauldron before he nearly died, and he was so flattered that you all nearly cried."

Riku opened his hand and found out that the thing Gurgi threw at Riku was a teal heart. "The world's Pure Heart was in the Black Cauldron?" he asked in surprise.

Joyex answered, "Looks like it."

Gurgi finished the apple Joyex tossed him, then spat out what appeared to be a large seed and handed it to Riku. "If Riku comes to a spot as hard as a wall, just cry out for Gurgi, and he'll answer your call."

Riku inspected the seed, then found out that it was actually a Summon Charm with an apple on it. "Thanks, Gurgi." Riku pocketed the seed. He was sure that whatever Gurgi could do, he could use it.

Joyex then grinned as he turned to Taran and Eilonwy. "When it's time for wedding, give us a call." he said, closing his eyes in a teasing manner.

Taran and Eilonwy pondered what Joyex said, then put a good three-foot distance between each other. Joyex LOVED poking at people's romance. Sure, his Other, Joey, liked ruining romance, but he lost THAT trait to Sakuzy's joy.

The Gummi Ship picked the two of them up and Fflewder stood up as they vanished completely. He stamped his foot and said, "I hope we NEVER see them again!" A harp string broke and Fflewder got a good look at it before getting a change of heart. "Let me rephrase that…"

On the Gummi Ship, Riku went over to the Gummi's communicator. When he finished the message, he turned to Joyex. "I've sent the message to the rest of the group. We're going to meet back at Radiant Garden." Riku informed.

Joyex made a mock-salute as he reported, "Yes, sir, Captain Kirk!"

Joyex turned to leave, but hadn't taken one step when he was held back…by the ponytail. Joyex howled in pain as Riku pulled him back and turned him to face him. "DON'T call me that." It was true, Riku saw Star Trek, and hated it.

"Sorry." the Nobody apologized in a strained voice.

The World That Never Was…

Maleficent was with Green Goblin and Mozenrath, watching Riku and Joyex. Goblin slammed his fist into his palm in rage. "The Horned King has failed us! And he went down with more ease than I expected!" he growled, disappointed.

"Hm. Well, at least we know that the Black Cauldron is of no further help to us." Mozenrath said, stroking his eel, "Without the Horned King, we cannot keep our Heartless invincible…"

Maleficent nodded slightly, then noticed one of the group was missing. "Oh, where'd that oaf get to?" she asked, impatiently.

Maleficent had no sooner said that when Pete busted through the door. "S-SORRY!" he apologized. The others turned to see Pete hunched over in exhaustion, but not tired enough to report. "M-Maleficent…Someone beat me at Prydain!"

"Who?" Maleficent wasn't angry, but her voice had a fleck of curiosity in it.

Pete raised an eyebrow, then answered. "I dunno. It was some old man with a blue cloak. He beat me without even trying!"

Mozenrath rubbed his chin with his gauntlet-clad hand while Green Goblin paused, possibly thinking. "What is this? Competition?" the necromancer asked.

Green Goblin raised a hand and clenched it into a fist. "Well, like most competition, there can only be ONE at the top. We must eliminate these freaks before they grow too numerous..."

"My thoughts exactly, Goblin, especially since a man in a yellow robe beat us to Zurg. To the Radiant Garden we go, then…"

_Yes, I know I got that line from Naruto, but Kakashi is one of my favorite characters and I loved that line!_

_I can hear Fflewder Fflam being voiced by John Cleese and Gurgi being voiced by Andy Serkis (aka; Gollum/Smeagol)._

_This world is brought to you by..._

_Heartless B-Gone! Best weapon to have when fighting the forces of evil! Does not stop Crystalli, Nobodies, Burglars, or Dark-Users who haven't yet lost their hearts._


	117. Reunion

Chapter 118: Reunion

Sora and Sakuzy's ship…

Sakuzy was sitting with his elbows behind his back next to Sora. "At least you can put all fears of me dating Kairi to rest." Sakuzy pointed out, "Besides, I already HAVE a girlfriend."

Sora turned to Sakuzy. Apparently, that didn't help…"I'm gonna act like I never heard that."

Sakuzy shrugged. "Have it your way, gramps."

Sora was irritated at that nickname already. "NEVER call me gramps."

Suddenly, a message flashed across the dashboard's main computer and Sora answered it without hesitation. His eyes widened in surprise as he said, "It's Riku! He says that he and Joyex got two Pure Hearts!"

Sakuzy did a quick count on his fingers. "Let's see...Counting the ones WE found in Treasure Planet, Olympus Coliseum, North Pole, AND Radiator Springs, we've got…six. Anything else?"

Sora continued reading, then nodded. "Yep. He wants us to meet back in Radiant Garden."

Sakuzy took the yoke of the Gummi Ship and steered it back where the whole thing started. "Then back to Radiant Garden we go!"

Kairi and co.'s ship…

J threw away a can of food that he finally scraped all the fungus off of. He turned to one of the only people who probably knew: Donald. "Exactly HOW long has this food been here?"

The king's court mage could only shrug. "Beats me." he said.

J would have made some sort of remark, but something on the dashboard twittered and Kairi got to it. She sat in the pilot's chair and typed something on its control panel. "It's from Riku!"

Goofy and Donald rushed over to where she was. J, on the other hand, didn't do so in a hurry.

"What does he want?" asked Goofy.

Kairi read the message and nodded. "He says that he and Joyex got two Pure Hearts and to meet them back at Radiant Garden."

"Then, in that case, we head back..." J said, returning to his usual business.

Superhumans' ship…

Scott was in the pilot's chair of the Gummi Ship and was surprisingly able to do so. After all, he had to be able to if he and Ryan were to escape from Camp Greenlake. "So, Ryan, how'd you like travelling the cosmos?" he asked, turning slightly in his seat.

The solar-powered kid leaned back in his chair, though not exactly relaxed. "Ah, not that much." he answered.

Scott turned completely around the pilot's chair, slightly confused. "What?" he asked in disbelief, "C'mon, mate. Don't tell me that it wasn't fun saving the universe."

Ryan shook his head, then answered, "Actually, it's not that. Your girlfriend keeps punching me." At that moment, April walked past Ryan, then slugged him in the arm for the fifth time. It didn't hurt, but Ryan did find it somewhat annoying. "Why are you doing this again?" he asked, massaging his arm slightly.

The only thing April could do was shrug. "I have nothing better to do. What do you expect?"

A message flashed onto the main computer screen and Scott answered it with a few button clicks. When he finished reading, his eyes widened in surprise. "Strewth! It's from Riku and Joyex!"

April raced over and asked, "What'd they say?"

"They want us to drop what we're doing and head back to Radiant Garden ASAP."

Ryan shot out of his seat and right at Scott's side in an instant. "So, we'll regroup again?" he asked. Upon getting a nod from Scott, he said, "YIPPEE! I can ask Sora for my camera back!"

Ryan was, of course, referring to the one J snatched from him at North Pole. Scott looked at Ryan with an expression that would have made J proud as he said, "I hate to admit it, Ry, but you kinda deserved that."

Scott turned the ship around and flew back to Radiant Garden. At last, they could get back together again.

Radiant Garden…

The entire group was reunited back at Radiant Garden. Scott and J shook hands…briefly. Riku and Sora did high fives and Ryan looked ready to do the same with J, hovering comically in midair as he waited.

"Not in your life, kid." J said, cruelly.

Ryan looked crestfallen and hovered away. Sora and Kairi hugged and Joyex grinned. They quickly ended it, not wanting to get embarrassed by the Nobody.

Sakuzy then put something in Joyex's hand. When he opened it, it turned out to be Sakuzy's locket. Now that Sora had a good view of it, he saw that it looked like a heart.

"You're serious?!" Joyex asked in total awe.

Sakuzy nodded. "Yup. Pop out that piece of heart—I'm not letting someone like Hades abuse that power again. You're your own master now."

Joyex eagerly popped the locket open and the lower half of his heart came out and flew into his chest. The fiery red heart, which only appeared when Sakuzy squeezed the locket, appeared for a moment and faded into nothingness. "YES! I'm complete!" Joyex cheered, but then stopped and corrected himself. "Or at least more than I used to be…"

Now that the regroup was finished, Sora decided it was time to count up what they got. "Alright, counting the ones we got in Radiator Springs and North Pole, Sakuzy and I got four hearts." Sora held out the green heart from Treasure Planet and the yellow one from Olympus Coliseum. Sakuzy then held out the steel-gray one from Radiator Springs and the white one from North Pole.

"We got two from Beast's Castle and Kauai." J reported. He held out the bronze Heart from Kauai and Kairi held out the pink one from Beast's Castle.

"Well, mates, we've got one. Not much, but it's something." Scott said, humbly as he held out the red Heart from Twilight Town.

"And Joyex and I got the ones from Gamma Quadrant and Prydain." Riku held out the silver heart from Gamma Quadrant and Joyex held out the teal one from Prydain.

_Meanwhile, on the planet Fictor, TLSoulDude was writing and Lunatic121 and Dimensiondude were watching him._

_Lunatic: Hey, TL, exactly how long is this gonna take?_

_TLSoulDude sent a crate smashing into Lunatic's back._

_TL: The Lord of the Rings trilogy was NOT made in a day._

_Dimensiondude: He's got a point, Loony. Leave him be._

Back in THIS dimension, Sora and co. went into the Restoration Committee East Side's base to find Petross still observing the pod. Oddly enough, he was wearing a white lab coat over his usual wear.

"Hey, Petross." Sora said with a wave.

Petross wheeled over and saw Sora and co., then removed a pair of glasses on the edge of his nose and put away a notepad of sorts. "Ah, Sora. Am I glad to see you got back all in one piece." he said with a toothy smile.

Sora would have replied if J didn't cut him off. "Incidentally, why did you take those blood tests last time we were here?" he asked.

Petross took something from his lab coat; a serringe with J's blood. "I've mainly been trying to find a cure." he answered. Petross wheeled over to his computer and typed a few things in. A complex DNA pattern appeared on it as he continued to talk, hammering away at the keyboard with his large fingers. "There are some people in the universe who don't want their powers. But, whenever I make a cure, the protein simply adapts to it and moves ahead. And…" Petross looked at Scott and Ryan. "Scott's claim that he and Ryan got their powers from a human experiment seven years ago can't be possible."

"His and Ryan's powers have been around for seventeen years for Scott and thirteen for Ryan; as old as THEY are."

THIS news was enough to earn a few stares at the superhumans. "Then that means…" Joyex said, staring at the two in shock.

Petross nodded. "Yep." he answered, "It means that they were BORN with their powers."

Sakuzy looked at Scott. The guy had lied to him back on God's Thumb at Camp Greenlake. "Look, Sakuzy, there are certain…details that I cannot afford to go into now, mate." he explained.

Before anyone could say another word, Blader walked in, followed by Crescent. The shield-wielding data jerk seemed mildly surprised that Sora and co. were back. "Heh! Key-kid!" he greeted in his cocky voice, "Glad to see that you're in one piece!"

Sora ignored the nickname Blader gave him, then humorously said, "Glad to see you, too, Blader." He then turned his attention back to Petross, who had returned to the pod. "So, how's study on that Crystalli coming?"

Petross looked down in disappointment and his voice had a similar tone to his gesture. "Not good." he answered, solemnly, "I can learn SOME things from this body, but no more than that." Petross shook his head, then glowered up at Crescent. "And Crescent, whatever STUPID thing that you're about to say right now, SAVE IT."

Crescent then saluted in mock respect as he spoke in a mock-soldier voice, "Sir, yes sir! Saving all stupid thoughts, sir!" Crescent lowered his hand as he noticed something about Petross' face. "Should the vein in your jaw be throbbing like that?"

Petross DID look angrier than usual and spoke through gritted teeth. "Not usually…"

Wanting to break the silence, Sora changed the subject. "Anything we can do about the Crystalli?" he asked.

Petross calmed down as he turned to Sora and answered, "Well, it would help me MUCH more if we had a live specimen." he turned to the cadaver and added, "A dead specimen can only tell me so much, but a living one could show how their bodies work and how the Crystalli affect them."

The door slid open and Blader whirled around, expectantly. "Boss-man?" he asked, hopefully.

A young person, probably around Sora's age, walked in. Blader smacked himself in the head. It obviously wasn't who he was expecting. "Darn it."

This new person had silver hair, which was tied back in a small ponytail and brown eyes. He was also wearing a light brown vest with purple shirt underneath, white pants, and black boots. Sora thought that the newcomer was a girl, if he didn't have the build of a boy.

Petross looked up to meet the newcomer and perked up. "Oh. Sora, THIS is the youngest member of our team…"

Petross didn't finish, because Crescent already zipped towards the newcomer with a look of enthusiasm. He stopped inches from him, causing the guy to cringe, but more in worry than fear. "Luneth, old buddy!" Crescent said in a silky voice, "I haven't seen you in weeks. Where've you been hiding?"

The newcomer, Luneth, answered as he looked PRETTY freaked out by Crescent. "In the hospital. You stabbed me in the FOOT. Remember?"

"Oh yeah, that's right." Crescent said, taking in the memory, "But I had to—you were trying to eat the last potato chip!" When he reached the potato chip part, Crescent pointed an accusing finger at the boy.

Luneth stuttered in confusion, trying to find the right words, or in blind outrage. "I BOUGHT that bag of potato chips!" he informed.

Crescent put his index finger and thumb to his chin in mock remembrance. "Well, that's not how I remember it!"

Blader pushed Crescent away. "DON'T SCARE THE KID, CRESCENT!" he barked.

Luneth then turned to Sora and co. and shook their hands vigorously. "Hey. I'm Luneth. Youngest member of the East Side and magic expert."

"Nice to meet ya, Luneth. Never really knew any people in Radiant Garden that were my age." Sora said with a smile.

Sora then turned to the rest of the group. "So, how do we help Petross with his problem?" he asked.

Donald thought the answer was pretty obvious. "We catch a Crystalli host, that's what."

April pondered the thought as well. "Yeah, but which one?"

"That's an easy decision—" Sora was going to say Emerald, but Sakuzy cut across him early.

"Pearl."

Sora scratched the back of his head. "Pearl? Who's that?"

"I met her in Camp Greenlake." Sora's descendant answered.

Joyex also added, "That's where I found Fluffy..." Joyex held out a cage that had the lizard he had taken as a pet. Joyex stuck his finger into the cage and stroked her chin, causing her to close her eyes in great satisfaction. "Don't worry, I've eaten plenty of onions." he informed.

Ignoring the lizard comment, Sakuzy continued. "Pearl attacked me at Camp Greenlake and had SEVERAL windows of opportunity open to kill me, but she didn't take them." he said, "My guess is that she either COULDN'T kill me or WOULDN'T. We can use that against her!"

Luneth scratched his chin, then asked, "Uh…does this Pearl wear a pink robe?"

Sakuzy turned, surprised, at Luneth and answered, "Yes. Why?"

"Because she's here with two other guys in robes…" Luneth pointed out.

Luneth

The youngest member of the Restoration Committee East Side. He was absent because Crescent stabbed him in the foot when he was 'trying to eat the last potato chip'. He's somewhat scared around Crescent (no surprises) and is always ready to make a new friend. He first appeared in _Final Fantasy III DS_ 2006.


	118. Emerald, Pearl, and Amber

Chapter 119: Emerald, Pearl, and Amber

Sora and co. ran out to see an army of Heartless marching towards an army comprising of three types of Crystalli. Two were familiar to them: Dashers to everyone and Rollers to Sakuzy and Joyex. The last one, however, was unfamiliar to most of them. They had long and muscular arms with five-fingered hands, powerful legs, and a circular head with a V-shaped red streak that could have been their eye. They seemed slender, but had muscular builds like a track runner.

"NINJAS!" Joyex panicked.

"What?" Riku asked, confused.

"Ninjas." Joyex repeated, "CRYSTALLI Ninjas."

"Oh."

As the group watched, both armies of Heartless and Crystalli collided. The beginning of the battle sounded like a bomb going off, each side taking numerous others out.

"So, is it fight or wait it out?" J asked, knowing what the answer would be in an instant..

"Y'know MY answer to that, mate." Scott answered.

J lightly tilted his head, which was as good as a nod. "I'm one step ahead of you."

J and Scott both ran into the battle, leaving the rest of the group in the dust.

"Time to party!" Ryan took off and flew over the battle like a falcon.

"Let's rock!" Joyex ran in, swinging his chain whip over his head like a lasso.

Sakuzy sighed, then said, "Better go in there before he does something stupid…again." Sakuzy summoned his Keyblade and ran into the battle, too.

"I'm in!" Riku sprinted into the battle, after summoning his Way to Dawn.

Kairi glanced back, then said, "Better get running before Sora stops me!" Kairi heaved her Keyblade over her shoulder and ran off.

Sora turned to Donald and Goofy, then asked, "Ready for another fight?"

Goofy readied his discus-shaped shield and asked, "You really have to ask?"

"You know we're ready, Sora!" Donald said, readying his staff and without any further ado, the trio ran into the battlefield.

Petross grabbed Blader and Crescent before the two could even make a move to run away. "What're you DOING?!" Blader asked in almost a shriek, "We'll end up red splotches if we go in there!"

"Backup." Petross answered, "They need it, we GIVE it."

Crescent managed to squirm free from Petross' grip and got out his sword. "Ooh! If that's the case, let's go PUNCH something!"

Everyone, except Luneth and April, ran into the fight. Luneth eyed the flier with a cocked head. "Why aren't YOU going in?" he asked.

"What good can I do?" she asked, crestfallen, "All I can do is fly. I can't fight, I don't have weapons..."

Luneth rubbed his chin with his gloved hand as a smile crept across his face. "Well, I have an idea. Listen..." he then began to whisper a plan in her ear. She smiled mischievously as she took it in.

The battle had begun and Scott and J were pinned back-to-back by the Dashers, Rollers, and Ninjas. "Y'know, we could DIE here, mate." the Aussie pointed out.

J simply scoffed, but it may have held a snicker. "Why do you THINK I'm fighting?" he asked.

A Ninja made to jab at Scott, but the Aussie's fingernails turned into claws and his canines turned into fangs. He then jumped at the Crystalli and dug his claws and new teeth into it. The Ninja howled in pain as Scott wrestled it to the ground and wrenched its head free from its shoulders.

When Scott's nails and teeth returned to normal, J cast a look at him. "Scott, sometimes you're a REAL animal, you know that?" he asked. J ducked under a swing from the claw of a Dasher, then turned into a Utahraptor and landed, feet-first, into it. THIS left Scott a bit stunned as the dinosaur dug its sharp claws and teeth into it with the ferocity of a starving wolf.

"Look who's talking."

J looked up from thrashing his Crystalli, then said, _Touché._

Meanwhile, Ryan was flying above and dropping solar balls on Crystalli and Heartless alike like a warplane dropping bombs. It did him some good to see the beings explode into hearts and shards. "I BELIEVE I CAN FLY!" he sang.

The Utahraptor glowered up at Ryan and let out a loud snarl. _SHUT UP, RYAN! YOU CAN'T CARRY A TUNE TO SAVE YOUR LIFE!_

Ryan immediately stopped and said a quick, "Sorry."

Joyex was laughing like a lunatic and swinging his chain whip around, not caring if his blade hit Heartless or Crystalli. He then came to a Roller and narrowly evaded its pink energy blasts. As he evaded its fire, he struck a nearby Dasher and caught it on his chain's blade. He then heaved it into the Roller until both the shield and the Dasher were no more than smoldering chunks of crystal. The shield shorted out while the Dasher was fried by the shield ramping up power to deflect it.

"Lights out!" Joyex then tried putting his boot through the Roller, but just got a sore toe, so he improvised by slicing it in half with his chain. When he landed on the ground, Joyex hopped up and down, clutching his foot. "Ow! That…hurt…"

Meanwhile, Riku had carved through some Crystalli/Heartless when he saw a woman in an orange robe. The orange-clad Crystalli seemed to notice Riku, then turned and ran off. "You can run, but you can't hide!"

Riku then gave chase, remembering what Petross said. He wanted to catch this Crystalli ALIVE.

Meanwhile, Sakuzy found Pearl and that she was trying to make a break for it. Sakuzy grinned. THIS was just too easy. He pulled out the Giant Charm and raised it above his head.

"Willie!"

In an explosion of light and a burst of cloud, a massive giant the size of a tree appeared. He had patched-up green pants, a red shirt, a five o'clock shadow, a patch of red hair, and a rather stupid expression. "Fi-fee-fum-fo!" he said, counting off his fingers.

Sakuzy looked all the way up at the giant with a disappointed expression. "That's fee-fi-fo-fum, big guy." he corrected.

"Oh. Now then…" Willie started stomping through the Crystalli, using both his hands and his feet to clear them away. Before long, an easy path was between Sakuzy and Pearl and Sakuzy went off after him. "Bye-bye!" Willie called as he waved stupidly at him, then vanished back into his own world.

Sakuzy let the blade of his Keyblade down and ran towards Pearl, dragging it along the ground. When he was in range, he jumped into the air and brought his blade down only to see it get blocked by Pearl's blade-ended nunchuk. He struck again only to meet the other end in a shower of sparks. As he flipped to the ground, Pearl took her nunchuk and took a swing at him, aiming for Sakuzy's legs, but Sakuzy jumped over the blade and angled his Keyblade up and to the right.

"Why?" he asked once they stood a good distance from each other, "Why didn't you try to kill me?"

Pearl paused, her light gray eyes looking right Sakuzy right into Sakuzy's blue ones. She simply positioned her nunchuk again and answered, "The Crystalli want you alive. I couldn't kill you."

Without warning, Sakuzy charged with his Keyblade aimed to stab, but Pearl actually caught it with her blades and brought it to the ground. As they wrestled around in a test of strength, Sakuzy made one last statement. "No…it's not because you COULDN'T. It's because you WOULDN'T."

It all made sense now. Sakuzy seized his chance, then brought his foot around and kicked her across the face. Her hood was off and part of her face was bruised. NOW, he had it all figured out. He hadn't seen her become Crystalli, but NOW he knew who she was. He lowered his Keyblade, then spoke in a calm, but dead-serious, demeanor. "Hello…Maya."

Meanwhile, with Kairi, she was carving through Crystalli Ninjas with Flowering Strength. THESE Crystalli were easily as annoying as the Neo Soldiers, because they often didn't stand still for too long. Whenever she took a swing, the Ninja would either duck under or flip over the attack, then counter with a crystal shuriken. Kairi avoided three of these, but a fourth scratched her right cheek, leaving a small gash as it passed.

"LIGHT!"

Kairi pointed her Keyblade at a Ninja that had just jumped over her and it got caught full in the chest. The blast blew a hole right through the Crystalli's chest and it shrieked slightly before falling to the ground like it had just fainted.

She continued fighting her way through the Ninjas when she suddenly saw Emerald, the Crystalli that threatened to kill her. She gave chase until Emerald turned around. The green Crystalli gasped and flinched in a manner eerily similar to a certain Melodious Nocturne that Sora defeated.

"Emerald."

"AAH! Kairi!" Emerald shrieked, then said, in a jittery voice, "N-no hard feelings, right?" Emerald slumped forward slightly as he saw that Kairi looked about ready to kill him. In a flash of green light, the Crystalli summoned his boomerang blade. "Lemme guess, you're gonna try and kill me." he said, rolling his eyes.

"That's the general idea." Kairi replied, her Keyblade still at the ready.

"Well, might as well get it over with. Maybe THIS time I'll succeed!" Emerald said, his eyes wide with hope. Kairi ran at Emerald without another word and her Keyblade met Emerald's boomerang.

Meanwhile, with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, they were fighting in a part of the battlefield that mainly included Heartless. "Just like old times, isn't it?" Goofy asked, deflecting one of the Heartless with his shield.

"Ya know it!" Donald answered.

Sora nodded, then called out, "Donald!"

"Wak!"

Donald waved his staff and several lightning bolts struck a group of Heartless. As the Heartless vanished into an updraft of glowing, pink hearts, Sora turned his attention to his other friend.

"Goofy!"

"Come on!"

Goofy started spinning around, knocking away Heartless any Heartless that came too close. After a while, Goofy stopped and staggered around slightly with a few birds circling his head. "Gawrsh…Guess I need ta get used to that again…"

Sora reached out with his hands and Donald and Goofy took each one.

"Drive!"

There was a flash of light and when it vanished, Sora had black and white clothing and the pattern on his shorts turned to weird symbols. He then summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion before charging at the Heartless and swinging his Keyblades like crazy.

With April and Luneth, the youngest member of the Restoration Committee had found a surefire way on how April could use her power to fight. April seized a Dasher around the leg and took off until she was virtually in the world's atmosphere before dropping the Dasher, which shattered on contact with the ground.

"Time for some more damage!" She then reached into her pocket and pulled on some gloves before grabbing a Roller, which had its shield up, like a ball. She flew up high and dropped it. When the Roller shattered, all the energy stored up for its shield went out in a final burst and destroyed all Crystalli and Heartless within ten feet. "Yeah! Go April!" she cheered.

With the Restoration Committee, Blader was dealing with some Ninjas as well as Luneth. Luneth WAS a magic expert, using blasts of fire to catch them out of the air and chunks of rock to crush those on the ground.

Suddenly, one of the Ninjas tripped Luneth and he fell to the ground. The Crystalli had raised a hand to chop the young magician when Blader interfered. The computer genius jumped over one and several serrated blades appeared on the edges of his shield and started spinning like a buzz saw. He then jumped and sawed one's hand off in mid-jump. As Blader landed, Luneth stared at the new shield he had on his arm.

"I've made some modifications to my shield." explained Blader, "What did ya think I was doing in my lab?"

Crescent seemingly popped out of nowhere and held up a finger. "Playing Minesweeper." he answered.

"YOU, I'm ignoring, lunar lunatic." Blader said, flatly.

Crescent suddenly turned to face a Dasher headed right for him…but not for long, seeing as he stabbed it through the head. The Dasher fell forward with a CRASH as Crescent sheathed his blade and pointed at the fallen Crystalli. "How embarrassing for YOU!" he teased.

Petross was hammering away at some of the Rollers with his gigantic fists. Sure, you needed a heavy object to break its shield, but his fists counted as VERY heavy. All he had to do was keep pummeling the shields until they, along with the Rollers, shattered. There was only one left, but a bolt of fire came out and destroyed it before Petross even took a step forward. "Only one person I know can do that…" he said, glancing up with a grin.

The group of four looked up to see Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith. At that time, about five Power Wild Heartless pounced on the Restoration Committee East Side until someone caught them out of midair with a spear. Cid had a spear in his hand and had changed his wardrobe into a light-blue shirt, gloves, and a pair of black jeans.

"Heh. Goggle-head!" Blader greeted with a wave.

Cid spun his spear, then brought it to the ground as he gave a cocky glare at Blader. "That how ya greet an old friend, Blader?" he called.

Petross shrugged, then said, "That's how he greets EVERYONE."

Suddenly, in a spectacular leap, Crescent was up on the ledge that Leon had appeared on. He held out a hand, as though expecting Leon to shake it and greeted him. "Hiya, Leon, how are ya?"

Leon gave Crescent a look of SEVERE irritation. He was one of many people who hated Crescent. Those people included him, Yuffie, Cid, the East Side's leader, Blader, Petross, and J. "Can't we talk about this LATER?!" he asked sternly.

Crescent looked around him, then realized something. "Oh yeah, we're in a war zone here." He then looked at Yuffie and grinned somewhat malevolently as he smoothed back his spiky hair, which sprang back up in an instant. "Hey, Yuffie..." he said, hoping to be suave and failing miserably.

Yuffie looked at Crescent like he was a sea slug. "I'm NOT your GIRLFRIEND!" she almost shouted that line, "How many times do I have to punch you for it to get to you?!"

"Apparently more than you've tried." he answered, "Maybe you should consider stabbing me with that overgrown shuriken again." Crescent then turned to Cid and waved. "Hiya, Grampy!"

Cid rolled his eyes, then took his spear in hand again. "Crescent, how many times do I have ta tell ya that I ain't your grandpa!?" he asked.

"Oh come on! You look…" Crescent didn't finish his sentence, because a Dasher had come right out of the blue and stabbed him through the midsection with its claws. Crescent stared at what the Crystalli did and seemed completely unperturbed by this. "One moment, please..." Crescent drew his sword and stabbed the Dasher in the face. When it fell, its claws came out with it. Aerith looked a bit worried about this. "Hey, Aerith, no worries!"

Crescent's hole in his stomach then healed over and Aerith almost laughed at herself. "Sorry. I forgot."

Back with Sakuzy and Pearl, the two had fought to a standstill. Sakuzy then heaved himself up, using his Keyblade as a crutch. Pearl had a bruise below her right eye and blood was trickling down the corner of Sakuzy's mouth. And during the battle, part of Pearl's hair had covered her right eye.

"I promised I'd save you, no matter what." Sakuzy said, solemnly, "But if it means I have to kill you, I WILL, Maya!"

Pearl stood and rage spread across her face, as any of the other Crystalli Hosts did when referred to by their REAL name. "My name is NOT MAYA!" she snarled, then ran at Sakuzy, who managed to cast his version of Aeroga, which sent her nunchuk flying. He also let go of his Keyblade, which went flying after it.

The weapons landed about two or three yards away and gave Sakuzy enough time to ask for one thing. "Truce?"

Pearl growled, but she had to consider what he said for two reasons. One: she was exhausted and needed a rest. Two: she REALLY wanted an excuse NOT to fight Sakuzy. "Truce."

Sakuzy activated a Heal spell on the two of them and their energy was refreshed and their wounds healed. He walked close enough to Pearl so that she could smell his breath and said, "Somewhere in that cold shell you call a heart is a girl who taught me life's not worth living if you can't share it with the people you care about." When Sakuzy said this, he was looking at his hand, which he balled into a fist and he glared at her. "And I came to this time to SAVE that girl…because I believed her."

Pearl scoffed and turned so that only her left was visible to Sakuzy. He could've sworn that he saw a tear run down her cheek. "Well, then you just wasted your time." she curtly spat.

Sakuzy walked over to Pearl and placed his arms on her shoulder. Then, with one hand, he brushed the hair covering her right eye aside. "Maya, don't tell me to call you otherwise." A pause, then Sakuzy asked, "I have a question. What do you want?"

Pearl was taken aback by this question. Sakuzy wasn't the type who'd ask simple and/or stupid questions. He preferred challenges and liked things short, sweet, and to the point. Her answer was ready and a bit automatic. "I want to spread the reign of the Crystalli and serve the Living Crystal."

Sakuzy shook his head as he said, "No. I asked what YOU wanted, NOT what Chrysallis wanted."

Pearl was surprised by this. The question he asked was a TRICK question. She thought she knew the answer, but now she didn't. Before she could ponder what she thought was right, Sakuzy hugged her.

"I'll tell you what I want. To be wherever you are…" he said, quietly.

Soon, Pearl felt several wet things drop into her hair and make their way down to her neck. Sakuzy was…crying. Now she knew what her answer was all along... "Me too." She then closed her eyes and returned his hug.

Meanwhile, Kairi was still fighting Emerald. His cowardly attitude showed in his fighting style, which meant that his fighting skills mainly revolved around dodging. And whatever blow she made, Emerald always healed over.

Kairi made a swing at her and Emerald met every attack she attempted. However, she could tell that he was having a MUCH harder time than before. Last time, the green-clad Crystalli almost handled her single-handed. NOW, she was proving more of a challenge and her moves were starting to get faster. The results of sparring lessons, perhaps?

_He recovers from any wound he gets on his body... _Kairi thought to herself,_ But wait…I wonder what happens if I smash that gem?_

Kairi threw her Keyblade at Emerald in the all-too-familiar form of a Strikeraid. She had seen Sora use it tons of times, so she had it downpat. "Gotcha!" she cried.

Kairi's Flowering Strength raced at the Crystalli's shoulder and narrowly missed him. On the return trip, it chipped part of the crystal on his shoulder, sending forth a small, but unmistakeable chip of emerald. Emerald clutched his shoulder and cried out as though he had been stabbed. "DUDE! That thing nearly killed me! I don't know about you, but I'm outta here!"

Emerald panicked, then vanished in a flash of green light. Kairi stared at the spot, then scratched her head. "Well…that was odd. Why'd he retreat like that?"

Sora had separated from Donald and Goofy and had now been forced to fight alongside the Restoration Committee East Side. They were surrounded by a group of Crystalli that mainly consisted of Rollers and Ninjas. Sora knew JUST what to do.

"Blader!"

"Here we go!" Blader threw his shield like a discus as it bounced back and forth between Crystalli like a pinball. A few ninjas shattered on impact while it caused the Rollers' shields to spark like burnt light bulbs.

"Crescent!"

"Well, if you say so…" Crescent used his mysterious power to vanish and reappeared behind a Roller. "Night-night!" he said, quickly, then impaled the Roller before it even had time to put up its energy shields. It sparked, then crumpled to the ground. Crescent saluted, then moved on to the others and destroying them one-by-one. "I just wish we could've been friends!"

"Petross!"

"On our way!" Petross charged at a group of Ninjas and knocked them all to the floor like bowling pins with sound effects to boot. A red X then appeared over the place where the Crystalli now lay, twitching feebly. "Strike!"

Sora then ran over to Petross and helped him out in a situation with Crystalli Dashers and Ninjas. These Crystalli seemed a bit too fast for the big guy. Sora placed a hand on Petross' shoulder and called out one word. "Drive!"

There was a flash of light and when it vanished, Sora's skin turned darker (like Blader's, only a shade lighter), his clothes turned bronze, and the pattern on his shorts turned into mountain sketches. When Sora summoned his Ultima Weapon, he also summoned a Keyblade he hadn't seen before. Its handle was made of solid stone and the blade itself had changed completely. It had a thicker shaft, but rather than a key's teeth, this Keyblade had the head of a heavy sledgehammer in its place.

Well, this is new. I haven't seen THIS Keyblade before…" Sora said, inspecting it. In reality, it may have weighed about six hundred pounds, yet he could heave it as light as a feather. _Mountain Hammer _rang through Sora's head.

Sora looked up, then ran at a Roller coming towards him. As the Roller opened fire, Sora jumped into the air, then brought the Mountain Hammer into its shield, which shorted out instantly. As the Roller comprehended this matter, The Keyblade Master brought the Ultima Weapon into it and hacked its head off. The insectoid Crystalli fell to the floor like a robot whose power source died down.

Sora inspected himself and nodded in satisfaction. "Alright. As of today, I like this Drive..."

Sora really meant what he said. He felt more physically able even than when he went into Valor Mode. He then decided to try something. He took Mountain Hammer in one hand, heaved it above his head, then brought it slamming down onto the ground. On contact with the ground, the hammer produced a resonating CLANG and several pillars of rock sprung from the ground and skewered multiple Crystalli Ninjas that had jumped into the air.

Another Ninja landed in front of Sora and made to chop him with its open hand, but Sora dodged and, forgetting about his Keyblades, brought his fist smashing right through the Ninja's chest. The Ninja fell to the floor and Sora, even more amazingly, caught it with his foot and bashed its head right off its shoulders.

Sora's weight theory was proven correct when one of the Ninjas took notice of the Mountain Hammer and wrapped its hands around its hilt. It heaved with all its might, but didn't even budge it an inch. Just as it put all its weight into trying to heave it up, Sora held out his hand and the Mountain Hammer reappeared back in his hand. The Ninja fell back, having no more weight to counteract its own, and sprawled out on the ground. It hadn't even tried to flip back on its feet when Sora raised the Mountain Hammer into the air and brought it down, crushing the Ninja's head like a gumball.

Meanwhile, Riku had just caught up with the orange robed person, who had finally turned to face him. The person was a woman, judging by the way the robe clung to her body. "Well, it's about time you caught up." she said, impatiently.

"What can I say…whoever you are?" Riku said, a bit unsure as to who this Crystalli was.

"The name's Amber!" The Crystalli flung off her robe to reveal that she had black skin, like Petross, elbow-length black hair, a hunk of amber lodged in the back of her hand, and orange eyes that looked…just plain creepy. It was eerily similar to Xehanort and Xemnas' eye color and both made Riku REALLY grumpy.

"Now, if you think you can just attack me, you're…" Amber began, but then she got a good look Riku's appearance and blushed slightly as her tone suddenly changed to mild embarrassment. "You're…kinda cute." she finished, uneasily.

Riku looked just plain confused as a supposed enemy suddenly seemed to take a liking to him. "Okay. That's weird." he said to himself.

Crescent suddenly appeared out of nowhere again and spoke to whoever's reading this. "None of this is actually happening. There's just a teenager with a computer, a Microsoft Word format, and one HECK of an imagination!" Crescent then vanished, leaving Riku and Amber looking quite confused.

"What was THAT?" Amber asked.

"I wish I could tell you, Amber, I wish I could." Riku said, honestly, then said, "Now then…" Riku took Way to Dawn in his hand and charged at Amber, who blocked with the shaft of a spear that had a long, almost blade-like spearhead. Riku smirked, then decided to take advantage of Amber's little weak spot and said, "Nice spear."

Amber's eyes widened as she smiled and asked, "Ya really think so? I got it at…"

Amber let her guard down and Riku swiftly removed his Keyblade and slashed at her. The swing itself sent her flying back into a hunk of rock. "You're amazingly predictable, you know that?" he asked.

Amber picked herself up, then said, "Yeah. Amethyst says that ALL the time."

Riku's voice rang with sarcasm. "I wonder why."

Amber suddenly sprang from the rock and took a swing at Riku with her spear. The dark wielder parried the attack, but was soon caught in the midsection by a pair of boots. Amber had twirled on her staff like a gymnast and thumped him in the midsection. As he skidded to the ground, Riku rolled to his feet and held up his Keyblade to block a strike. As he pushed away, he was tempted to try Dark Firaga, but he quickly remembered his battle with Sapphire and refrained from doing so. He had no intention of burning himself.

Riku then realized that he had one trick left and pulled out the Apple Charm he got at Prydain. "I think I know someone more annoying than you." he pointed out. "Gurgi!"

Out of a pair of bushes emerged Riku's old friend Gurgi. The little creature smiled, then got onto Riku's shoulders like a little kid going on a piggyback ride. "Crunchies and munchies!"

Gurgi leapt off Riku's shoulders, then jumped onto Amber and started scrambling all over her like a squirrel. Amber screamed in surprise at the furry thing apparently mugging her. "WHAT THE HECK?! GET IT OFF ME!"

Amber tried grabbing the furry critter, but couldn't; the little thing was obviously too fast for her. Gurgi reappeared on her shoulder and she apparently grabbed him, but saw that he vanished. "YOO-HOO!" Gurgi teased.

Amber turned to find Gurgi on the head of her spear and threw him off before pouncing at Gurgi, trying to murder him. He got out of the way and Amber simply landed in a heap. He blew a raspberry before vanishing back into his own world. Riku almost laughed. "And to think I once considered blowing him up with a Dark Firaga…"

Amber brushed the dirt off her as she said, "I can believe it."

Riku shrugged. "Oh well, I guess I'd better end this! DARK AURA!!"

Riku went into Dark Aura again and raised his Way to Dawn in the air. He was now very happy that he wasn't fighting Sapphire. As Amber raised her spear to defend, Riku seemingly vanished. "Ho boy..." she said, wide-eyed with sudden realization, "Where'd you go?"

"Right HERE!"

As Amber turned to where the voice came from, Riku flew out of nowhere and caught her right in the face. He repeated the process several times, catching her every time. He then finished his combo by planting his Keyblade into the ground and several bursts of blue fire erupted from the ground. Amber was still stunned by the first part of the Dark Aura and caught the blast full on.

When the Dark Aura ended, Amber looked just plain disoriented. "Em tih tahw…wo?(1)" She paused, then realized what she just said. "SDRAWCKAB GNIKAEPS M'I?! TAHW?!"

Riku stared, then suggested, "I think THIS is the part where you leave to regroup."

"Aedi doog, yenoh, Ukir." Amber then vanished in a flash of orange light without any second thought.

Riku stared at the spot, then cracked a smile and allowed himself to laugh. "Didn't intend for it to do THAT, but not bad."

It was a long, hard battle, but the Crystalli vanished and the Heartless went into retreat. They won. Blader wiped sweat from his forehead as he sheathed the razorblades on his shield. "Whew! THAT battle was a lot more trouble than it was worth." Blader huffed, wiping sweat from his head.

"Right…Wanna do it again?" Crescent asked, excitedly. Every current member of the Restoration Committee simply glowered at Crescent, who seemed unfazed by this. He simply folded his arms across his chest and mumbled, "I can't win…"

Sora's Drive with Petross ended as the superhumans returned to meet them. J was slightly bruised, but April was normal (having been excluded from most of the battle). Scott was being supported by J and April because his leg seemed to have been injured, possibly by one of the Ninjas' shuriken, and Ryan was pinching a bloody nose.

J answered Sora's question about Ryan before he even asked. "He, stupidly, went too high."

Joyex came back with the finest black eye you've ever seen; it earned him a chuckle from Sora. "Nice shiner, Joyex."

Joyex traced the whole bruise with his finger, then said, "Thanks!"

Riku and Kairi came back almost unharmed, save looking extremely tired, as did Donald and Goofy. "I think it's time that we fixed everyone." he suggested, raising his staff, "Heal!"

A Curaga went around everyone and they were healed in a matter of seconds. Scott took some steps to see if his leg was ACTUALLY healed and saw something that made his eyes turn the size of dinner plates. "CRIKEY!"

Ryan's eyes widened as he said, "Uh-oh...Scott said 'crikey'. Something's wrong."

Sora and co. ran over to see what was amiss and soon couldn't believe what they had just seen. "WHAAAAAAT?!" they all shouted.

Willie

A slow-witted giant who lives in a castle in the clouds. Whenever Sakuzy calls, he will plow through his enemies like nothing. He first appeared on _Mickey and the Beanstalk _1983.

Amber

One of many Crystalli Hosts under the control of Chrysallis. She controls the Crystalli Dashers and wields a blade-like spear. She can be a bit sarcastic at times, but seems to have a soft spot for Riku, calling him "cute".

Crystalli Ninjas

Crystalli controlled by Emerald. They are the more capable fighters in the Crystalli species, capable of complex hand-to-hand combat skills. They also throw shuriken (ninja stars) that are made of the same substance as their bodies.

_(1) I thought Amber speaking backwards was a funny twist._

_Blader's Shield Discus, Crescent Stealth Moon, Petross' Power Strike, Gurgi's Pester, Donald's Thundaga, Goofy's Goofy Tornado, Donald and Goofy's Final Drive, and Willie's Flatten._

_Petross' Perseverance Drive: In this form, Sora's physical strength increases tenfold and he can control earth with the Keyblade known as Mountain Hammer._


	119. WHAAAT!

Chapter 120: WHAAT?!

What was amiss was that Pearl was still there. She and Sakuzy were kissing. That's right, KISSING: as though their faces were glued together by the lips. Riku gripped Way to Dawn in his hand, ready for anything. "It's gotta be a trick."

Sora eyed them, then said, "I don't really think so. They've probably been doing that for a while, and if she was trying to hurt him, she'd have done it already."

Scott was still staring, wide-eyed at this scene. "Sakuzy KISSING a Crystalli…" he said, uneasily, "CREEPY, mates, CREEPY."

Ryan then started hovering (literally) behind the rest and took in that scene. He then spoke in a mock-French accent to try and tease the moment as he usually did. "Ah, how I wish I could capture this moment. But, J took my digital camera, so I cannot."

Crescent then appeared out of nowhere and took out a camera before snapping Sakuzy and Pearl's scene. "Cool! I can put this on the Internet and make a decent buck!" he said, excitedly.

J snatched the camera and fiddled around with it until there was a spirit-breaking beep. "Oh no. I think I deleted something." The shapeshifter then tossed the camera at Crescent, lodging it into the ninja's face.

Crescent pulled the camera out of his skull and held it before saying something OBVIOUS and calm. "Yeah, well, you know. Gotta take the bitter with the sweet."

J turned to the rest of the Restoration Committee(s). "Is this guy ALWAYS this annoying?" he asked in disbelief.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Leon answered, his tone similar to J's.

Sakuzy and Pearl stopped making out and the rest of the group walked over. Suddenly, for reasons yet to be explained, Joyex slapped Sakuzy across the head. "OW! WHAT?!" Sakuzy asked, grouchily.

Joyex simply shrugged. "Mosquito."

Sakuzy growled, then pointed at Joyex and spoke in a threatening voice, "If I didn't have any better self-control, I WOULD KILL YOU!"

Sora walked over to the two and simply said ONE word to Sakuzy: "Explain."

Sakuzy looked at Pearl, then back at Sora. Time to come clean..."Well, Sora, remember when I said that the Crystalli took away Maya?"

Sora eyed Pearl and then noticed that she looked EXACTLY like the girl that Sakuzy had shown him. Kairi also made the connection from Sakuzy's mural. "THAT'S Maya?" Sora asked in surprise, "I thought you said she was dead..."

Sakuzy held up a hand. "No I didn't. I said 'for all I know, she COULD be dead'. Turns out they forced her into taking a shell as part of an experiment." Sakuzy gestured to Pearl, who was blushing profusely because of the moment, and added, "The result stands next to me."

Sakuzy then turned to Petross and asked, "Do you think there's a way to remove the shell?"

Petross scratched his chin. "I suppose it's a possibility, but there's one problem."

Pearl looked a little worried, as did the rest. "What?" she asked, nervously.

Petross' look couldn't have been more solemn. "It's never been done before. If the process goes wrong, she could die." Petross quickly noticed the shock on both of their faces and came back with something positive. "BUT, on the other hand, she could help me study the Crystalli. I told you I needed a live host to study, so she could help me out there."

Sakuzy then turned to Pearl and looked her in the eye. "Stay with the Restoration Committee." he told her, "You'll be safe with them."

Pearl's eyes drifted, then looked up at him with her pale-gray eyes. "Okay." she said with a slight nod.

She walked over to the Restoration Committee and stopped in front of Petross, who put his large hand on her shoulder. "We'll take care of her as best we can." The large man assured Sakuzy, then suddenly glanced over at a certain crazed ninja and added, "And Crescent, you WON'T be bothering her. UNDERSTAND?!"

Crescent mock-saluted again. "Sir, no sir! Not understanding a single word you say, sir!(1)" Petross, unable to take any more of this nonsense, reared back his fist and punched the ninja smack dab in the midsection, sending him slamming into a wall. Crescent slowly picked himself up and put all his broken body parts back into place. "Happens all the time."

Yuffie sighed as she shook her head. "Petross, that won't work." she reminded, "I've been trying to kill him for MONTHS."

"Just my way of saying 'thank you'." Crescent assured her.

Leon's expression looked even more irritated than he had the last time. "You're not listening."

"I NEVER DO!"

Leon was fingering his Gunblade in a manner that suggested that he wanted to shoot Crescent, but Aerith stopped him. "Don't, Leon. It's not HIS fault he's like this." she told him. Slowly, but surely, Leon stopped fingering the Gunblade.

Blader turned to Sora and co. and lowered his voice so that only they could hear him. "Oprah Gainsborough there is the only reason why the Lunar Lunatic's on the team." he explained, "She's the only one who's really kind to Crescent."

"O-kay…I think we've seen enough." Sora said, uneasily, "Now if you'll excuse us, we'll be looking for a few more Pure Hearts." Sora and co. returned to their Gummi Ship and took off.

The Restoration Committee West side left when Yuffie did, wanting to get away from Crescent ASAP. Pearl stalled, looking at the place where they vanished. "Sakuzy…come back soon." she prayed, and after a brief pause, she walked off with Petross and the others.

Sora and co.'s ship…

Sora was glad to have Scott back. Not only because he was a good friend, but also because he was a great cook. Because, as the Aussie often said, _When you're raised in the wild of the Outback, mate, you've got two options for food—you can either make it yourself or starve._

Back in THIS time period, J held out his floppy disk. "Guys, there's something I've gotta show you." he told them.

Sora gave J a look, then asked, "What is it, J?"

J turned to Scott. "Remember those Mendez paintings we saw in Linderman's old gallery?" he asked.

Scott took off his hat and scratched his mess of brown hair. "Yeah. You said you took nothing."

"Well, it wasn't exactly the truth." J filled in, "I took something…pictures from that Mendez guy with a camera."

Scott looked a bit steamed by this. "J, ya lousy bloke, why'd you go and lie to all us?!" he fumed.

J answered as he inserted the floppy disc into the computer. "I may be a good guy, but I'm NOT a saint." With a few strokes of the keys, J took them to the 'Will Happen' folder. He then went to the picture of the two struggling behemoths and showed them to the group.

Kairi stared at the two giants and asked, "Who are those?"

"I don't know." J answered, "I was originally going to move this to the 'Happened' folder, because I thought it was about that Transformers movie, but then I realized that the color coordination was all wrong."

J proceeded to explore the gallery and Sora then saw a picture that REALLY made his stomach clench; and Kairi's, too. He and Kairi were about to kiss and someone was shouting, as if trying to stop them.

Sora then turned to J. "Is that guy supposed to be YOU?" he asked.

J shrugged. "It might be, just shorten the hair a bit."

The guy in the painting DID look like J, only he had longer hair. Sakuzy then pulled out the disk, ending the slideshow. J snatched the disk back, but he was sort of glad that Sakuzy snatched it. He wasn't too intent on showing everyone the picture of Sora on a ship about ready to explode, especially to Kairi.

A series of beeps was enough to catch Sakuzy's attention and he checked the scanner. "Okay...According to the scanner, the closest Pure Heart is in a world called Halloween Town."

Sora's face brightened up a bit. "I remember that place! Isn't exactly easy to forget..." Sora grinned as he turned and pointed to each of the others, save Donald and Goofy. "I wonder what YOU GUYS will turn into."

Riku cocked his head as he asked, "What're you talking about?"

Donald turned to Riku and answered, "Oh, YOU'LL see!"

_All credit to my younger brother, Lunatic121, for THAT line __J__._


	120. This is Halloween

_Well, I enjoyed writing this fic. (Tom Marcinek from Mrfipp walks in)_

_Tom: Yeah, only 'cause you enjoy describin' things._

_Me: What're YOU doin' here, Tom?_

Tom: Hey, Fipp's focusin' around KAIRI'S group. Where do I have to be?

_(Crescent pops out of nowhere)_

_Crescent: Hiya, Ted Sprague!_

_Tom: NOT YOU AGAIN (Read Crescent Meets Tom for more details)! I'm OUTTA HERE!_

_(Tom begins walking away.)_

_Tom: I'm not in this fic..._

_(Tom falls into a hole that came out of nowhere.)_

_Tom: AND I'M 'APPY ABOUT IT!_

_I own nothing except my OCs._

Chapter 121: This is Halloween

Sora and co. landed just outside of the town. Sora, Donald, and Goofy changed into their old forms—Sora was a vampire, Donald was the invisible man/mummy mix, and Goofy was a zombie. Sora turned to look behind him, then saw what the others turned into.

Joyex was MUCH hairier, covered virtually head-to-toe in black fur, and had long, black claws, pointed ears, a dog-like nose, and his clothes were ragged. He no longer had any boots, for he had massive, paw-like feet that were just too big for them. He had turned into a werewolf. "Cool! I'm a werewolf!" Joyex said, enthusiastically, "It's been my lifelong dream to be covered in hair!"

Joyex paused, then got down on all fours and started scratching his ear with one of his feet. Sora couldn't believe what he just saw and asked, "Is that physically possible?"

Sakuzy no longer had eyes, but a Cyclops-esque visor that glowed a bright blue. His lower jaw was a steel panel that resembled the jaw of a bear trap and his right arm was metal as was his right leg. All parts made of metal had a few patches of rust dotting them and his scarf and clothes were ragged. He was a cyborg and Sora was greatly reminded of John Silver back on the R.L.S. Legacy.(1) "Not physically, but since he's part dog, I suppose it is logical." Sakuzy said, answering Sora's question.

Sora scratched his head. THAT wasn't exactly something Sakuzy would normally say. "Will this be a regular thing with you?" he asked.

Sakuzy nodded. "Of course. It's in my programming." he answered.

Riku's skin had turned a deep red and he had grown a pair of goat-like horns that curved backward slightly and emerged from his forehead like someone Sora saw from a comic book one time (2). He also had a black jacket, spiked boots, and silver animal skulls on his shoulders. He also wore no shirt under the jacket. If Riku was older, had longer hair, and a long sword, Sora would have mistaken him for Sephiroth. He was the Devil.

Joyex noticed Riku's new look and screamed in fright. "AAH! Riku! YOU'RE the DEVIL?!"

Riku looked himself over, then shrugged. "I guess this sorta fits." he admitted, "I DO use the powers of darkness."

Scott's skin had turned pale green and various parts of his body seemed to be stitched together. His neck had two bolts in them, and his hat, which was originally tan and had a red outline of Australia on it, was now black and had an orange and yellow jack-o'-lantern on it. He was Frankenstein.

The Aussie ran a finger down some of the scars on his body and whistled, as though impressed. "Crikey, this is one FREAKY mutation..."

J was virtually normal, except for the fact that he had a black, floor-length cloak in place of his jacket. It reminded Sora a bit of Organization XIII cloaks, only he could see the bottom part of J's face and his eyes shone bright red from his shaded visage. It wasn't exactly scary, but just plain creepy. The shapeshifter also had chains wrapped around his chest and his skin was slightly paler than it usually was. He was a ghoul.

J smirked an evil little grin as he said, "Well, apparently I don't need much of a costume to be scary here."

Ryan now had a black cloak and his skin was paler than the rest's, making him look almost white. His right hand was now skeletal while a scythe was in his left, unchanged, hand. In his skeletal hand was a list that was headed "To Die" on it. He was the Grim Reaper.

Upon seeing THIS, Ryan stamped his foot in protest and said, "NO way! I may kill out of anger, on accident, or even on a whim, but I am NOT gonna be the Grim Reaper!" Part of the robe around the crotch tightened and Ryan's voiced turned to a much higher pitch. "OW! OW! OWWW! I'll reap! I'll reap!"

April had two fangs jutting out of her upper jaw, a short-sleeved black jacket, hiding a dark gray tank top with a white patch around her chest. She also wore a black, knee-high skirt and a pair of high heels. Her hair had gone from chestnut-brown to black now, and part of it covered her left eye. She was a vampiress.

Upon looking at herself, April sighed as she saw the shoes she was wearing and groaned. "Man! I HATE heels!" she complained.

Sakuzy then glanced at Scott and April and sniffed the air. His visor beeped an electronic sound as he confirmed something. "Hmm…the Frankenstein look-alike's pheromone level suggests that he wants to mate with the vampiress." he informed. The space between Scott and April increased, dramatically. Sakuzy paused, then looked at the two and apologized. "Sorry. Too deep there…"

Sora then saw Kairi, who had a large witch's hat that covered her left eye. She now wore a small, black overcoat with the left sleeve being longer than the right one. Her hair was a brighter shade of red now and she had black shoes as well as knee-high striped stockings and a small cape made of…what appeared to be cobwebs. She was a witch.

"Cool." Kairi said, looking herself over from her hat to her cobweb cape.

Sora blushed slightly and Sakuzy's visor beeped again. "Sora, your body temperature has suddenly increased. Are you okay?" he asked.

Sora obviously wasn't listening to this remark, seeing as the next reply was to Kairi. "You…you look…Terrifying."

Kairi could only smile. She knew that what Sora said was just to be a little playful. "Thanks."

J suddenly grabbed Sora's shoulder, startling the Keyblade Master as he turned. As Sora realized that it was just J, he clutched his hammering heart. "Sorry." J apologized, "But now's not the time to woo Kairi. We've got a Pure Heart to find."

"J's got a point." Riku pointed out.

J stepped back slightly, but stopped when a skeletal figure was in front of him. It had a black tuxedo and empty sockets for eyes, but was all-too-familiar to some. "WELCOME!" it greeted loudly.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy knew who this was in a heartbeat. "Hey, Jack! How're YOU today?" asked Goofy.

Sakuzy looked at the Skeleton dubbed "Jack", then scratched his head. "Isn't Jack that pirate jerk who sold me to Davy Jones? Or was he the monkey?"

Sora turned to Sakuzy. "Not Jack SPARROW. This guy's Jack SKELLINGTON." he explained.

"Oh."

Jack Skellington squinted as best as his sockets would allow, then smiled. "Hello, Sora, Donald, and Goofy! Glad to see you've returned." Jack shook each of their hands in his strong grip, then noticed the rest and asked, "Who're your friends?"

"They're Riku, Kairi, Sakuzy, Joyex, J, Scott, Ryan, and April." Sora answered.

Jack shook the hands of Riku, Sakuzy, Joyex, Scott, and Ryan, but kissed the hands of Kairi and April in a manner of politeness. He avoided J, though, when he got a glare from his scarlet eyes. He described him as the "no-touch" fellow.

"So, Jack, what've you been up to?" Sora asked.

Jack scratched his head slightly. "Well, we've been planning the next Halloween, but I wanted to put in a bit more pizzazz this time around." Jack then noticed the stern looks given by Sora, Donald, and Goofy. He gave a sheepish grin and waved his hands as he assured them, "But NOT stealing from other holidays!"

J glanced at the group, then scratched his head. "Care to explain?" he asked.

Sora sighed. THIS was going to take a while…

Meanwhile, far away, Emerald crawled out of a crater on the other side of town. He was normal, except for having an eerie green glow and ragged-looking robes. To put things straight, he looked like he had been exposed to radioactive material. He groaned in an extremely zombie-like manner and walked and talked in the same way. "Must…destroy…mankind!" A cell phone then started ringing on his belt and his manner changed in an instant. "Oh, blasted phone…" he cursed.

The Crystalli shook himself back to the world, reached into his robe, and pulled out the phone. He flipped it open and pressed the receive button. "Hey, who is it?" a pause. Emerald sighed, then answered, "Yes, I'm in Halloween Town." another pause and Emerald looked surprisingly exasperated. "Yes, I'll help Opal take out the holidays." one last pause and Emerald assured, "And yes, I will be NAUGHTY." Emerald hung up and ran towards the Hinterlands, all the while muttering under his breath. "Jerk…"

Meanwhile, with Sora and co., Jack led them to the Doctor's lab, where Finklestein and Sally were waiting for them. Finklestein then noticed Riku and picked at his brain. "Jack, who's this goat-horned man? I like his look." he asked.

Jack looked at Riku up-close before answering. "I think he's the Prince of Darkness, doctor. He's your eleven o'clock."

Riku seemed a bit ticked by this. "I'm NOT the Prince of Darkness!" he told them, sounding severely irritated.

Joyex walked over and grabbed Riku by the shoulder. "Weren't you singing a different tune a moment ago?" he asked.

Riku jabbed him with his Way to Dawn, causing the werewolf to jump in the air slightly. As Joyex ran, not wanting to get his rump stabbed, Riku gave chase. Sakuzy simply shrugged. "Oh, they'll be at it for a while."

An idea suddenly sprang to Ryan. He picked up his scythe and slowly strode over to the doctor. He spoke in an attempt to be terrifying: a trembling, ghost-like voice. "Finklestein, your time has come!" Ryan tried to emphasize this by pointing his skeletal finger at Finklestein.

The doctor wasn't impressed, however, as he pointed out, "You're not the Grim Reaper! That's just a costume!"

Ryan simply poked him in the forehead with his skeletal hand over and over again. Nothing happened and Finklestein got his hand with an electric prod before the Grim Reaper would-be could do it again. "OW!" Ryan said, trying to shake the pain from his hand.

Finklestein huffed, then asked, "Why were you poking me, anyway?!"

Ryan simply shrugged and stopped poking him, instead starting to massage his zapped hand. "I dunno. Just felt like the right thing to do."

Scott raised his arm, as though to slap Ryan, but it popped off in mid-swing. He looked at the stump that his arm USED to be attached to and simply sighed. "Could someone put me arm back?"

Dr. Finklesten sighed before running Scott over to a medical kit and started stitching it back on. Every time the needle penetrated Scott's skin, he emitted a single word. "Ow…ow…ow…Y'know, Doc, ow, you're real gentle when you want to be. Ow." the Aussie admitted.

"Don't push it, lad." the doctor pointed out.

Dr. Finklestein then, simply, rolled away on his wheelchair, leaving Scott's arm back in its original position.

Meanwhile, Sora was striking conversation with Jack and asked, "What do you mean by giving Halloween some more pizzazz?"

"Well, like I said before, Halloween does get a bit tedious, but NOW I'm gonna do something unexpected!" the Pumpkin King answered.

Riku and Kairi, who were listening to the conversation, decided to butt in. "And that is…?" Riku asked.

Jack held out his arms, as though saying "ta-da" as he announced it. "I'm going to use a smidgen of EVERY holiday and roll it all into Halloween!"

Everyone was struck dumb by this, whereas J simply stared.

"Roll it all…" Sora said...

Riku continued where Sora left off. "Into..."

"Halloween?!" Kairi finished.

Being completely off subject, Joyex looked at the three and scratched his furry head. Though, this time, he did it with his hand, not his foot. "Look, I know the three of you guys are best friends, but why do you continue each other's sentences?" he asked.

Back to subject, EVERYONE was surprised.

"What?!" Ryan said in surprise.

"Crikey!" Scott exclaimed in surprise.

"Not again..." Donald and Goofy growled at the same time.

"Oh no…" April groaned.

"CRUD!" Sakuzy cursed.

"Actually, I could see all those holidays being turned into scary things. Imagine, Easter eggs, Thanksgiving Dinner, Fourth of July Fireworks…" Everyone knew that J was being sarcastic. Sora walked over to J and tried to punch him to get the guy to stop. The shapeshifter simply held up his hand and Sora ended up slugging J's palm instead of his face. "What were you trying to say?" he asked.

Sora removed his fist, then tried to put things simply. "If Jack blends ALL the holidays, he could destroy the world as we know it." he explained.

Ryan stared off in one direction and pointed in it as he said, "Too late to tell him. He's already gone."

As Sora followed Ryan's skeletal finger, he found out it was true. Jack had already vanished into thin air.

Sally stepped forward and apologized. "Sorry. I tried to talk him out of it, but you know how Jack is. He wouldn't listen to me."

Finklestein then drove over in his wheelchair. "Sora does, however, a point. If Jack tries to blend the holidays together, he could rip this world apart at the seams."

"In that case, we'll have to find him!" Sakuzy said, urgently Without any further ado, the entire team ran out the door.

As soon as the motley collection was out the door, a woman in a bluish purple robe materialized in a burst of deep-blue light and turned to the doctor and his creation. "Excuse me, but where can I find the Hinterlands?" she asked.

Finklestein turned around and eyed the woman suspiciously. "Why do YOU want to know?" he asked, grouchily.

The woman simply said, "Crystalli business. But if you DON'T tell me, I'll have to ask THESE things to tear you apart!" She snapped her fingers and several crystals around her began to change their shapes. Finklestein gulped, then spilled the beans.

_(1) Dimensiondude dressed as a cyborg for Halloween once—not Sakuzy's design, though—so I figured why not make him similar?_

_(2) The comic book thing I'm referring to is the Dark Horse superhero known as Hellboy._


	121. Holidays

_Sorry I couldn't update. I had a fic removed and couldn't. Anyway, I also got the new Hulk movie with Ed Norton. IT'S AWESOME!_

Chapter 121: Holidays

Sora and co. got to the Hinterlands, where the trees led to different Holidays. "Okay...Donald, Goofy, Kairi, and I will go into the Christmas door. Everyone else, check the doors and see if he's there."

Sora jumped into a door with a Christmas Tree, followed by Donald, Goofy, and Kairi. The devil-dressed Riku stared at the door, amazed. "Boy was THAT straightforward." he said, surprised, "But that's Sora for ya."

Riku opened a door with an American flag on it. A firework zoomed out with a high-pitched scream and narrowly missed his head. As he watched it, the firework zoomed through the sky and exploded into a shower of red, white, and blue sparkles. "He's not in Fourth of July." he said, closing the door.

Ryan came out holding a pot of gold, which had a very ticked off Leprechaun clinging onto its handle. "Let go of me pot of gold, laddie!" it snarled, trying to jerk it from Ryan's hand.

"Look, I followed the rainbow and got it fair and square, so let go!" Ryan countered. He tried prying the leprechaun off, but the Irish creature had death grip on the sides. Riku sighed, then simply kicked the pot out of Ryan's hand and into the door, which was a four-leafed clover. After looking a bit crestfallen, Ryan massaged part of his arm. "He's not in St. Patrick's Day. And I'm still a bit sore from all the pinching…"

J opened a door that looked like a clown's face. It was open for hardly a second before a banana cream pie flew out the door and smacked him in the face, splattering its contents all over him. He casually shut the door and wiped the pie off of his face. "I know. It's not funny when CLOWNS do it, either." he growled.

His theory went AGAINST the evidence, seeing as Ryan was on the ground and Riku was leaning against a tree. BOTH of them were trying to hold back a laugh. They just wanted to see J humiliated for a change of events.

April walked out of the door with a heart-shaped candy container. The clash of pink really didn't go too well with her dark get-up. "He's not in Valentine's Day." she reported.

Scott then burst through the door that looked like a turkey. He had a woven basket filled with vegetables in one arm and had a live turkey by the neck in the other hand. "He ain't in Thanksgivin'. But, at least I got somethin' to cook…with…" Scott's movements slowed to a stop, except his head. Apparently, something was wrong with him here…

Sakuzy and Joyex walked out of the Easter door with arms filled with Easter eggs. "He isn't in Easter." Sakuzy reported.

"BUT, we got tons of eggs!" Joyex said, gesturing to the basket he had in his hand.

"Uh…guys?" Sakuzy and Joyex turned to see Scott frozen in place like someone had hit him with a Stop spell. "Could someone charge me up? I'm outta juice…"

Sakuzy turned to Joyex, his arms folded across his chest. "Did you get the jumper cables?" he asked.

"Uh…yeah." Joyex lied.

Sakuzy gave Joyex "the look". "Well, where are they?" he asked, keeping his position.

Joyex sighed before turning towards the Gummi Ship. "I'll go get them." Joyex slowly trudged off, seeming to vanish from sight after a minute.

Riku then turned to J, trying to hold back a chuckle. "Why didn't you check in April Fool's Day?" he asked.

J simply glowered as he was clearing off some more pie off his face. Riku was hoping he'd fall for the same trick twice. "I'm still getting my face cleaned from the LAST time. I don't want that holiday anywhere NEAR the rest of my body."

"Point taken." Riku said after a quick thought.

"So…Jack's in Christmas?" Sakuzy asked.

Riku then pointed to another tree and said, "Wait! There's still ONE holiday we haven't checked!"

The entire group present turned to a door with a calendar. Riku opened the door and a blinding flash of light burst through the night. This sight caused everyone to magically pull out a pair of sunglasses and slip them on. J then closed the door and took off his shades. "Nope." he said, "He's NOT in New Year's Day."

J leaned against another door and turned the knob by mistake. ANOTHER banana cream pie hit him in the back of the head. He growled menacingly and turned to the others, who were doing their best to stifle their laughter...and failing miserably. "If you so much as laugh, you're dead meat!"

Everyone, except Ryan, quieted down. _If I laugh, J will KILL me! If I DON'T laugh, I'll burst!_

Ryan then burst into violent fits of laughter. J looked ready to kill his solar-powered fellow, but he heard someone coming, and saw it radiating a green glow. When the person arrived, it turned out to be Emerald, who was apparently a radioactive zombie.

An idea popped into Ryan's head and he slowly approached the Crystalli. Emerald turned, then asked, "And you are…?"

Ryan's voice dropped an octave and got a creepy rattle in his throat as he clutched his scythe, menacingly. "I am…DEATH!"

Emerald seemed untouched by this and brushed it off. "No you're not."

Ryan deflated slightly as his voice returned to its original sound. "MAN! That NEVER works! Maybe I shoulda put my hood up…"

Sakuzy walked over and sighed as he asked, "Alright, Emerald. What does Chrysallis want destroyed for what purpose?"

Emerald stared in awe, then said, "MAN! You get right to the point." he then added, "Anyway, Chrysallis wants me to help Opal destroy the holidays." The group suddenly went so silent that Emerald could hear crickets chirping. "If we destroy the holidays here, the universe will get thrown into chaos." Emerald pointed out, trying to simplify it. Still silence. Even the crickets stopped chirping. Emerald heaved a sigh, then said, "And all the holidays end here?"

"Oh." they all said.

"Well, then you can forget it, Emerald!" Sakuzy said, pointing a finger at the Crystalli.

Sakuzy and Riku summoned their Keyblades in a flash of light. Ryan summoned a pair of orbs in his hands and almost gasped. Usually, his energy orbs were made of light, but these were made of darkness, seeing as Halloween Town didn't have any sunlight to begin with. "COOL!" he said, amazed.

J raised his fists in a combat stance and April hovered in place, making her vampiric look a bit…appropriate. Emerald, on the other hand, smacked himself in the face. "D'OH! Why do I get myself INTO these things?!" he asked in disbelief.

Emerald barely had time to answer his own question when Sakuzy swung his Keyblade at him. In a flash of green light, his boomerang blade came to meet it. Emerald maneuvered Sakuzy away and brought his boot into the side of the Keyblader's face, then swung his boomerang blade at Riku, who quickly parried it. Emerald then backflipped away, landing on his feet, then threw his boomerang at the group. Ryan ducked under the attack as did April while J, Sakuzy, and Riku jumped over it.

All this while, Scott stood there like a de-powered robot, his eyes darting from side-to-side as the battle continued. Suddenly, the boomerang blade raced by him and the wind of the attack caused Scott to topple over, stiff as a board. "Where are you, Joyex?" he asked, desperately, "I've fallen and I can't get up!"

The group continued their battle and it was J's turn to try Emerald. He dashed after Emerald, who swung with his boomerang only to miss the ghoul by a mile. J had ducked under it and caught Emerald full in the stomach with his fist. As Emerald lurched forward, J brought his elbow sharply into his chin, then planted the back of his other hand into Emerald's face. Emerald tumbled to the side, but actually raised his blade to block J's onslaught and used it to push the shapeshifter back and thump him with his foot. J only slid back a bit, but now Ryan was there to meet the Crystalli. He swung his scythe at Emerald only to realize that this scythe was a bit unwieldy in his hands and missed the Crystalli's face by an inch.

"DARN IT!!" Ryan hardly had any time to register what was going to happen when his scythe flew right out of his hands and Emerald brought his fist slamming into his face. Ryan landed on his back and massaged his jaw as he said, "O-kay, lesson learned—don't use the scythe."

Ryan went back to his old fighting style and simply barraged the Crystalli Host with his dark blasts. Apparently they were as destructive as his solar blasts, but only a few hit him. Emerald took care of the rest by simply turning his shoulder to them and reflecting them back at him. "Oh-" Ryan never finished his sentence, because the combined energy of his blasts sent him smashing into a nearby tree.

Riku got back into the battle and nodded to J.

"J!"

"Hmph…Perfect!" J transformed into a black raptor in a few convulsions, then charged at Emerald. He pounced on the Crystalli with a shriek and began to brutally injure him with his sharp claws and teeth. Emerald thrashed for a while, then kicked the shapeshifter off as his wounds healed.

"Ooh! OUCH! Too close…" Emerald groaned, clutching a wound on his arm.

Sakuzy suddenly kicked Emerald in the chest, winding him, then swung his Keyblade across his face. The gash healed over and Emerald soon got the wind knocked from his lungs AGAIN, because a certain vampiress superhuman had slammed headlong into him. To make matters worse, she had misjudged her flight and both tumbled in different directions. Both landed a good ten feet from each other as they landed and slowly, Emerald got up, his whole body aching. "Well, THAT'S embarrassing…" he groaned to himself.

"April!" Sakuzy called.

"Let me help!" April flew around the immediate area, slamming into Emerald multiple times. The only difference now was that she looked a little more balanced than before. The impact of her strikes virtually broke Emerald in half, but he kept on recovering and regenerating. He looked ready to continue, but the cell phone kept ringing again.

"Just a second." Emerald said, holding up a finger. The battle came to an abrupt halt as Emerald answered it. "Look, Chrysallis! I don't NEED you checking up on me every second for a-" There was a pause and Emerald looked very surprised AND frightened. "WHAT?! I have to deal with Turquoise, too?! First I have to deal with Ms. Perfect and NOW I've gotta deal with that Goth woman?!" he paused, then said, "Oh, FINE. In that case, I'm coming back home NOW!"

Emerald looked sulky as he hung up and vanished in a flash of green light.

At that time, Joyex ran back with the jumper cables, which spanned several miles behind him. "I've got the jumper cables!" he gasped.

Joyex hooked up the cables to Scott's bolts and he was instantly charged up. After he got fully charged, his stiff posture released and he slumped to the ground. As he got to his feet, he popped his neck. "About time you got here, Joyex." Scott said, cricking the rest of his joints, "Now, let's find the skeletal bloke in Christmas Town!"

The entire group opened the door and, in a gust of cold wind, were all sucked into it. When the blizzard ended, the group landed on top of a girl in a bluish-purple cloak. Joyex landed in the snow next to her, but seemed unperturbed by the sheer cold on his bare flesh. His voice was a little muffled as he greeted, "Hello, Opal."

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, and Jack ran over. Mr. Skellington almost jumped out of his skin...Oh, wait, he doesn't have any. "Congratulations! You've caught the criminal!" he announced.

_J's Wild Raptor and April's Aerial Attack._


	122. Christmas and Opal

Chapter 122: Christmas and Opal

Sora and co. got to the Hinterlands, where the trees led to different Holidays. "Okay...Donald, Goofy, Kairi, and I will go into the Christmas door. Everyone else, check the doors and see if he's there!"

Sora jumped into a door with a Christmas Tree, followed by Donald, Goofy, and Kairi. The three were instantly sent swirling through a blue and white vortex. Kairi screamed, Donald squawked his usual fright noise, and Goofy gave his usual high-pitched, four-part shriek. Sora, on the other hand, laughed the whole way down. When it stopped, all three landed in heaps of snow.

Kairi looked up and felt like they were back at North Pole. She looked up to see a sight similar to the Christmas-based world, only a little more simple and…there was no other word for it: cute. Kairi stared in awe at the place, then got an idea. She packed some snow together and tossed it at Sora, who saw what she was doing beforehand and ducked. The snowball soared through the air and hit Donald in the back of the head instead. The duck seemed to think that Goofy did it, because the knight was next to Kairi, and jumped on him with a squabbling "waak".

"WHOA!" Goofy jumped and evaded the duck, who landed into a snowdrift. Goofy guffawed and barely dodged a snowball from the enraged Donald. The ball of cold snow soared past Goofy, then smacked Sora in the face, sending him to the ground. Sora simply replied with laughter and tried hitting Goofy with a snowball.

The four were now deep into a snowball fight, which Sora was starting to get an edge in, until they saw Jack Skellington returning with arms filled with all sorts of things. He had Easter Eggs, fireworks, Christmas presents, joy buzzers, and various other holiday items.

Sora saw what Jack was trying, then got up and ran over to the Pumpkin King. "You're making a mistake, Jack." he said, folding his arms.

Jack looked at the stuff he was holding, then shrugged. "Mistake? All I see is a great modification to Halloween. What's wrong with that?" he asked.

"Jack, if you bring those things into Halloween Town as an enhancement to your holiday, you'll probably tear apart the entire world." Sora said, trying desperately to get through to Jack.

"Now be that as it may…" Jack never finished his sentence, because something suddenly pounced on him, scattering all the holiday items across the snow.

The thing jumped off Jack and the group saw what it was: a Crystalli. THIS Crystalli was easily as long as Jack was tall, had three pairs of eyes, and its head seemed to be mostly a pair of jaws, which were filled with jagged teeth. It also had a row of spines running down its back, a large pair of back legs with two claws pointing forward and one pointing back, and its front pair were short, but strong with three claws. It also had a tail that was long and flexible, like a python's. It got a good look at the group and snarled like a rabid animal.

"Crystalli!" Sora said in surprise.

Meanwhile, in Santa's workshop, a woman in a bluish-purple robe was standing next to the tall woman in the bluish green robe, who Amethyst called Turquoise. "Well, we've got Mr. Claus and this holiday's as good as destroyed now that my four-legged friends are out there." the blue-robed woman said, confidently, "What do we go onto next? Easter? Thanksgiving?"

The other woman, Turquoise, spoke in her casual voice: one that was abnormally deep for a woman, serious, and surprisingly emotionless. "Not yet, Opal." she answered, "The Keybearer, the Princess of Heart, and the king's lackeys are here, too. You'll deal with them while I try and destroy this place."

Opal sighed. "I'll need a good plan for this. I already have my Beasts roaming around the town, but, knowing the Keybladers, they'll get through them."

Turquoise simply turned to leave and said, "For that plan, you're on your own."

Turquoise vanished in a light-blue light, leaving Opal all alone. Opal clenched her teeth. "THIS is why I hate her so much. She's NEVER supportive…" she muttered.

Back outside, Donald pulled out his copy of "Guide to Crystalli" and flipped through it until he saw what it was. "A Crystalli Beast!" he squawked in fear.

Before Donald even had time to tell them what to do, the Beast pounced at him, aiming to rip the duck apart with its teeth and claws. Donald ducked and the Beast soared past him, landing on its feet, then turned to growl at them like a tiger.

Jack got to his feet, looking surprisingly frightened at that creature. "What is THAT? It looks HIDEOUS!"

Kairi noticed a glint of glee in Skellington's face, then quickly said, "Whatever you're thinking, Jack, it's not friendly-"

Kairi didn't finish, because the Beast charged forward and slashed at her with its claws. Kairi evaded and swung only to see the Crystalli Beast dance around the blow and snap at her with its maw of teeth. She dodged around it, but the beast was VERY agile and it kept chasing after her when she dodged. It snapped again, but this time, Kairi wedged the Flowering Strength into its mouth. She drew it out, then caught it across the face, stunning the creature. It simply snarled and actually stood up on its hind legs, throwing out its claws. Kairi rolled away from one swipe, but the other caught her on the back. Pain shot through her back as the Beast left behind three gashes in her back. As she cried out, Sora charged from nowhere and jammed his Ultima Weapon into its back.

The Beast didn't even know what hit it as it thrashed around, trying to buck Sora off its back. Sora suddenly jumped off as thunder rained down from the sky and hit the beast. The Crystalli yelped in pain as it fell slightly, then shook its "head" and snarled at the Pumpkin King. "Uh-oh…" Jack said, wide-eyed with fright.

The Crystalli Beast leapt forward at Jack only to get knocked aside by Goofy's shield. It rolled on impact with the ground, but scrambled back to its feet with a growl. It suddenly jumped Goofy and clamped its jaws down on his shield, its crystal teeth digging into the metal as it started to drag Goofy away. As it started to shake him around like a rag doll, Sora jumped after it and jammed his Keyblade into the side of its head. The Beast let go with a cry and turned to swipe Sora off, but the Keyblade Master evaded the attack.

"RAGNAROK!"

Sora pointed Ultima Weapon at the Crystalli and a several beams of light erupted from its tip. Each blast hit the Crystalli square in the front, putting more holes in it than Swiss Cheese. The Beast's joints buckled, then it crumpled to the ground. When it did fall, Sora raced over to Kairi and helped her up. "You okay?" he asked.

Kairi steadily regained her balance, then managed to stand up without Sora's help. She winced and touched her back; the wounds from the Beast still hurt like heck. "Yeah…I think so."

"Not a problem!" Donald raised his wand and green light surrounded everyone. Kairi's wounds healed and her energy was restored in no time flat.

Just as things were getting good, Jack pointed at the town. "OH MY GOSH!!" he screamed.

The group turned to where Jack was pointed and saw that the town was completely ravaged. Some buildings were destroyed while elves were being closely guarded by Beasts exactly like the one they fought as well as another species of Crystalli that Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy knew all-too-well.

"Hawks!"

Sora would NEVER forget the Crystalli Hawks. Because of them, Sakuzy was forced to separate them to find the Pure Hearts. Sora summoned his Keyblade and charged in.

"Sora! WAIT!" Kairi called after him.

Sora didn't hear her and had already smashed an unsuspecting Beast's head in. The Hawks and Beasts then turned their attention to the others.

"Way to go, Sora…" Donald said, sarcastically.

The Hawks, whose wings had turned into a pair of makeshift legs, jumped into the air. Their legs returned to the form of wings and they took off like fighter planes after them. A Crystalli Beast jumped at them only to get its face smashed into Goofy's shield. It tumbled backward and shook the pain out of its head, then charged again with a snarl.

One of the airborne Hawks dove in like a falcon, firing blasts of light-blue energy from the tip of its snout. Sora reflected some of the shots, but the Hawk never stayed in the same place, so not one blast hit it. Sora vaguely remembered a technique, but wasn't sure where.

"Judgment!"

Sora threw his Keyblade in a Strikeraid, but THIS time, the Ultima Weapon flew around, catching flying Hawks out of the air as though with a mind of its own. The struck Hawks fell to the ground like gunned-down fighter planes and crashed headlong into the snow.

Kairi slammed her Keyblade into a Beast's face, but only got the same result as the last time she tried it. The Crystalli was only stunned, for it simply recovered and tried to snap Kairi up. Kairi, however, stuck her Keyblade into its mouth and the blade exited through the upper jaw. The Beast froze for a while, then slumped to the ground.

"Jack!" Sora called.

"Take THAT!" Jack sprang into action and activated Graviga, grounding several Hawks that were speeding by. The Pumpkin King then used Thundaga and blew them to pieces while they were still down. It was almost as though it were raining jewelry.

With their captors gone, the many elves ran away, but Sora stopped one. "What happened here?" he asked.

The elf froze in its tracks, then turned to Sora and answered, "Those crystal things came in here and tried destroying everything! Someone named Opal also kidnapped Santa!"

The elf continued running past without even looking back. Jack clenched his bony fists in determination. "Looks like we have to save Sandy Claws again!"

Kairi was confused by this last statement, seeing as she never heard Jack's name for Santa Claus before. "Sandy Claws?" she asked, almost laughing.

Sora whispered the explanation into Kairi's ear. "He means Santa Claus."

Kairi understood, but was still confused about one thing. "Santa? I thought he was back at the North Pole. Y'know, where we turned into elves?"

Sora readied an answer, but in the end, he couldn't come up with one. In the end, he said, "Um…I'm still trying to figure it out. Still, we have to give them a hand."

"Well, this Opal person sounds like a Crystalli." Donald said, catching everyone's attention.

"Let's find 'er, then!" Goofy said with a nod.

Jack pointed forward in a leading way. "Forward, loyal bodyguards!"

They ran through Christmas Town until they got to the plaza. There, they saw the woman with the bluish robe, which was obviously Opal. Next to her was a cage that had Santa in it, clutching the bars.

Jack's empty eyes widened as he shouted, "Sandy Claws!"

The female Crystalli turned to face them, then removed her hood to reveal neat, shoulder-length, black hair, eyes the same color as her robe, and a hunk of the crystal lodged into the palm of her hand. "Well, it's about time you came around." she said, almost indignantly, "I was beginning to wonder if you'd show up."

"I'll get to the point. What does Chrysallis want destroyed?" Sora asked, his gaze unwavering.

Opal smirked slightly. "To the point is correct." she complimented, "And Chrysallis wants these holidays destroyed."

"WHAT?!"

Opal rolled her eyes. "You really ARE clueless. If we destroy the holidays, the entire universe will be thrown into chaos. THEN, we can use the chaos to spread the Crystalli reign."

Jack scratched his bony chin with his long, skeletal finger. "Hmm…I may not be one of the BAD guys, but I can see how that can work." he said to himself.

"Well, if you're going to do something…" Opal held out her hands and, in a flash of indigo light, summoned a jagged dual-bladed sword and spun it around before popping one of the blade's tips into the ground. "Do it."

Sora jumped at Opal with his Ultima Weapon, but she blocked him in midair and moved aside, almost catching him with the OTHER blade. Sora had managed to squirm away in midair and they both fell back to the snowy ground, landing with the grace of a cat.

Donald wanted to help Sora, so he cast Firaga. Opal, however, absorbed the fireball into her hand and fired a bolt of energy back at him. Donald ended up getting hit by his own attack and sent, headfirst, into a snowman. He tried forcing himself out of its head with his feet, but it was a pretty fruitless attempt, for he didn't budge an inch.

Back with the battle, Jack had learned his lesson and tried as much as he could to stay out of this one. Energy attacks wouldn't work on this woman, so attempting HIS specialties would be WORSE than useless.

Opal split her blade at the hilt's center and turned them into two individual blades, separating them right in the middle of the hilt. "Enough warm-up. Hit me with your BEST shot."

Opal dashed forward and swung at Goofy, who blocked with his shield. The second sword also hit metal until it became apparent that she was hammering at him, trying to weaken his defenses. It was working, because the dog-man had lowered to one knee.

Suddenly, with a cry that really surprised Sora, Kairi jumped Opal and caught her on the shoulder. Opal was now REALLY glad that she was a trained warrior or that would have been much worse. Opal's eyes narrowed and charged with her blades. Kairi sidestepped her swings, intercepting a few with Flowering Strength, but usually no more than angling them away. Opal suddenly crossed her swords in an "X" form, blocking the Princess of Heart's Keyblade, then brought them sharply apart. The suddenness of the movement caused Kairi to stagger back a step or two, but she had just swung when Opal moved away. Kairi soon had to stop her attack, because she almost hit Sora instead.

_Hmph. These chumps don't even know what I'm doing. _Opal thought to herself,_ If I stay between the two, I can dodge and end their strategy in an instant. It's as though I'm fighting them in turn, rather than both at the same time…_

Opal blocked the onslaught of Sora and Kairi again, then kicked Sora away and parried another attack from Kairi. "Your strategy won't work. Your moves aren't fast enough, so I've got an edge…" Opal said, smiling snidely.

Kairi looked surprisingly calm as she said two, simple words. "Okay then."

Kairi suddenly jumped so swiftly, she seemingly vanished. And RIGHT where she used to be was Sora. Surprised by this sudden change of tactics, Opal parried with one of her swords and hacked at Sora again. Sora, however, was gone just as she swung and KAIRI was there to meet her. It took Opal a maddeningly fast raise of her sword to block the attack, but suddenly ended up with Flowering Strength in her face. Opal staggered back and had just summoned up the strength to strike when Sora spoke up.

"Kairi!"

"We can do it!" Kairi grabbed Sora's hand and she jumped up. Sora put his hand under her foot in midair and heaved up. She then fired a light beam at Opal. Under normal circumstances, Opal would've blocked with her crystal, but she wasn't QUITE fast enough. All she had time to do was attempt to block with her swords. The beam of light shattered both of her swords' tips and pelted her in the chest. As she tumbled across the snowy ground, she managed to regain her footing.

Opal turned and saw that both Jack AND Goofy had freed "Sandy Claws" in an instant. She ran for it, not exactly liking her odds against them.

Jack, on the other hand, took notice of the runaway Crystalli and shouted, "After her!" Jack hurried off after Opal with Goofy in hot pursuit.

Sora took a little time and turned to Kairi. "Good job with the Limit Break, Kairi." he complimented.

Kairi smiled. "Thank you."

"Now, let's get Donald out of the snowman." Sora said, walking over to the struggling duck. Kairi was quick to follow.

It took both Sora and Kairi to do it, but they heaved Donald out and chased after Opal. She had already gotten a good distance when they found her. However, she wasn't running when they found her, instead she was right at the bottom of a dog pile.

"Congratulations! You caught the criminal!" Jack cheered.

Opal

One of the more calculating Crystalli hosts, thinking up of both field and combat strategies. She's in control of the Crystalli Beasts and wields a jagged, double-bladed flamberge that can be split in two. She tried helping Emerald destroy the holidays, but there's still Turquoise out there.

Crystalli Beast

One of the most savage of all the Crystalli subspecies. They mainly attack by pouncing and using their sharp teeth and claws. They're so savage that they will even attack their fellow Crystalli given the chance.

_Jack Skellington's Holiday Horror and Kairi's Heart From Above._


	123. Turquoise

Chapter 123: Turquoise

The entire group heaved Opal through the door to Halloween Town and went in after her. The next thing they knew, they were back in the Hinterlands and saw Crystalli Hawks bombing them. Jack gasped as he screamed, "Not Halloween Town, too! THIS IS MADNESS!"

Riku stared at the spot, as did everyone else. "I'd have to agree with Jack on this."

J simply made ONE comment, cool as you please. "Better polish these off, then."

Suddenly, an expressionless, female voice rang through the immediate area. "Don't be quick to act, mutation." it said.

The woman with the light-blue robes fell out of nowhere and removed her cloak. She had long, black hair that covered her right eye and had a large, white streak down the middle. She also had greenish blue eyes and a hunk of gem lodged in her forehead like a shakra of sorts.

"Well, if it isn't my old pal, Turquoise…or should I call you Bonn?" Sakuzy asked, really wanting to annoy her.

Much to Sakuzy's dislike, Turquoise's face remained calm and lacked emotion, as did her voice. However, the entire group seemed to tell she meant every word when she said, "Just call me Turquoise, you idiot."

Joyex then decided to speak up. "Yeah, Bonn used to call my original that ALL the time. Usually, after I ruined her spars by belching the alphabet!"

Turquoise pointed her finger at Joyex and said, "You're such a dingbat. I'll just kill you just to make you shut up."

Joyex's face twisted into a smug grin. "Sorry, but I'M one of the good guys!" he bragged, "And you know what they say about the good guys—they NEVER die!"

Scott shook his head as he stared at Joyex. "You amaze me. Haven't you EVER read Eric Brighteyes?"

Joyex stared for a while, then scratched his furry scalp. "No. Why?" he asked.

"There's a specific REASON why they called H.D Rider Haggard's book 'the TRAGEDY of Eric Brighteyes'." Scott pointed out.

Joyex paused, then asked, "What is it?"

Scott sighed in exasperation, then glowered at Joyex again. "Just get that blasted Crystalli!"

Turquoise's mouth twitched, which may have cracked a smile, but then returned to her original expression. "I can live with that. But there are TWO problems—ONE, if you fight ME, my Hawks will destroy the holidays. And TWO, if you try and take on the Hawks, I can rip these trees out by the roots."

Turquoise beckoned to the Hawks, which were still doing their deal. Sora noticed it as he said, "O-kay. THIS is a problem." After a quick think-through, he put his plan into motion. "Alright. Sakuzy, J, Joyex, Kairi, and I will deal with Turquoise. Everyone else deals with the Hawks."

"Deal!" Ryan said in agreement.

"Consider it done, mate." the Aussie said, taking off into the treetops like some kind of monkey.

April flew off, but not before a quick "Good luck!"

Riku, on the other hand, sighed in defeat. "Fine."

Turquoise raised her hands and several crystals rose out of the ground, separating Sora and his selected party members from the rest. Sora, Kairi, and Sakuzy summoned their Keyblades, J took a kung-fu stance, and Joyex got out his chain whip. A bluish light surrounded Turquoise and cleared to show a pair of wristbands on her arms. Sora jumped at her, aiming for her crystal, but a blade sprung out of the wristband and blocked the oncoming Keyblade, catching Sora right out of the air..

"Predictable." Turquoise said, her eyes closed with pride, then pushed Sora away and quickly moved aside to dodge an oncoming chain whip from Joyex. As she leapt away, J transformed into a six-foot high, four-hundred-pound gorilla. With a loud roar, J charged and threw his fist Turquoise, who simply vanished out of his way. His fist merely slammed the ground as Turquoise brought her leather boot into the ape's face.

J stumbled, then growled to himself as he regained his balance. _This Goth woman's hard to hit! _he cursed in his head.

Kairi swung her Keyblade and actually lodged it right into Turquoise's back, but though the Goth flinched, her expression remained the same. The Crystalli then wheeled around to make a flurry of slashes at such high speeds that they seemed to be no more than crystalline-metallic blurs. All of the strikes coming at Kairi put her on the defensive. She grinned as she pointed out, "You let your guard down!"

Sakuzy swung his Keyblade at Turquoise's back, hoping for a surprise attack, only to see it blocked by Turquoise's left hand. Her voice had a fleck of interest in it, but her face was usually no more than the expressionless mask she usually wore. "You were saying?"

_Psych. _J sprang at Turquoise from the side, now in the form of a black wolf. Turquoise simply moved the others aside, then held J's jaws open with abnormal strength. She then rolled the wolf off her and dusted herself off.

Joyex ran over to her, his chain at the ready as he challenged, "Come here, Crystalli Broad!" Joyex threw his chain whip at Turquoise, but she caught it just below the blade. "Uh-oh..." Joyex said, his eyes wide in surprise.

Because Joyex long since had a policy for keeping a death grip on his chain, the next occurrence was EXTREMELY painful. Turquoise pulled the whip towards her with her right hand and kept her left hand balled into a fist. She brought Joyex's face into her fist five times before swinging the chain around and releasing it.

Joyex landed next to Sora in a heap and asked, massaging his head vigorously, "What now?"

"THIS!" Sora answered, placing his hand on Joyex's shoulder. "Drive!"

Joyex vanished in a flash of light. When the light faded, Sora's vampire costume had vanished in place of his Drive Clothes, which were now dark green. The blade of Joyex's chain was now the pattern on his shorts, he had a small ponytail in the back of his head, and the Keyblade he summoned was new. Its blade was simply a spike with three other spikes similar to the teeth of a key and seemed shorter than the average one. Its Keychain was a small ball with little spikes sticking out of it and Sora suddenly remembered that this was Joyex's keychain.

"Congratulations, Sora!" Sakuzy called, "You now have Joyex's other's Keyblade--the Chain Thrasher!"

Sora noticed a small switch on the blade's hilt and pressed it with his thumb. With a bang, the blade flew out with a long chain attached to it. When he released the switch, the blade came back. "Let's put this to good use, then…" Sora said, readying his new weapon and angling it at Turquoise.

Sora jumped up and raised his weapon as though he was about to slam his Keyblade down, but he pressed the button and his Keyblade flew down like a whiplash. It slashed Turquoise across the face from a good distance, releasing dark greenish-blue blood from the wound. The injury healed over like a zipper being zipped up and her expression was the same as always. Sora then jumped up and, amazingly, landed on a branch a good distance up. Turquoise made a small huff as she said, "I do like a challenge…"

Turquoise jumped up and crossed her blades. She brought them in a slash across in order to try and slash open Sora's face, but missed and severed the branch Sora was on a moment ago. In an instant, she jumped after him. The two leapt through the branches like squirrels, their blades clashing every now and then, usually severing a branch.

As Sora darted through the trees, he pointed the Chain Thrasher to his side and fired. The blade buried itself into one of the trees and Sora suddenly swung around the tree, completely wrong-footing his pursuer. Turquoise showed mild surprise, but was suddenly grounded when Sora swung around the entire tree and thumped her in the back with his foot. The chain detached itself and both landed on the ground.

Turquoise stood, then wiped off a small trickle of blue-green blood from her mouth. "Not bad, kid. Now, no more playing…"

Turquoise jumped in a pirouette, her blades outstretched so that she was basically a blade tornado. More amazingly, Sora blocked EACH attack with both Ultima Weapon and Chain Thrasher. The two exchanged blows like there was no tomorrow, but neither touched the other. Sora got down and swept the ground with Chain Thrasher, but just as Turquoise jumped for a counterattack, the Ultima Weapon was there to meet her and parried her attack. She brought her OTHER arm blade down and was soon pushing against Sora's Ultima Weapon with all her strength. Suddenly, with one movement of Sora's hand, the Chain Thrasher had soon wrapped around her wrists and Turquoise suddenly realized that she'd been suckered.

Sora swung the Chain Thrasher around in a wide arc, then tossed Turquoise as he retracted the blade. As Turquoise regained her balance in midair and landed on her feet, Sora pulled out the charm Penny gave him in Marshlands: the Eagle Charm.

"Marahute!"

Clouds covering the moon suddenly parted as a shaded figure came flying down, a speck in the moon's bright light. The figure let out a loud SCREECH and the speck turned out to be a giant, golden-winged eagle. She landed next to Sora and extended her wings to their fullest length of over twenty feet. The bird herself was at least ten feet tall, the size of a grizzly bear.

Sora climbed onto Marahute's back and the giant eagle took off with a pump of her massive wings. The massive eagle swooped down and grabbed Turquoise in her massive talons, catching the Crystalli by surprise. Sora slid down the eagle's side and clutched her foot as he brought his Chain Thrasher into her multiple times. Finally, Marahute climbed higher into the air as Sora clambered back onto her, then brought Turquoise slamming into the ground with a CRASH. Sora hopped off the eagle's back and Marahute screeched before taking flight and vanishing back into her own world.

Turquoise got up and grinned as her wounds healed. It was the first grin she had since they saw her and was…just plain creepy. "I've had enough playtime for today. Next time won't be so fun, though…"

Turquoise vanished, along with the Hawks, which were gaining an advantage over the rest of the group. The crystal barrier vanished as Sora's drive with Joyex ended. "Alright…THAT was weird." Joyex said, holding the side of his head as though he was dizzy.

With the Crystalli defeated, Jack Skellington ran over and shook Sora's hand. "Congratulations, Sora! The world is safe again!" he said, eagerly.

"No problem, Jack." Sora replied, "Can you do me a favor, though?"

Jack folded his hands eagerly and nodded. "Sure thing."

"Promise me that you'll go back to Christmas Town and return everything you took." Sora negotiated, "Also, just keep Halloween to itself. If you mixed holidays up, things would get out of order and become less fun."

"No need. I've got them all right here."

As Sora turned, Santa walked out of the Christmas door with everything Jack took in his arms. He dropped them on the ground and walked over to Sora. "Hello, Sora." he said, warmly, "I see you've found your friends."

Sora nodded, excitedly. "You know it. And you were right. I did find Riku!"

Santa laughed slightly as he turned to the devil-clad Riku. "I could tell." he said after a chuckle, "Now, for being such a good boy this year, I think an early Christmas present is in order."

Santa reached into his coat, then handed Sora a midnight-blue heart. Scott then walked over and made a small salute. "Thanks, mate." he said as he walked off.

Santa shrugged, then walked over to Ryan, Riku, J, and Joyex. "NOW, I'm going to talk to the four of you!"

J rolled his scarlet eyes. "For some reason, I saw it coming."

After a long and tedious lecture from Santa, Sora and co. left the Hinterlands. Oddly enough, The Mayor of Halloween Town came running towards Jack. "Jack! We've still gotta go over plans for this year's Halloween!" he called, "I'm only an elected official! I can't make decisions by myself!"

Jack nodded. "Yes, sir!"

As Jack and the Mayor walked away, J muttered a single insult at the mayor. "What a wimp."

Joyex made to walk away, but looked at the back of the Mayor's head to see another face; a pale, frightened-looking one. He stared at it in confusion, then said, "I've heard of two-faced politicians, but THIS is ridiculous!"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel then came out of nowhere and dumped a bucket of bugs onto J's head. He growled, but his next words were in a calm voice. "Just ignore it, J. Death will find them soon enough…"

Ryan's skeleton hand grabbed J's shoulder as he said, "Great idea, J! Just leave it to me..." Ryan pulled up his hood, shading his entire face, then stalked over to the three trick-or-treaters.(1) He then used an ominous voice that easily betrayed his actual appearance: something that sounded like it belonged in a horror movie. "I am…DEATH!"

The three trick-or-treaters paused, then screamed at the top of their lungs and ran off as fast as their legs could carry them. J looked normal, but his tone suggested that he was slightly impressed. "Nice trick, Syrus."

Ryan lowered his hood and thumped his scythe angrily on the ground as he pointed his bony hand at J. "Back with the surname, J?" he whined, "I thought we moved on with that."

After the troop exited Halloween Town, Scott felt the place where the bolts used to be on his neck. He sighed in relief at their absence and said, "Crikey, it's good to have me normal body back."

J's expression was the same, though his voice was a bit crestfallen. "Yeah…can we go back?" Scott shot a glare at him. "What? I liked that place…"

Sora looked at the scanner and shook his head, though smiling. "Sorry, guys, but it looks like the transformations won't be over yet." he informed.

April went over to him, VERY relieved to be out of her high-heels. "Why's that?" she asked.

Sora grinned and answered, "The next world's Atlantica…"

Meanwhile, in space, Kang and Kodos were watching them from the world's orbit. "I don't believe this!" Kang groaned, "The writer's put Christmas AND Halloween WAY out of season!"

Kodos nodded. "I know. Weird, isn't it?"

The two aliens then blasted out of orbit in their spaceship to who-knows-where.

Turquoise

A member of the Crystalli, who Emerald christened "the Goth woman". She wields a pair of wristbands that can become blades, lightning fast reactions, frightening fighting skills, and a reflective crystal in her forehead. She's not much of a talker, but when she does, she's usually dead serious.

Marahute

A giant eagle from a world in the Outback called Mugwomp. Most people think she's a legend, but a young boy proved she's anything but. Her species is all but extinct, but there is hope, seeing as she laid a clutch of three eggs. She first appeared in _The Rescuers Down Under _1990.

_(1)Though most people call trick-or-treaters that, I prefer to call them Treat Mongers._

_Marahute's Wrath of the Sky_

_That was Joyex's Loyalty Drive. In this drive, Sora's jumping ability increases and he can use the Chain Thrasher, which can extend on a chain for both offense, defense, and retreat._

_And no, Mrfipp, I DIDN'T get the Chain Thrasher's design from Renji's blade, not having read Bleach when I wrote this. I only recently started reading it and...I like it. If you want the Chain Thrasher's design, check it out on my Deviantart account._


	124. Under the Sea

Chapter 124: Under the Sea

Atlantica…

Sora and co. were deposited into the water and Donald quickly cast his spell to make them adapt to the sea. Sora, who was back in his dolphin merman form, turned to inspect the others. Goofy once again had the body of a sea turtle and Donald was also in his octopus form, no surprise there. But then, he noticed Kairi, who had a red seashell top and a red tailfin, which had a lighter shade for the fins. He suddenly lost his track of thought and his eyes had misted a bit.

"Uh, Sora?" Donald asked, grumpily, "Can't you drool over Kairi some OTHER time?"

Sora shook the cobwebs out of his head and continued observing his fellows. Riku now had a black tailfin with a white underside. It greatly resembled Sora's, seeing as it was the tailfin of an orca (or killer whale). Riku examined himself with some difficulty, but managed to look at his tailfin. "Cool."

Sakuzy's tailfin was more fish-like than Sora's. Now that his shirt was gone, Sora saw that he had a necklace that resembled the keychain of his Kingdom Key. Back to the tailfin. The fin was vertical, crescent-shaped, had a gray top and a white underside. It was the fin of a Great White Shark. As if for an extra feature, he also had the shark's trademark dorsal fin.

Sora then noticed that Sakuzy was constantly swimming in circles around them and asked, "Why are you doing that?"

"I have to keep swimming if I don't wanna drown." Sakuzy answered, "It's the same thing with sharks."

Joyex's fin looked almost no different than any other merman or mermaid's except for two things—his tailfin fleshy and had a pair of fins on the underside that moved like a pair of legs. His scales were mainly bluish-silver with a few lighter scales patterned into it. "Whoa. I get the tail of the coelacanth." Joyex said, obviously impressed.

Sora turned on this comment. "Coelacanth?" he asked, never hearing the word before.

Joyex nodded. "Yeah. It was a fish believed to be extinct, but found at deeper waters. It's basically a living fossil older than the dinosaurs." he filled in.

J's glove stayed on his right hand, even though his shirt, sunglasses, and jacket were gone. His tailfin was black with red fins, which were EXTREMELY ragged. Parts of the fin's rays were poking out where parts of the fin were ripped out. To put it simply, it looked like the tail of some predatory fish that had one too many battles. "Well, THIS matches." he said to himself. J looked at himself again to see that the left side of his tailfin had a long, jagged scar down it as an added bonus.

Scott's tailfin was unusually reptilian and long: estimated at around six feet long. It resembled the tailfin of some aquatic reptile that went extinct long ago. Strangely, his hat was still on his head, though not for long.

"Scott, SCOTT! Your hat's floating away." Sora pointed out.

Scott's hat was, indeed, floating away to the world's surface. The Aussie quickly grabbed it and tied it to his head with the string. "Crikey." he cursed, "I think that this is probably more trouble than it's worth..."

Ryan's tailfin was more fish-like even than Sakuzy's. It was blue, had a light blue underside, a trident-shaped fin on his back, and a spiky tailfin. Sora thought it was like one of those fast fishes, like a tuna or swordfish. "Cool!" he said, amazed at his look, "But where'd my shirt go?"

April had a purple seashell top and had a dolphin tail, like Sora. Only it was black, white, and had yellow streaks down the sides. She looked a bit embarrassed by this appearance as the color rushed to her face. "I'm feeling a bit exposed here…"

Scott swam (or floated) over to her, as he still wasn't used to swimming like this, and took her hand with a gentle expression on his face. "Relax." he assured her, "You look LOVELY."

April cheered up and smiled at Scott. "Thanks, Scott."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Ugh. If THIS gets even the SLIGHTEST bit into the kiss deal, consider me GONE." Ryan tried swimming away, but he just ended up spiraling out of control. "WHOA!! HEEELP!"

J was just floating up to the surface with the same angry face he had on all the time, Riku kept bumping into a hunk of coral, but April kept balance. On seeing everyone's odd glances, she simply shrugged. "Maybe it's my flight keeping me balanced or maybe I'm just lucky."

Donald folded his arms and sniggered. "I'd say lucky." he said, proudly.

Goofy paddled over to Donald, then suggested, "I dunno, Donald. It COULD be her flying deal."

"FORE!"

Donald whacked Goofy with his staff, using it like a golf club and Goofy was sent ricocheting around the reef. Sora then sighed. He had to go through the same thing himself about a year ago, and NOW he'd have to teach seven other people. He then noticed that Sakuzy and Joyex were swimming with relative ease. "This isn't a first time for you guys, isn't it?" asked Sora.

"Oh, Joyex and I have been here more times than you could imagine." Sakuzy responded.

After some tedious lessons, the others got the hang of it. Scott, Ryan, Sakuzy, and Joyex had to move their bodies side-to-side while the others had to move up and down. Just as he had gotten the hang of his new fish form, something hit Ryan on the head. "Ow!" he exclaimed sharply.

Ryan massaged the spot vigorously as Donald picked the object up. It was, oddly enough, a fork. Donald tossed it aside, seeing it as garbage, but Sora caught it. "Where'd this come from?" he asked.

Kairi swam over, then looked up at the shimmering sun. "Well, it obviously came from up there. How 'bout we check it out?"

Sora and the rest poked their heads above the water, except for Ryan. He leapt right out and ended up gasping for breath due to lack of water. He landed back in the water and simply poked out his head. April, on the other fin, leapt out, then landed gracefully back in the water. When she surfaced, everyone was staring in surprise. "What?" she asked with a smile, "I've always wanted to do that."

They all saw a seagull, peering down at the water, looking somewhat hopeless.(1) "It's GONE!" it wept, "IT'S GONE! My thing is gone!!"

Sora gave the seagull a curious look, then asked, "Uh, did you lose this?"

Sora held out the fork in his hand and the seagull took it and started examining it. When he saw it, he jumped for joy. "Yes! It's my dinglehopper!"

The entire group was utterly stupefied by this. What did that seagull call it? "Uh…It's a fork." Riku pointed out.

The seagull leaned in towards them, earning a sideways glance from Joyex. "Okay...My personal space is at risk here..." the Nobody whispered.

"No, my silver-haired friend, it's a dinglehopper." the gull explained, "Humans use it to style their hair. Watch!"

The seagull put the fork into the feathers on his head and pulled it sharply upward. When the gull pulled it out, his feathers were shaped into a bush like a disco man. J snatched the fork, looking even MORE irritated than usual. "ACTUALLY, people use them to EAT things with. Case and point…"

He stuck it into the water, then pulled it out to show that he had impaled a small fish and held it out for the seagull to observe. The gull blinked a few times, then asked, "And then…?"

"THEN you enjoy your meal." J said, showing every hint of irritation. He handed it back to the gull, who removed the fish and plopped it into his mouth. While the seabird munched on the fish, J turned to the rest. "THIS conversation reminds me of how much I hate know-it-alls. THAT or how much I love shooting birds."

Scott asked, "And you loved that recently?"

The seagull flew over and floated on the surface like a duck. He seemed mildly offended by J's tone, for he pointed a feather at him like an accusing finger and said, "Well, Ariel agreed with me, so…"

The seagull never continued, because Sora cut him off. "WAIT! You know Ariel?" he asked.

The gull shrugged. "Sure, I do! I'm a friend of hers. The name's Scuttle, by the way."

"I would've guessed Idiot." J said, curtly.

Scuttle either didn't hear J's remark or didn't care, because he asked them a question. "Do YOU guys know Ariel?"

Most of the group shook their heads, whereas Sora, Donald, and Goofy nodded. "Sure we do. We helped her take on Ursula LAST time we were here." Sora answered.

Donald massaged his throat. "I can't remember singing that much in my entire life."

Goofy guffawed. He remembered Donald saying that his vocal cords gave out. Apparently, he was worried that they would do so again if there was yet another festival. J, on the other hand, couldn't believe what he heard. "SINGING?" he asked.

Sora turned to J with a shrug and answered, "Yeah, we did a lot of it a few months ago, why?"

J rolled his eyes. "Singing is certainly NOT my personal hobby."

Scott shrugged as he emptied his Aussie hat of water, sending it splashing down on his head. "I'm a pretty big fan o' music, as long as I'M not the one doin' the singin'.(2)" he said, putting his hat back on.

J scoffed. He saw Scott a year ago. He once forced him, Ryan, and April to attend a karaoke. J sat down and sulked in the back. The music was good, but he hated the singing along. He glanced over at Scott at the time and saw him singing his heart out…though he COULD have been drunk, but J never really found out. "I beg to differ, Highflier."

Now, it was Ryan's turn to comment on singing. "Not interested in it. I can't carry a tune in a bucket."

April simply shrugged. She was a pretty good singer, but often did it off key…on purpose, too. Sora decided to end the subject on music there and then. "So, how is Ariel?" he asked.

Scuttle scratched his head, then something struck him and he looked a bit excited. "Oh, she's havin' a shower for the little ball of joy she and Eric got." he said with the eagerness of a child.

Sora and co. thought for a while before Scott remembered what that meant. He heard the teleporter friend of his talking about him and April getting married and 'having a little ball of joy'. "So, this Ariel person 'ad a baby?"

Sora suddenly smacked himself in the forehead, saying "Duh" in his head. "Whoops...hehehe. Forgot the intros. I'm Sora."

Scuttle shook Sora's hand in his wing and proceeded to do so to everyone he met.

"Donald Du…" Donald suddenly looked himself over, then corrected himself in mid-sentence. "Octopus."

Goofy raised a flipper to wave and said, "Name's Goofy!"

"I'm Kairi."

"Riku."

"Sakuzy."

"Hi, my name is Joyex and I'll be your annoyance today."

Scuttle didn't exactly want to shake J's hand. The black hair, red eyes, and bad attitude seemed to give him enough of a hint. "Don't have a REAL name. Just call me J."

"Scott Highflier! Anatomy changing superhuman at yer service!"

"The name's April Goodeve."

"Ryan's the name, speed's my game!"

When he finished with the group, Scuttle got back on his buoy. "Nice to meetcha." he said, then pointed in another direction "Anyway, if you wanna go to the shower, they're havin' it at sea a few leagues that way."

Scuttle flapped away and J only had four words to say… "I hate that gull."

Scott: You say that 'bout everyone, mate.

Sora turned to have a quick conversation with Donald and Goofy. "So, Ariel and Eric got married?" Sora let out a humorous chuckle, then said, "I hope she didn't sell her voice again..."

"'Cause we ALL know how THAT turned out!" Donald pointed out.

Something Sakuzy had started beeping as an odd device sparkled to life in his hand. The device looked like a handheld game, a game boy or a PSP at most. "Oh boy..." he said, not exactly pleased, "The radar's acting up!"

Sora looked confused by this as he asked, "Where'd you get THAT…and what is it?"

Sakuzy held it up to reveal that it was actually clicking, similar to a metal detector. "To put it simple…Petross gave it to me before we left Radiant Garden and it's a Crystalli tracker." he returned to studying it and explained, "You see, all Crystalli emit a certain energy signature. THIS tracker picks it up and, well…tracks it."

Sora suddenly spotted something under the surface and dove under to investigate. Under the waves, he saw several Screwdriver Heartless swim away and vanish in puffs of smoke. "Heartless again?!"

"Looks like we've gotta split up for this world." Sakuzy said, the device disappearing back to the Gummi, "But I'M not gonna be the one who splits us up again."

J then swam over. "Let me guess, it's gonna be ME." he suggested.

"Who else?"

J swam over next to Sora and turned to the rest of them. "I'm taking Scott, Ryan, Sakuzy, and Joyex." he told them, "I'm gonna need all the help I can get for the Crystalli. And Sakuzy and Joyex know a lot about the Crystalli to know their habits. You guys can find it and the three of us can take it out."

"Then, I'm with Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kairi, and April." Sora said, counting them off.

"Be careful, Scott." April warned.

"Same to you. Anyway, see ya later, ya blokes later!" Scott then dived into deeper waters, leaving the rest confused.

Donald scratched his head. "Why'd he call us 'blokes'?" he asked.

J simply shrugged. "He calls EVERYONE blokes."

J, Ryan, Sakuzy, and Joyex then dove after Scott, ready to meet him in the depths of the ocean. Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and April swam in the direction that the Heartless seemed to be going in.

Scuttle

A seagull who claims to know a lot about the human world, but knows little to nothing about it. He collects various objects, making up names and purposes from what he can see, and used to show Ariel. J doesn't think too highly of him. He first appeared in _the Little Mermaid_ 1989.

_This world is causing me IMMENSE mental trauma._

_I only use what I can remember about Scuttle from the movie…which I haven't seen in YEARS, yet is stuck to my mind like glue._

_Scott's deal with music is pretty much the same as mine. I enjoy listening to music, but singing...not so much._


	125. Witches and Wrangling

Chapter 125: Witches and Wrangling

Sora and co. cruised through the ocean until they came to a ship that had several sea creatures around it. Apparently, this was a big event.

"That didn't take too long." Riku pointed out.

"Let's see what's happening…"

They swam over to the ship and Sora immediately noticed a red-haired woman on there, waving at them.

Meanwhile, with the other team, J's group was in the deep crevices of the ocean. Fortunately, Ryan was able to give them some light to illuminate the dark waters. J soon discovered that he could easily shift between the forms of aquatic creatures without having to change back to his original form like he used to. At the moment, he was a hammerhead shark and scanning the seafloor. Even though his head looked like he got his nose caught in a door, it could sense any electrical impulses made by the body.

J suddenly sensed something and seemed to sweep away the sand aside with his new head. Scott swam over as he asked, "What 'cha find?"

J looked up and Scott saw him snap up a fish. The shapeshifter must've found it under the sand. _Lunch._

Sakuzy was swimming through the ocean with his tracker out (luckily, it was waterproof). It pinged around a grotto, then changed direction, as did Sakuzy. J saw the interior of the grotto. He saw just a bunch of everyday objects that were stacked like treasures. He changed back to pick up a spoon. He fiddled it in his fingers before changing into a dolphin and swimming away, using sonar.

_It's quiet…TOO quiet._

Up above, Sora and co. had finally caught the attention of Ariel. She managed to get away from the crowd and get down to the group below on a lifeboat. "Sora! Donald! Goofy! You're back!" she said, VERY happy to see them.

"Glad to be back, too. And congratulations on the marriage and the baby." he then asked, "Can we see?"

Eric nodded. "Certainly." Eric reached down and pulled out a small baby girl. She looked a bit like Ariel, but had Eric's black hair. "She was born not too long ago. Her name's Melody."

"Ohh! She's so cute!" April said, unable to control herself.

The presence of April surprised Ariel slightly, but she smiled and shook her hand. "Oh, are you a friend of Sora's?" she asked.

Sora and Kairi went up to the boat and Sora nodded. "Yeah." Kairi answered.

Ariel saw Riku in the water and beamed at him. "You must be Riku and Kairi. Sora's told me ALL about you."

Riku stifled a chuckle. "I can believe it."

As Ariel conversed, Donald grinned as he turned to Sora and Kairi. "From what I can see between you two, you're gonna be havin' some VERY soon."

Sora and Kairi had EXTREMELY irritated looks as they turned to the duck mage, though inside, they were VERY uncomfortable about what Donald said. Donald simply shrugged. "What can I say? Joyex's behavior's rubbed off on me."

Suddenly, the water parted around one area and Triton emerged from the sea. Sora remembered Ariel's father from his previous adventures and he was usually upset about something. So, one could see Sora surprised that the king of Atlantica was actually beaming as he stroked the face of little Melody. "Great work, Ariel. She's a very beautiful grandchild." he congratulated, "Oh, and I brought this…"

Triton reached below the ocean and handed something to Ariel that looked like a seashell with her name on it. "I'm sure she'll love it." she said with a nod.

Meanwhile, in the depths, Sakuzy's radar went off as Scott grabbed Ryan by the tailfin. "HEY, SCOTT! LEGGO OF ME!" he said, trying to swim free.

"Sorry, but you were speedin'. Besides, it'd be a pity if ya got eaten by some shark." Scott pointed out.

Ryan then pointed at a shape in the distance and asked, "Ya mean like THAT?"

Scott suddenly let go of Ryan's fin as he stared at the shape as if it were some priceless treasure. "Bloody Nora!" Scott's eyes were wide with excitement as he said, "It's a tiger shark! I've always wanted to wrangle one of them!"

Scott swam towards the tiger shark at tremendous speed, but it suddenly darted away when a larger, meaner-looking shark crossed the way along with a green octopus woman and a pair of manta rays. Scott growled as he said, "Oh, dang it! I wanted to wrangle that there shark!"

Sakuzy glanced over, then his eyes widened as he drug the others away into a seaweed bank. Joyex simply scratched his head and asked, "Who was the tentacle broad?"

J's reply rang with so much sarcasm that even someone who didn't know about being sarcastic could've gotten his meaning. "Sure, ask me. As if I know."

When the octopus lady was out of sight, Sakuzy saw that it was now safe to exit and continued on his mission. Soon, the radar read "0 miles, 0 yards, 0 inches". "Strange. There's nothing here but rocks..." Sakuzy said, inspecting his surroundings.

Slowly, and completely unheard by Sakuzy, a large claw similar to a crab's or lobster's emerged from the seafloor. The only time it made noise was when the claw sprang open with a metallic sound, like someone had drawn a sword very quickly.

"FLIPPIN' HECK!!" If Scott didn't grab the claw to pull it back, it probably would have snapped Sakuzy in two. When Sakuzy turned around, the claw had started trying to buck the Aussie off. "CRIKEY! I bet this makes fighting a tiger shark like fighting a wombat!"

Scott let go when Sakuzy was out of range and the claw vanished back under the rocks. For a while, there was silence and J had certainly heard the ruckus. "What the HECK was that?" he asked, tensely.

J's question was answered when the claw's owner burst out of the seafloor with a loud, vibrating ROAR. The thing was GIGANTIC, easily the size of a small whale: between thirty and fifty feet long. It had an armored body, like a lobster, with pincers, and a tail that looked like a giant paddle similar to a prehistoric invertebrate that went extinct long ago. The creature had a crocodilian head that lacked nostrils and a gaping mouth filled with sharp teeth. When it opened its mouth, two appendages that looked like an army ant's jaws were inside it. The two appendages reached out, aiming to snatch something and force anything it grabbed into its mouth. It was hungry…

Ryan turned and panicked before tossing a sun ball into the beast's open maw, which glowed and dazed the beast enough for Sakuzy and Scott to dart off to safety. "What is that thing?!" he asked, swimming after Sakuzy.

Sakuzy explained, swimming like crazy, and not even turning back. "It's a Crystalli Leviathan! NOW KEEP SWIMMING!"

The entire squad swam off with the creature, the Crystalli Leviathan, in hot pursuit. "Is it chasing us?!" Ryan asked in almost a scream.

"I don't want to find out…" Joyex said, still swimming.

J decided to look behind him to see that it was STILL chasing them, snarling. It snapped a claw at him only to see him weave between the pincer and continue swimming. "Yes, it is." he answered.

Scott then spoke, while still swimming as fast as his tailfin could carry him, in a casual voice that didn't fit the situation. "Alright, mates, we have THREE options open to us." he explained, "ONE: we could lead it into a grotto and trap it. TWO: we could lead it to the surface and risk everyone seeing it. Or THREE: we could let it chase us into a dead end."

"I'd prefer option one." Sakuzy answered quickly.

The group continued swimming with the Leviathan in hot pursuit, snapping at them with both jaw and claw. It was now that Ryan was REALLY starting to hate Crystalli, especially the big ones.

Meanwhile, on the surface, Sora and co. were having a good time. April and Kairi even got a chance to hold the baby. When Kairi was done, she handed her back to Ariel and smiled. AT that time, Sora spotted something in Melody's hand; a small, red crab. "What the?! Sebastian?" he asked, stifling laughter.

Melody laughed as she held up the struggling, and screaming, crab. "GET ME OUTTA HERE!" he screamed as Melody shook him around like a rag doll.

Sebastian obviously did NOT want to hurt Ariel's daughter, but couldn't get free without doing so either. Riku chuckled at the struggling crustacean, then gently made Melody release the poor crab. The instant he was free, Sebastian stood on Riku's palm and bowed several times. "Oh, thank you, man. THANK YOU!"

Suddenly, the sky got ever darker, enough to catch the eye of everyone near the ship. Sora groaned, then asked, "Great. What evil, Heartless-using person's coming in THIS time?"

Sora's answer came when a woman with octopus tentacles was riding in on a pair of manta rays like a pair of water skis. She looked like Ursula, only she was thinner, had sickly-green skin, and longer hair that stood up.

"What's with THAT?" Donald said, "Her hair makes her look like an artichoke!"

Sebastian then spoke up in his usual, frightened voice. "Ursula's crazy sister!"

On hearing the octopus woman cackle like a lunatic, Donald said, "I can believe the crazy bit."

Triton looked EXTREMELY angry at the appearance of this woman. "Morgana!"

Morgana swam over to Sora and co. and asked, "So, you're the one who took out my sister, Ursula? I expected someone with your reputation to be a little…older." She looked at Sora and Kairi and chuckled. "Cute couple. Unfortunately, Maleficent wants the Princess for her own reasons." She then swam over to Donald and Goofy and pointed at the duck-gone-octopus, "I know what you're thinking: 'You're sushi.' But those tentacles say you're a hypocrite."

Suddenly, one of her tentacles seized Donald, while she got Goofy on the other. When both had been seized, she spun them like tops and released them, sending them twirling away.

"WAAAAK!"

"DAA-HOO-HOO-HWEE!"

Morgana cackled at the two's misfortune, then went up to the ship where Ariel and Eric were now standing. "Why are you here, Morgana?" Ariel asked, sounding a lot braver than April had expected.

Morgana simply smiled, malevolence in her voice. "Your daughter."

Melody

Ariel and Eric's daughter. She's still a baby, but Morgana wants to kidnap her for a bit of vengeance. She first appeared in _The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea_ 2000.

Morgana

Ursula's crazy sister. She's trying to get revenge for her sister's death, but does it halfheartedly, because she was always second best. She's in charge of a pair of manta rays called Cloak and Dagger and a giant shark. She first appeared in _The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea_ 2000.

Crystalli Leviathan

So, THIS is the Crystalli hiding out in Atlantica? It's huge, is armor plated, and obviously predatorial. It's also the largest Crystalli the group has seen up until now.

_For the Leviathan, I used a combination of lobster, crocodile, ant lion, and sea scorpion (an extinct form of arthropod that lived in the sea)._

_I liked the Little Mermaid II better, though now I do with it what I did with its prequel…try my best to leave it out of my life and memory._


	126. Fighting the Leviathan

Chapter 126: Fighting the Leviathan

Down in the depths of Atlantica, J and the others were still being pursued by the Crystalli Leviathan. The beast was obviously faster than they preferred, but the smaller merpeople could outturn it. As it chased them through the caverns of the abyss, it reached out with its claws and almost caught them, smashing a nearby crag into pebbles and scaring the HECK out of Ryan.

"So, we're going to lead this thing away from the others and THEN fight it?" Sakuzy asked.

"Fine by me!" Joyex said, almost frantically.

Scott would have scratched his head if he wasn't inches from being bitten in two by the Leviathan. "Hey, that sounds like MY plan!"

J turned to see that the Leviathan was no longer following them. "Guys, it's gone..." he informed.

Scott, Ryan, Joyex, and Sakuzy turned to see that the giant was nowhere to be seen. It seemed to have vanished off the face of the world itself. Sakuzy whipped out his radar and fiddled with it for a while. "It's moving." he said, wide-eyed, "We can't let it escape!"

Sakuzy swam off and Ryan couldn't believe what was going on. "WHAT?! You actually WANT us to go after that thing?!" he asked.

"If we let it go, it could reach the surface…" Joyex filled in.

Ryan's eyes widened as the thought occurred to him. "Uh…point taken."

Sakuzy's Crystalli radar led the entire group into a cave and they followed. It was a wonder that something THAT huge could even hide in a place like this without being noticed. The deeper they went, the darker it became. Suddenly, Sakuzy's radar only showed static and shut off a second later. "Great! The signal's jammed!" he growled, trying to get.

Ryan turned just in time to hear Sakuzy whack the radar with his free hand. "OH NO! We're gonna DIE in here!" he wept.

"Relax." J said, calmly, "We're not in trouble."

Joyex tried looking at the shapeshifter, but it was so dark that he couldn't tell. "WHAT?!" the Nobody asked, "The Leviathan's out THERE, we're trapped in HERE, the radar's jammed, and we can't see a thing! When will you start thinking that we're in trouble?!"

J simply spoke in his casual voice. "Ryan, give us some light."

"Right away, J!" Ryan opened his hand and, with a small flash, the cave suddenly filled with light. Lying in wait for them at the bottom of the cave was, unmistakably, the Leviathan, its jaws opened to bare every single one of its crocodilian teeth.

Ryan immediately started panicking while Joyex simply sighed. "Start swimming for our lives." Joyex said, nonchalantly.

The group was chased out of the cave with the Leviathan on their tails. The Leviathan almost caught Ryan in its jaws; Ryan felt the wind, er…whatever you'd call it, as its jaws slammed shut. "How long do we have to keep running?"

J didn't say anything. He and Sakuzy went over a plan through telepathy. He knew what they were going to do.

The group was chased through the city, the Leviathan destroying everything in its way. For each time it did, Sakuzy quickly apologized to the merman or mermaid that got his or her property destroyed. "Sorry! Our bad! Coming through! I'll send a check!" After a long, strenuous chase, they left the sea kingdom, which now resembled something like the ruins of Atlantis. Sakuzy shook his head and sighed. "The king of Atlantica is going to KILL ME!" Sakuzy groaned, barely catching a glance of the city.

"How 'bout we focus on the HERE and NOW?" J asked, impatiently. After a long, strenuous chase, they had led the Leviathan into a grotto that had several large stalactites scattered all over its ceiling. "This seems hidden enough…Let's go!"

J turned sharply to face the Leviathan and changed into a great white shark. He made a wide turn, then clamped his jaws into the Leviathan's claw. J's sharp teeth didn't seem to do much, not even leaving a scratch. The Leviathan, however, simply shook off J and sent him spiraling back into his merman form.

"You alright?" Sakuzy asked, urgently.

J shook the cobwebs out of his head and then his red eyes came back to focus on the environment. "I'm fine, thanks." he answered, but not in a very thankful way, "But it's just as I thought. Our normal attacks can't get through its armor. Ryan, could you use some sun?"

Ryan didn't have time to answer, because the Leviathan was now cruising towards him, its teeth bared. Ryan quickly darted away as its claws snapped at him to crush him. It got part of the wall and tore out a sizeable chunk of it. With a simple squeeze of its pincer, the chunk of rock got smashed into pebbles. As Ryan swam below, he tossed a sun ball at the Leviathan, but the beast was faster than it looked, especially with such cramped conditions. It swam right past the orb of light and the attack soared right past the creature.

"Rats! I missed!" Ryan cursed.

J's voice had an unusually calm tone as he said, "Exactly my plan."

The ball of light energy may have soared past the beast, but it hit a stalactite right above it. The stalactite crumbled when the light hit it and fell, slamming into the Leviathan's back. For a while, the Leviathan seemed pinned by the pillar of rock, thrashing wildly. For a while, it seemed that J's plan worked.

"WOO! Way to go, J!" Joyex's moment of celebration was short-lived, because the Leviathan squirmed free with a snarl.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, mate…" Scott warned.

The Leviathan shook its long, crocodilian head free of cobwebs and turned to them with a snarl. It opened its jaws, BOTH of them, and charged. The group swam above it, but it was virtually close enough to touch. However, while the beast swam past, Sakuzy noticed a small, but noticeable crack in its armored back. "So that was J's plan all along..." he said, amazed.

Ryan noticed and looked slightly dumbfounded. Scott, on the other hand, smiled. "Strewth, that's clever." he said, catching onto J's plan, "We can't break open that thing's armor, so we're gonna use OTHER means. Well, Bob's yer uncle, I'm up next!"

Scott narrowly evaded the Leviathan's swam up to a stalactite and caused claws to spring out of his hand. He then scratched the stalactite again and again, but nothing happened and his nails had been reduced to studs.

"Why'd you do that?" Joyex asked.

"You'll see." Scott answered, then added, "Let's just say that once gravity's had its way, you'll be surprised."

"Okay…let me try something!" Joyex took his chain and tightly wrapped it around a stalactite. He then swam around and around the stalactite until the rock wore away, the chain acting like the teeth of a chainsaw. The pillar fell free of its support and crashed into the Leviathan. The sea monster met the same result as J's old strategy and the crack on its back was notably larger now; not big enough, however, to wedge a Keyblade into. Scott then crossed his eyes at the beast and stuck out his tongue to tease it.

"Scott? Are you aware that you're teasing a highly dangerous beast?" Sakuzy asked, unbelievingly.

Scott never had time to answer, because the Leviathan opened its maw of teeth and energy began to gather at the back of its throat. As the energy gathered, the ant-mandibles caught it, then fired a red blast of energy at him. It narrowly missed, but destroyed part of the ceiling in a massive explosion, creating a HUGE hole in the rock. The Leviathan made to get away, but J managed to cut off its retreat by transforming into a large whale and putting himself between the beast and the hole.

_We can't let it escape! _J filled in,_ Don't give it a chance!_

Sakuzy, wanting to get the beast's attention, struck its underbelly with his Eagle Feather. To catch its eye even more, Ryan barraged it with his solar bursts, which actually managed to draw its attention away from escaping and back to a possibly free meal.

Sakuzy looked up through the hole in the ceiling to see Sora fighting the green octopus lady that they saw earlier. "We've gotta finish fast! If those Heartless discover us, it'll only make things more difficult."

Scott pointed at the Leviathan, which had just tried to blast Ryan again only to miss by a mile. "We may not need to…"

The blast hit the stalactite that Scott had loosened ever so slightly. With a crack, the stalactite fell onto the Leviathan AGAIN, making the crack large enough to be considered a shatterpoint. "Leave it to me!"

The Keyblader of the Future swam towards the Leviathan with his Eagle Feather drawn. Just as the Leviathan wormed its way out of the stalactite, it snapped at the shark-merman with both tooth and claw. Neither hit him. Sakuzy would have jumped if this battle was on land, then jammed his Keyblade into the large crack and pried out a hunk of armor off, using his weapon like a crowbar. When the piece of crystal flew off, the Leviathan bucked him off and made to seize him in its large claw. It missed, but grazed his shoulder, turning part of the water red with blood.

"OW! Oh, THAT was a cheap shot..." Sakuzy muttered under his breath.

The Leviathan reached forward with its massive claws only to meet the blade of Joyex's chain whip. The blade had jammed itself into the joint of the claw and it sprang open as the creature roared in surprise. It made a sharp turn, then fired another blast of scarlet energy at the annoying pests that was Sakuzy's group.

As the group scattered, Scott had run into a large rock and saw the Leviathan out of the corner of his eye. He swam aside just as the Crystalli opened its mouth. The large jaws slammed shut on the massive rock and actually tore it free of the wall. "Bon appetit, ya lousy bludger!" Scott said with a grin.

As the Crystalli struggled with the stone in its mouth, Ryan darted at it and actually latched onto its back. The Leviathan, however, bit down on the rock and chomped it right in two like a jawbreaker. Ryan held on just as Sakuzy latched on as well. Ryan created a ball of pure solar energy in his palm and hurtled it at the crack in the behemoth's back. The Leviathan bucked violently, trying to shake the pain off, which it did: Ryan tumbled through the water, leaving Sakuzy on top of the thing.

Sakuzy slowly climbed up the Crystalli Leviathan's armored back, then jammed his Keyblade into the crack. The creature roared in pain before Sakuzy said one last word…

"BLAST!!!"

The Blast Spell flowed right into the Crystalli's unarmored inside and exploded. The force of the explosion was so powerful that it blew the Crystalli Leviathan in two and sent the rest rocketing upwards. Joyex and Ryan screamed at the top of their lungs as the blast front sent them towards the surface at near-terminal velocity.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE! WE'RE GONNA DIE! I'M GONNA THROW UP, AND THEN I'M GONNA DIE!" Ryan screamed, unable to cover his eyes.

Sakuzy rocketed out of the water as the explosion caused a pillar of water to erupt from the depths of the ocean. Ryan and Joyex screamed as they rocketed upward, then fell back to the water with a SPLASH.

Sakuzy surfaced to see Sora, who was with Ariel in her mermaid form. The Keyblade Master turned, then asked, "Sakuzy? What're you doing back? Aren't you supposed to be fighting the…"

J resurfaced as a dolphin and with baby Melody on top of his back. _Crystalli? _he finished, then answered,_ It's taken care of._ J then swam towards Ariel and she took the infant, who was giggling in pure joy at the free ride. _Here's your little bundle of joy._

_The next chapter is another "What happened during" chapter. I LIKE making those chapters!_


	127. Morgana

Chapter 127: Morgana

"Why are you here, Morgana?" Ariel asked, sounding a lot braver than April had expected.

Morgana simply smiled, malevolence in her voice. "Your daughter."

Sora, Riku, and Kairi summoned their Keyblades on instinct. "Leave Melody out of this, sea hag!" Sora said as he swam close to Morgana, "I killed Ursula! Come and fight ME!"

Morgana stared at Sora, bemused for a while, then smiled. "Then, I have YOU to thank, Sora." she said, but then rolled her eyes, "I can't BEGIN to tell you how much I hated Ursula."

Riku put his hand in his hair and ruffled it up, shaking water out of it. "Wait, you want to avenge Ursula, but you hated her?" he asked, trying to straighten a few things out.

"I'm as confused as YOU are." Kairi told him.

Morgana shrugged. "Still, if you wish to fight me, I can give your friends some hassles! Cloak! Dagger!"

The two manta rays, along with the shark, swam over to Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy. The shark made a lunge at Donald, who simply dodged. THIS thing was a major problem, but the king's court mage had one idea. He had been saving it for JUST this occasion. "WAK!" Donald pointed his staff at the shark, which was just about ready to have a good duck dinner.

Lightning rained from the sky and struck the beast head-on, creating a surge of blue electricity. When the lightning vanished, the shark was no more than a small fish with a large dorsal fin and SHARP teeth. It landed back in the water with a "plop", then surfaced. "What've you done to me?!" it asked, fearfully, "Look at me! I'M AN ANCHOVY!" Donald laughed until the degraded shark frowned at him and asked, "Oh, you think that's funny, do ya? Whaddya think of THIS?"

The tiny shark darted forward and dug his abnormally large teeth into one of Donald's tentacles. He swam around, squawking in pain as he tried to shake the nasty fish off him. Goofy could only swim with him and try to assist.

Meanwhile, Riku and Kairi were dealing with the manta rays, Cloak and Dagger. One of the mantas came at Kairi and she narrowly evaded it. She swung at it only to miss by a mile; these things were FAST. Riku only came close to hitting them, but missed nonetheless. Just as Riku took a swing at one of the rays, the other slammed right into Riku, sending the orca-merman wheeling through the water.

Kairi rushed to his assistance immediately and said, "These are worse than the Heartless back in the Castle."

Riku had to agree to that. "At least they were slow. This is like trying to swat a large fly."

Meanwhile, Sora was having to deal with Morgana. The sea witch was obviously faster than she let on and could dart through the water with relative ease. Whenever Sora swam up to her and swung, the space she occupied disappeared in an instant. Finally, he just threw his Ultima Weapon in a Strikeraid and pelted her across one of her many tentacles. Black blood dyed part of the water, but the injury wasn't very serious, so she simply growled in frustration.

"Annoying little minnow…let's see you fight under THESE conditions!" Morgana suddenly reached out with her tentacle and snatched Melody out of her mother's arms. The octopus woman then crawled onto the mast, the infant giggling, unaware of the danger she was in.

Not wasting any time, Sora leaped clean out of the water and landed on the ship's deck. It was at that moment that Sora realized that he was starting to have trouble breathing...and moving, for that matter. "BAD IDEA!" he gasped, "BAD IDEA!"

Sora coughed violently as the world around him spun. He was beginning to feel lightheaded as oxygen wasn't getting to his brain properly. Fortunately, Sora had friends in high places.

"Sora! I have the thing you need!" Triton called. he lifted up his trident and yellow lightning shot from it and all those around the immediate area. When the lightning cleared, Sora found it MUCH easier to breathe. "This spell will allow you and your friends to change form when you come onto land. You will revert to aquatic form if you enter the sea."

Sora gasped for breath, then took in Triton's words. He shakily got up and found that he had his legs back. However, he was only clad in a pair of blue trunks. He shrugged, then said, "Ah, that'll do. Now where were we?"

Sora summoned his Keyblade and followed Morgana up to the mast via net ladder. When he was level, he had to balance himself on part of the sail to go after the octopus lady. She cackled, then in a flash of light, a pike made of pure ice materialized into her hand. "Come for me, boy." she challenged, pointing her pike at him.

Immediately after Morgana said those words, Sora thrust. However, as Morgana parried, Sora almost lost his balance and only parried her own thrust as he regained his balance. As the two exchanged strikes, they bore surprising resemblance to something Sora once saw at the circus...only a little more lethal. Sora dodged another swipe from Morgana's ice lance and countered with his own only to meet a parry. The Keyblader was actually jealous of Morgana; at least she had a good hold with her tentacles.

The sea witch decided to take things into her own hands and pointed the tip of her staff to her left. A small beam shot at the sea ahead and a glacier formed in an instant. Sora barely had time to register it when the hunk of ice slammed into the hull. Everyone, save Morgana jerked forward on impact while Sora almost fell off the mast. He was now hanging by the mast with one hand, the Keyblade in his other. He looked down only to see a thirty-foot drop to the deck. To make matters worse, he was beginning to lose his grip. _Uh-oh…_Sora thought to himself.

April saw Sora holding on for dear life and acted on an instinct. She dove under the water, and after gaining enough momentum, jumped clean out of the water with the grace of a dolphin. When she landed on the ship, she, like Sora, had reverted to human form only wearing a two-piece bathing suit. She took this in and felt the color rush to her face.

"STILL feeling exposed…" she whispered to herself. April put her embarrassment aside and took off like an eagle to the mast. Just as Sora lost his grip, she seized him under the arms and carried him off before he fell too far. "I believe we still have a hag to beat." she reminded.

Sora cracked a smile, then nodded. "We still do." he agreed.

April took Sora up to the crow's nest, where Morgana was. The octopus lady couldn't believe what she was seeing, but remained stunned for one second too long. April let go of Sora and he landed in the crow's nest with Morgana. Before she could even make a move, Sora had already hacked the tentacle holding Melody. Morgana screamed as the tip of her tentacle fell several feet into the sea, soon to be joined by the infant.

"MELODY!" Ariel screamed. Fortunately, her cry was for nothing. April had flown after the little girl and angled the fall to bring her up. However, Morgana had seen the flying girl do it and raised a hand. An orb of some form of lightning shot from her palm and struck April right in the back. The shock sent the superhuman falling into the ocean as well as Melody. April eventually resurfaced, but Melody was nowhere to be seen.

Sora saw it all happen and gritted his teeth in rage. Without any further regarding, he tackled Morgana right off the crow's nest and both plummeted into the sea.

At that time, Donald was dealing with that shark-turned-anchovy and had a little trick he actually thought up of himself. The shark, like a piranha, would dart away after it took a chomp at Donald, then come back again. Goofy actually timed the attack and put himself in between the shark and Donald's blue tentacles. The shark clamped its teeth on Goofy's hard shell and its eyes watered. It let go, and its teeth cracked until they eventually broke. Goofy guffawed as the shark screamed at the top of its lungs and swam away.

As for Cloak and Dagger, now that Donald was free, he could do whatever he wanted with the two manta rays. Donald took his staff and Stopga had an immediate effect on both rays, freezing them in time. Riku and Kairi took immediate advantage of this and struck the rays repeatedly with their Keyblades while they were frozen. When time unfroze, the rays jerked in pain, looked at the group, then swam off, yipping like injured dogs.

"Whew…glad that's over." Kairi said, wiping sweat off her forehead...though it did wash away into the water.

Sora and April jumped into the water, too, and changed back into their fish forms. Ariel also jumped in and had soon reverted back to her mermaid form. She looked around, then asked, "Where's Melody?"

Ariel's question was never answered, because Morgana was coming again. Oddly enough, she wasn't darting at them, trying to attack. She was laughing. "Most likely dead, my dear." she answered.

Sora had heard enough and swung his Keyblade at Morgana only to see it miss by a mile. Morgana came for Sora only to see the young merman dart away like a frightened goldfish. Suddenly, the water around Morgana began to crystallize into several ice spikes. The spikes shot through the water like miniature torpedoes. Donald, Sora, and Ariel maneuvered around the spikes while Goofy withdrew into his shell. Sora went out on a limb and grabbed Goofy before tossing the dog-turned-turtle like a discus towards the witch. Morgana repelled the attempt with a simple swing of her tentacle that sent the turtle spinning away.

Goofy stopped spinning, then got out of his shell, looking disoriented. "Gawrsh…hold everything still!" he said, dizzily.

"Ariel!" Sora called.

"Let's go!" Ariel swam towards Morgana, spinning like a corkscrew. She came back four more times before the break ended.

Morgana folded her arms, then put her fingers in her mouth and emitted a very shrill whistle. Cloak and Dagger swam in as quick as a flash and she rode on top of her disoriented mantas, cursing at the group behind her. "THIS ISN'T THE END! I'LL GET YOUR DAUGHTER EVENTUALLY!"

Donald, fed up with Morgana, pointed his staff at her and shouted, "Blast!!"

The Blast Spell shot towards Morgana, who simply caused it to fizzle out with a wave of her hand. The shark, noticing that Morgana was hightailing it out of there, darted after her. "Hey! HEY!" it called, "DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!!!"

As soon as the sea witch was out of sight, Kairi ran…er, swam over to Sora. "You did it!" she cheered, then acted on a whim and hugged Sora, touching bare flesh against bare flesh. Both could feel themselves blush and they both parted, chuckling nervously. "Uh, hehe…okay. Think before I do that again." Kairi said, more to herself than anyone.

Sora was about to comment when there was a massive explosion and several things came flying out of the water. A split second later, they were all splashing back into the water. When they surfaced, Sora saw that it was Sakuzy and the others. J searched a while, then plunged under the water. Sora looked confused by this as a certain shark-merman shook the cobwebs out of his head. "Sakuzy?" he asked, "What're you doing back? Aren't you supposed to be fighting the…"

J resurfaced as a dolphin and with baby Melody on top of his back. _Crystalli? _he finished, then replied,_ It's taken care of._ J then swam towards Ariel and handed her the infant, who was giggling at the joy of a free ride on his back. _Here's your little bundle of joy._

Ariel took Melody, then said, "Thanks. I've never seen a black dolphin, though."

Sora looked over at him, then said, "Oh, J? Nah. He's not a dolphin."

J looked at Sora, then mentally sighed as he changed back into the rugged merman. On seeing the look on Ariel's face, he said, "Yes, I AM an anti-hero."

Sora looked around at the others, then said, "Oh, sorry! These are Sakuzy,…" For each person Sora named, he pointed to them. "Joyex, J, Scott, and Ryan."

Joyex blushed. He never saw a mermaid before, and April and Kairi didn't count. Ryan waved, J nodded, and Scott tipped his hat.

"Good to meet you! You're friends of Sora's?" Ariel chirped.

Sakuzy shrugged slightly as he answered, "In a manner."

Triton then swam over and Joyex did his best to try and keep out of Triton's way, having no intention of being blown to bits. Triton, however, swam past Joyex and towards Sora instead. "Sora, you helped save my granddaughter." he said, warmly, "For that, I am VERY thankful. Take this."

Triton held out a blue heart, which Sora took. He still couldn't believe that THIS guy was the same person who tried to boot him out of this world just for being an outsider.

Sakuzy then swam over to Ariel, who still held Melody. Sakuzy had a serious look on his face. "Protect her."

Sakuzy then swam back to the rest. J looked a bit anxious. "I want to wash my hands of this. I've always hated moments like this…"

Kairi shrugged. She didn't get what he meant NOW and she guessed that she NEVER would.

"Well, at least we've got the Pure Heart." Sora pointed out.

Sakuzy looked up, then said, "Beam us up, Scottie!"

Scott looked ready to attack the man from the future, but Joyex stopped him. "He means the Gummi Ship." he filled in.

Scott's eyes widened as he said, "Oh."

The ship appeared, beamed them up, and took off.

_Ariel's Tidal Smash._

_This deal with them changing into their normal forms on land will become a bit of a gag later._

_Oh, I am SO GLAD I am done with this. It caused me AND my editor immense mental and emotional trauma._


	128. Regrets

Chapter 128: Regrets

Back on the Gummi Ship, Scott was wringing out his hat, which was still soaking wet. "Crikey, this is gonna take DAYS to get dry!" he huffed, holding out his still-damp hat.

April seemed relieved to be out of this world, because she was looking over herself and looking VERY relieved. "I'm just happy to have all of my clothes back."

"I can see that." Riku pointed out, "There were perverts in there! I saw a guy staring at April when she got into her human form…"

"WHAT?" Ryan said in almost a shout.

Riku turned and saw that Ryan kept hitting the left side of his head, trying to get water out of his ear. The user of darkness shook his head in disbelief. "Never mind."

Sora took the blue heart and opened the safe where they decided to keep the Pure Hearts and placed it in with the others. In there were the green, yellow, red, pink, bronze, silver, teal, grey, white, and dark blue hearts. "Eleven hearts down, one to go!" Sora said as he closed the safe.

J huffed. "I'll be glad when THIS is over."

Scott turned on J in disbelief. "GLAD? I don't know when I've had this much fun!"

"Still, where do we get the last Pure Heart?" Riku asked.

Joyex scratched his chin, then spoke up. "Well, Radiant Garden counts as a world. Why not try there?"

"Good idea, Joyex!" Sora paused, then realized what he had just said. "There's a sentence I never thought I'd say."

Kairi walked over to the superhumans. After a little pause on how to put things, she said, "Well, this quest's almost over."

Ryan nodded. "Looks like it."

J's scarlet eyes rolled behind his shades. He knew Kairi enough now to know that there was something behind this… "What do you want?" he asked. There was a stunned silence and the shapeshifter simply shrugged. "I've seen people do that for years. Sue me."

Kairi knew that once J asked that question, there was no way out. It was time for her to come clean. "After this, would you guys come and live with us on the islands?" she offered.

Every superhuman was very surprised by Kairi's offer, save Ryan and J. J raised his eyebrows while Ryan looked VERY excited about it. "Islands?! Cool! I've always wanted to live in the tropics! Surf! Sand! And most importantly, SUN!"

Scott tipped his hat up and grinned as he said, "Never turn down a sheila, that's what I say."

April smiled and turned to Scott. "And wherever Scott goes, I go, too."

J simply moved his bangs in a manner that reminded Sora of when he first had a face-to-face talk with Cloud. He knew what answer was coming. "I think I'll pass." Everyone looked surprised by this as J started walking toward his quarters and added, "Just drop me off back at Radiant Garden when this is all over."

Sora stared after J, then asked, "You'd take that world that even YOU agreed to leave in exchange for an island?"

J kept his back turned as he walked away. "Yes." he answered.

Sora decided to simply leave the point there. It wasn't usually wise to mess with someone like him. "I may never understand that guy. How long has it been since he's been with people?"

Suddenly, J stopped and spoke without even turning around. "Sora?" Sora could have sworn his blood had frozen. He thought for sure he was in trouble now, but it turned out to be a false alarm, because J did NOT explode. Instead, he simply said, "Come with me."

Before Sora knew it, J had grabbed him by the shoulder and led the Keyblade Master into HIS room. During most of the journeys through the worlds, J had secluded himself here and no one would even TRY to disturb him. When Sora entered the room, it somewhat surprised him. The room was simply dark with nothing but a bed, a single poster of a black hedgehog (1), and a photograph in a picture frame. Sora saw that the picture had him, Scott, Ryan, April, and the people J described to Kairi. There was also a guy with a black jacket and a pair of sunglasses, the girl with red hair, a white man with no hair, and some average kid.

"Original picture of our little scout troop." J explained, "That guy…" He pointed to the black man. "He was Brock Stone. Indestructible skin and bones." For every person J pointed to, he named their powers. "Jacob Gordon. Teleportation. His cat, Joy. Able to heal others." J pointed to the shabby guy with the cat zipped up in his jacket. "Bryan Pyro. Gravity control." he pointed to a teen that looked around Sora's age with short cut, black hair.

Sora scoffed, then said, "With a name like 'Pyro', I thought he'd be able to control fire."

J seemed to attempt a grin, but it looked more like a simple twitch. "He got that a lot." he explained, then pointed to the guy with sunglasses. Sora then saw that he had hair that resembled Amethyst's, only it seemed dyed. "Thomas Kaine. He could guilt people by looking them in the eye. He died three months after this was taken."

Sora felt his stomach sink slightly as he solemnly said, "Sorry, J."

J shrugged casually. "Didn't really care for him anyway. Especially since he used his power example on Scott." J then pointed to the kid; the guy looked like he was just a year older than Ryan. "Ed Chamler. His brain could take in any form of communication and change it into English. He's still alive, but we lost track of him some time ago." J pointed to the bald, white person. "That's Arthur Scalib. He could create explosions without the need of chemical reactions. He died a few days after this was taken. We never found the body."

J then pointed to the girl with a trembling finger and when he spoke, Sora could have sworn that his voice cracked a bit. "Maria Walker." he said, his voice returning to normal as quickly as he could, "She could create light from her hands like a firefly or anglerfish."

Sora was taken aback, because he had never seen J like this. Before, J was pretty serious, but now he seemed a bit more uncomfortable...in a sad sort of way. Sora then had a sudden suspicion and asked, "You loved her, didn't you?" J didn't answer, simply keeping his back to Sora. Didn't matter. Sora took the prolonged silence as a "yes". "Where is she?" Sora asked, "And what happened to her?"

J paused, then turned to face Sora with a mix of anger and sorrow. He only emitted ONE word, but it answered Sora's question faster than a gunshot. "Dead." Sora was stunned, but after a brief silence, J continued. "She and I met in Radiant Garden. She joined our group and we grew…very close. Then, someone told her location to…a murderer. That man tracked both of us down and attacked her. I stopped him and managed to get us both away, but she was injured...and I couldn't save her."

J seemed to pause, similar to Doc Hudson when he told them of his crash. He wasn't crying, but you could tell he was VERY sad about the memory. "She died in my arms... Her last words were 'I love you'." J suddenly seemed to regain himself and continued, "After THAT, I washed my hands of love, seeing as it just scarred my already damaged life."

Sora looked confused at the shapeshifter, whose expression was beginning to return to its cold as ever look. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked, "Are you saying I should just give up on love?"

J's face clenched slightly, but he calmed down a little and answered. "No, I'm NOT trying to tell you to stop loving. From what I've seen between you and Kairi, that's virtually impossible. I just want you to protect her with your life. If you don't…you'd not only be scarred for life, but you'd have ME to answer to."

"Why?" Sora asked.

"You'll find out." J opened the door and gestured for Sora to leave. "I want you to gain the benefits from MY experience. I don't want you to end up like me." J shut the door as Sora left and sighed as he was sure Sora was out of earshot. _I just want to live without regrets._

That night, J lay down on his bed and fell into a VERY uneasy sleep. He wanted a life without regrets, but regrets lived in him, anyway. How he reacted or didn't react always haunted him in TWO vivid images. He always entered a dream with two stages that he had for SEVERAL nights for nearly three years.

_J was back in Radiant Garden with three friends—two boys and a girl (NOT Hayner, Pence, and Olette). He then heard someone approaching with metallic footsteps. Without any further hesitation, he changed into a rat and skittered away as the cyborg smashed through the wall of the building they were in._

_"Anomalies detected." the Android said in a menacing, robotic voice, "MUST DESTROY!"_

_One of the boys panicked and changed into a living liquid. He slithered away in a desperate attempt to escape, but the cyborg simply moved his metal hand and caused a fuse box to fall into the living liquid. Sparks coursed through the liquid and fried it. The water solidified to show the boy, lying on the ground, dead._

_The girl screamed in sheer horror and the noise she emitted seemed twenty times louder than normal. J's ears felt like they were going to explode, as did the cyborg's audio recording system, but it simply twitched its mechanical hand and caused a pipe to come out and wrap itself around the girl's throat. The cyborg clenched its fist and the pipe continued squeezing until the girl stopped breathing and went limp. He then threw her into a wall and she fell, lifeless, to the ground._

_"NO!!!" the last boy shouted in fright._

_The cyborg turned on that single word, murder apparent in its expression. The final boy ran away at speeds that would've made Ryan proud, but the android's robotic brain seemed to calculate where he would go and when. With a twitch of its finger, a lead pipe ripped itself free from the inner wall and actually wrapped itself around the boy's legs like a metallic python. Another movement of the cyborg's hand caused the lead pipe to drag the struggling boy towards him, clawing uselessly at the floor. J then turned into a scruffy stray dog and ran away as he heard the boy scream in terror and pain._

_**I could've saved them… but I didn't. I hid like a coward, trying to save my own life.**_

_The scene changed to about a year ago, when Radiant Garden was still Hollow Bastion. Scott, Ryan, and the rest were checking out the part of the city they were in, to see if there was, indeed, another superhuman there that needed help. This was BEFORE J met Maria, so it was no surprise that J was with a blonde girl around his age. They just sat there, just keeping each other company. After a few minutes, the girl scooted closer to J and put an arm over his shoulder. The shapeshifter, however, didn't take this very easily and stood up._

_"Sorry about leaving, but I've gotta go find my group. They need me…" J said, looking at the city around them._

_The girl stood with him, a little unsettled at the idea. "So soon?" she said in a begging tone, "C'mon, J, they're probably halfway across the city by now."_

_J gestured at himself with his thumb as he said, "Don't worry. I'm faster than I look."_

_The girl grabbed J's hand as if trying to get him to come with her. All this while, she was wearing a of puppy-dog eyes to make virtually anyone melt. "Can't you at least stay the night?" she asked, nicely._

_J rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. "Oh, alright. That is if you have a spare bed…"_

_The girl cut him off by saying, "That's not…quite what I was talking about."_

_J froze in place, then got a good look at her face. Her mouth had curved into a seductive smile, but HIS expression hardened much more than he was used to. "You mean…adultery? Sorry, but neither me or Scott will stand for THAT…"_

_The girl's smile vanished as she cocked an eyebrow. "Scott?" she asked, "As in…Scott Highflier?"_

_J slowly nodded, his expression still very hard. "Yes. He's an 'acquaintance' of mine." he answered._

_The girl looked VERY ticked and from what her expression said, she would have given anything to slap the Aussie across the face. "Scott Highflier's a jerk!"_

_J growled in anger. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Scott Highflier is many things, but a jerk is hardly one of them." he said, defensively, "And about that 'jerk' comment, will you be saying that about ME to the next loser you try to seduce?" The girl was silent for a while, but J simply continued. "Yes…Scott warned me about you. He said you tried doing the SAME THING with him. He simply said 'pass' and you call him a jerk for that?!"_

_The girl suddenly took a stern look in her face. "So what if I did?!" she huffed_

_J glowered at her and removed his sunglasses. "Take a look at my eyes…" The girl recoiled a bit at the sight of his scarlet eyes that stuck out in the light of a street lamp. "You're just going to keep at this SICK, LITTLE GAME unless I do something about it!" J said, his voice rising by the second._

_"So what?" the girl said, "What can YOU do?!"_

_J was silent and had a look of pure hatred on his face. "I can do THIS."_

_J made a convulsion or two and turned into a giant, six-foot black bear. The girl was so paralyzed with fright that she couldn't even move. She could, however, talk. "You…YOU'RE A FREAK!!!"_

_J's voice suddenly sounded through her head as though he was actually talking to her, which he was. __**So was Scott. I wasn't the first one you tried this on, and unless I stop you, I doubt I'll be the last. You'll NEVER TOY WITH ANYONE AGAIN!**_

_With a roar, J brought his large paw slamming across her neck just as she screamed in complete terror. He heard something "crunch" and his heart suddenly clenched with fear as she fell to the ground and remained motionless, her eyes staring blankly into space. He changed back and shook her with his gloved hand. No response. He felt her neck and found that her spine was shattered. To make it worse, he saw four large gashes on her neck from his bear form's claws._

_"Oh no...No…I didn't want to kill her…NO!" What was he saying? That was the only reason he had turned into a bear in the first place, to make sure that no one would have to be her victim again. THIS was his first cold-blooded murder and he just ripped her from her family's arms FOREVER. He ran to avoid being seen, but it didn't matter if he was seen or not. No human could create the wounds he gave that girl…_

J shot into a sitting position, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. He surveyed his surroundings; he was still in the Gummi Ship to his relief. It didn't matter. He'd have the dream again in a matter of days.

J kicked himself out from under the covers and pressed his face into his gloved hand, which ached. He clutched his wrist in an attempt to cut off the pain. Clutching his hand didn't work, but the pain eventually subsided. After catching his breath, he got out of bed and walked into the kitchen. He got himself a glass of water and finished half of it in a single gulp. He turned to leave, but saw Kairi at the doorway.

"Couldn't sleep either, huh, J?" she asked.

J paused, still trying to recover from his nightmare, then answered, his eyes focused on the floor. "Not really. You?" he asked.

"I'm too hyped up." Kairi answered, "Soon this journey will be over and we'll be back on the Islands."

"Along with Scott, Ryan, and April." J finished. He walked over to a chair and took a seat, hunched over in thought.

Kairi took a seat next to J, then asked, "That reminds me, why did you REALLY turn down my offer?"

J spoke, but he never turned to Kairi face-to-face. "From what I've done, I don't deserve it." He paused for a second, then added, "I have no home." J then turned to Kairi, his expression returning to the usual, cold glare. "It must be hard, thinking that you're the last of your family. I speak from experience."

J's words were true. Kairi felt…alone when she thought about being the last member of the royal family of Radiant Garden. J then handed her a scroll and whispered his next sentence in her ear. "Don't open it yet. I'll only tell you that it's special to you."

Kairi smiled, then planted a small kiss on J's cheek and his red eyes widened. He had certainly not been expecting it. "Thanks. But I think that you deserve more than you seem to think."

Kairi got up, then walked back to her room, leaving J stunned. He touched the place of the kiss with his ungloved hand. "Well, never expected her to kiss me." he said, his voice hinting a smile, though he didn't do it, "Even though I'm an unnaturally good-looking guy..."

In his mind, J could hear the teleporter, Jacob Gordon, saying something. _'Unnaturally good-looking'? You look like a Goth!_

J finished the rest of the glass of water, then returned to his room without another word.

_(1) J's voice in Prince of Heart will be the same as Shadow the hedgehog: Jason Griffith._

_No, J does NOT have a crush on Kairi. But, in time, you'll discover why J seems a bit…overly protective of her._


	129. Feelings

_Here's the next chapter and...by the way..._

_(Turns into a zombie pirate, like the ones on Curse of the Black Pearl...it's what I'm really going as)_

_Happy Halloween to ALL and to all, a good FRIGHT!_

Chapter 129: Feelings

Sora lay awake in bed, thinking about what J said. He could still hear the shapeshifting anti-hero's words echo in his head. _And so, I washed my hands of love, seeing as it only scarred my already damaged life._

Sora turned on his side, pondering what J said. _I feel sorry for J. He experienced one of the few things that make life worth living only to see it ripped away from him. It's a wonder he's still trying to stay alive._

After a long, uneasy couple of hours, Sora finally fell asleep. The next thing he knew, he was on a mural again. Only this time, it was white with Nobody symbols on the outer ring. The center picture was of Roxas in a position similar to Sora's on his mural. There were also pictures of people. There was Axel inside a blue heart, Namine inside a red heart, a piece of glass that looked like something was removed, DiZ, and Riku. He found Roxas, looking at the picture of Namine with a glazed expression in his eyes.

"Hey, Roxas."

Roxas looked up in surprise and grinned sheepishly. "Oh, hey Sora." said Roxas, regaining his composure, "It's been a while since Olympus Coliseum, hasn't it?"

Roxas took a seat, trying to conceal his embarrassment, and Sora sat down next to him. "Well, Sakuzy's my great grandson." he pointed out, almost randomly.

Roxas shrugged. "Riku and everyone else knows…except Kairi."

Sora was stunned by this. As far as he knew, Sakuzy only shared his story with Joyex, who already knew. "HE TOLD EVERYONE ELSE, BUT NOT ME?!"

Roxas scratched the back of his spiky, blonde head. "Well, not the last four." he corrected, "J just figured it out and told the others. He said that telling Riku wouldn't cause a rift in time. THAT'S why he was angry with Hades for blurting it out—it could've ended time as we know it."

Sora was confused about this. How could ROXAS know about this? Especially since the last time he was out of his body was back in the World That Never Was and they fought on Sora's mural. Sora won that fight, but he wasn't too sure whether or not Roxas WANTED to win, because, near the end, his Nobody simply stopped giving it his all.

"How did you know?" Sora asked.

"Well, somehow, he ended up on here and told me that the others knew and he vanished without another word." Roxas answered, almost casually.

Sora was shocked, but more in confusion than in anger or sadness. "HOW does he do these things?"

"The same way he gave Namine that mirror." Roxas answered.

Sora perked up and gave Roxas a curious look. "Mirror?" he asked, "What mirror?"

"Well, Kairi appeared on MY part of the mural earlier tonight." he answered, "When I asked how she got here, she told me it was with a hand mirror of sorts. I asked if she wanted to see your mural."

"WHAT?!" Sora was so angry about this, that he suddenly stood. "You just SHOWED her?"

Roxas simply looked up at Sora, then shook his head. "No. I asked her, but she turned me down." the Nobody answered, "She told me that she would wait for some other time." Sora calmed down some, but he was still a bit ticked that Roxas even suggested it. The Nobody then decided to change the subject before things got TOO violent. "So, after we get Radiant Garden's Pure Heart, we'll be heading back to Destiny Islands with THREE others?"

"Yeah, Scott, Ryan, and April accepted, but J declined." Sora filled in.

Roxas cocked his head, then asked, "Why'd he do that?"

Sora shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's because he feels that he has no home. It's only a guess, but I may never know…"

_The next chapter tells what the others felt about the ending journey during the night._


	130. The Night

Chapter 130: The Night

_This chapter is completely devoted to what happened to the others during this night._

Sakuzy had his hands crossed on the back of his head. _So, after this, the King and Queen will be revived? _he asked himself,_ Finally, my life will be back to the way it was BEFORE the Crystalli and all my friends will be free. Now, if I can find the meteor…_ Sakuzy didn't say anything further, because his eyelids felt heavy and he eventually drifted off to sleep.

Joyex had his ponytail over his face, which was his way of trying to get to sleep. _So, if we set the King and Queen straight, the timeline we USED to be in will be set right, and I'll just…fade from existence, seeing as Joey never succumbed to darkness. _Joyex mentally shrugged to himself, which was odd, because if most people knew they were going to die very soon, they would've been terrified. _But who said life was a bundle of roses?_

Riku was looking back on when they started, when he still had that crystal fist. He missed it somewhat, because with it, he could take out any monster in his path. It helped him survive on Skull Island while the others were away.

_Enter flashback…_

_Riku was trying to fix their old Gummi Ship, before he realized that it was beyond repair. Suddenly, a strange, predatorial dinosaur of sorts jumped at him out of nowhere. Riku turned in surprise and swung his fist around into the face of his attacker. The speed and density of the diamond hand combined to collide into the dinosaur's face and smashed its mandible. The dinosaur flew back and landed on the ground, dead as a doornail._

_Riku looked at his crystal hand, then shrugged. "At least I've got a survival strategy." he said with a slight smile._

_End flashback…_

"Well, it's gonna end now."

Ryan was trying to sleep with his hood over his face. "I wonder where Joyex stashed the candy supply…" he said to himself.

(THAT had nothing to do with this part of the fic. Heh, besides, Joyex jammed it in a secret compartment of the medicine cabinet.)

With Scott, he had his hat over his face, trying to sleep. However, he had several things buzzing around in his head.

_What do I do when we get to the islands? Will others accept what I can do? _Scott raised his eyebrows at the thought. _Wait. Maybe THIS is what J was talkin' about…Well, if they do, I'm happy. Maybe…if I wait a year or two, I'll pop the question to April? Seems like a good idea. If me dad could do it, so can I._

April was curled up in her bed, but unlike the others, who were so-and-so, she was crying silent tears. And she had good reason to. _Why did I say I'd go with Scott? My family's back at Radiant Garden and they need me. _April turned in an attempt to get to sleep. She brushed a tear away and clutched her pillow as though it was a person offering a hug. _I guess I'll have to tell them. There's no way out of it…_

_Uh-oh…looks like we have a problem here…AND another one coming up, too!_


	131. Fight

Chapter 132: Fight

When morning came, Scott yawned as he got up and stretched. He hardly got ANY sleep that night and it obviously was NOT good for him. "So, THIS is how J feels? If that's true, I'm NOT a night owl." Scott tried to take a deep breath through his nose, but did it with EXTREME difficulty. He tried again only to produce a very loud snort. "Great." he groaned, "Blasted cold…"

Scott had one thing he could do to make it a little LESS of a handicap. He enhanced his sense of smell, then walked out of his room. He sniffed the air, and knew who was coming LONG before he came. "G'day, Sora."

Sora had barely opened the door when Scott finished speaking and stood there. "Huh? How'd you know I was coming?" the Keyblade Master asked.

"Enhanced me sense of smell." Scott answered.

Sora still walked in and Scott stooped over, pressing his forehead with his finger and thumb. "Did you get enough sleep last night?" he asked.

Scott shook his head, still massaging the spot between his eyebrows. "Not really." he answered, "After breakfast, I'm havin' a shower."

Scott slumped into the kitchen with Sora behind him. On entry with the kitchen, the Aussie instantly perked up as a few new scents reached his nostrils.

"What?" Sora asked, curiously.

Scott sniffed the air a few times, then rubbed his chin. "Two people were here last night…" Scott sniffed again before Sora remembered what Scott said about enhancing his sense of smell. He then flinched slightly and fanned the air away from his nose. "Ugh. One of them is J, alright. He NEVER washed that ol' jacket of his. And the second one is…"

Scott looked confused by the next scent. "Hmm…can't exactly place the next scent. Not enough human, but there is the definite scent of…strawberry-scented shampoo?!" Scott's question on the shampoo was one of surprise mixed with glee, "Wow. You never see those anymore…"

Sora, on the other hand, stood there, dumbstruck. He KNEW who used that type of shampoo and he didn't like the conclusion he came to.

Suddenly, at probably the worst time to do it, J walked in, slipping on his jacket. "Hey." he said. Sora heard him, turned, and stared at him. J stopped, then turned to face Sora. J stared back at Sora and cocked his head. "What? Is there something on my face or…"

J never finished his sentence, because Sora reared back his gloved fist and punched J across the face. The impact knocked the shapeshifter to the ground and his sunglasses off his face. J got up, massaging his jaw and growled. His eyes now burned like open flame and his teeth were clenched as he spoke.

"You're going to wish you hadn't done that…"

Without warning, J threw a punch that made direct contact with Sora's gut. Sora recoiled, and as he did, J brought his open hand into his back. In just a matter of seconds, the two were in a one-on-one fistfight. Then, as if by some miracle, Ryan, Sakuzy, Joyex, April, Riku, and Kairi walked in.

"What the?!"

"Why the heck are Sora and J trying to kill each other?!" Sakuzy asked in surprise.

"I'm not saying ANYTHING stupid." Joyex said, earning Riku's attention.

"THAT'S a first."

"I'm separating them!" April said, springing into action.

After one HECK of a struggle, Scott and Riku got J in a restraint, whereas Ryan and Joyex got Sora. Though restrained, the two tried to get at each other until they tired themselves out. When they did, Sakuzy walked between them and stood there. "Alright, we're gonna let the two of you go." Sakuzy said, sternly, "And when we do, we want you to NOT try and kill each other and CALMLY try and explain what happened. UNDERSTAND?"

Sora growled, then spat, "Fine."

J simply growled, which Sakuzy took as a yes.

"At least he's not trying a Jerry Springer." Ryan said, shuddering at the thought.

The four released Sora and J, then Sakuzy spoke up. "Alright. Now, what happened?"

"I saw the whole thing, mate." Scott said, raising a hand slightly, "So, I'll tell it." Scott walked over to J and pointed out, "Alright, first of all, we need to wash that jacket, J. It's FILTHY."

Scott then walked back into the center. "Okay, first things first. I got a cold this mornin' and had to enhance me sense of smell. When Sora and I got into the kitchen, I picked up TWO strong scents—the first one was J's jacket and the second one was the definite scent of strawberry-scented shampoo."

Ryan scratched his head as he asked, "They have that?"

Scott shrugged, "I'm pretty sure, but that's beside the point."

Riku, deciding to break the silence, brought up a question. "How long do you think the scents have been there?"

Scott paused, then walked in front of the fridge and smelled the air around him. He then darted back and answered, "I'd have to say it's been there since…three in the morning."

If Riku didn't look confused already, he was probably more so now. "What was J doing up at 3:00 A.M.?" he asked.

Ryan shrugged, as though it was obvious. "J's up at EVERY time of the morning." he answered, "I personally think he's an insomniac, but I'm no doctor…"

J then realized why Sora punched him and the conclusion he came to probably wasn't going to be pretty. He then admitted who was with him at that time… "The other person was Kairi."

Sakuzy froze in place. Suddenly, EVERYTHING made sense. He was seriously beginning to consider having everyone except Kairi restrain Sora. "I'm outta here."

J sensed trouble and made his escape. He was beginning to wish he hadn't said anything already.

"O-kay, this room is about to get smaller…" Scott said, walking away with April.

Everyone except Ryan and Joyex left Sora and Kairi alone. The two tried running, but Sora had Joyex by the ponytail and Kairi had Ryan by his hood. Ever since he and Scott got back from Halloween Town, they had changed out of their Twilight Town wardrobe and back into their usual wear.

Ryan smacked himself in the face. "J used to tell me that someone would get me by grabbing this hood, but until NOW I thought he was just joking!"

Meanwhile, in J's room, the anti-hero was growling to himself. "Oh no…what have I done?" he said, kicking himself for what he did, "They looked completely happy together and I ruined it…"

J brought his gloved hand smashing into the metal wall, though the only result this brought was a throbbing fist and a piercing pain in his wrist. He clutched his wrist in an attempt to cut off the pain…it didn't work.

Back with the four, Joyex was looking like an ape, stooped over. "Alright, here comes the explosion…"

Sora didn't exactly explode as Joyex predicted, but his words were anything BUT friendly. "What were you doing with J? Huh?"

Kairi took a step back and tried to reason with him. "We were just talking…"

Sora broke off her sentence before she could go into any further details. "At three in the morning?" Sora then shoved Joyex in between him and Kairi before she could even summon the urge to try and talk back. "Joyex, tell Kairi that if she has a problem, she can tell her boyfriend, J."

Sora then stormed out of the room, dragging Joyex by the ponytail. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Joyex said, hopping backwards on one foot from the loss of balance, "The ponytail, it hurts!"

Kairi stared at the steel door as it closed behind Sora. For a moment, she was about ready to cry, but huffed as she turned her back on the door. "He's a complete IDIOT." Kairi then stormed out in the opposite direction, dragging Ryan by the hood and almost choking him.

_Man! If they even CONSIDER using me as a cell phone, I'm using THIS! _Ryan thought to himself. He then held out a small purple pill that read "Suicide Pill: use only during romantic spats".

When Kairi had finally released Ryan from her deathgrip, Joyex zipped into the room Ryan was in. Apparently, the Nobody had gotten free from Sora and noticed the pill. "Is that the only one you've got?" he asked.

_Where's it written that EVERY love interest goes smoothly? Can Sora and Kairi make up before things get TOO ugly? Stay tuned…_


	132. Valentine

Chapter 132: Valentine

Radiant Garden…

The group arrived at Radiant Garden, tensions mounting high. Sora and Kairi, since their fight, had Ryan and Joyex between each other at all times.

"You SERIOUSLY don't have any more suicide pills?!" Joyex asked in disbelief.

"Unfortunately..." Ryan said to the Nobody's disappointment.

The group was about halfway to the Restoration Committee East Side's base when Crescent made his trademark appearance out of nowhere. "Hi, everybody!" he said, eagerly.

Everyone was apparently expecting this, having had the ninja spring on them multiple times. "Hi, Crescent." they said, blandly.

Crescent rubbed his chin in mock interest. "Hmm. Odd. Usually when people say that, it has a little more…FEAR!" The crazed then noticed that Joyex and Ryan were between Sora and Kairi, but looked like they'd rather NOT be there. He then looked more excited than usual as he said, "Ooh! A romantic argument! Has anyone gotten slapped yet?!"

Sora and Kairi took a VERY large step away from each other, offended by what Crescent said. Joyex, however, answered. "No, nobody's been slapped…yet."

Crescent looked confused. "Strange. People ALWAYS get slapped in my chick flicks."

Suddenly, an all-too-familiar voice reached the entire group's ears. "THERE you are!" Blader had arrived on the scene, his metallic foot clanking on the stone ground. By what he said next, he had heard the previous sentence. "He gets those movies to try and pick up tips on how to charm Yuffie." After a brief pause, Blader added, "They don't work."

Crescent held up his finger, as though pointing something out. "And, most likely, they never will!"

Sora then noticed that Blader had his trademark shield out and scratched his head. "Blader, what's with the shield?

Blader got so close to Sora that they were virtually nose-to-nose. "THINK, Spike!" he snapped, "What do ALL your visits to this world have in common?"

Sora then slapped himself in the face as he realized what that meant. "Is there ANOTHER Crystalli invasion?" he asked.

Blader clasped his hands together, then spread out his still-folded fingers. "Well, there's an invasion, but it has nothin' to do with Crystalli." his hands sprang apart as he then said, "We're dealing with ANOTHER Heartless invasion!"

Blader pointed down at the center of the town. When they looked in that direction, an army of Heartless was, indeed, marching towards them. Petross, Luneth, Leon, and Yuffie were already fighting the creatures, but judging by their status, they weren't doing too well.

"Blader, you don't even have to ask for help!" Sora said, Ultima Weapon flashing into his hand.

"That's good." commented Crescent, "We weren't expecting you to."

When they entered the battlefield, Sora was cutting through Heartless like he had nothing to lose. However, it was starting to go to his head, because some of the Heartless he took out were what KAIRI was trying to take out. She was just in range of an Armored Soldier when Sora's Ultima Weapon came crashing down on it.

"Go find your OWN targets!" Kairi shouted.

Sora either didn't hear her or didn't care, because he simply moved on. As the battle progressed, Sora changed his target to Joyex's Heartless problem. The Nobody didn't look TOO pleased with this as he simply growled. "Don't retaliate, Joyex. Remember your cardial problems…"

As Sora charged through the battlefield, J glanced a look at him. Despite the fact he was taking out so many Heartless by himself, the numbers were starting to get to him. As he watched, it seemed that both Sora and Kairi wanted to burn some pent-up rage, because Kairi took out a Heartless that Sora had just swung at.

"Hey, that was MINE!"

Kairi simply glared at him and replied, in a tone eerily similar to Cloud, "Do I look like I care?"

Sora growled. Kairi was being such a…Goofy suddenly took out a Heartless that nearly got Sora from behind with a single spin of his shield. "Sora, you're supposed to be fightin' the Heartless, NOT Kairi."

Sora ignored this and went off to find another Heartless to strike down. The further he was away from Kairi, the better.

On the skirts of the battlefield, Pete was chuckling when he saw that Sora and Kairi were concentrating more on frustrating each other than taking out the Heartless. "Oh, this just keeps getting BETTER!" Pete said, rubbing his giant hands together, "If the brats are gonna be fightin' themselves, this should be no problem!"

Pete heard the sounds of approaching footsteps and turned. Petross and Scott were right in front of him, both popping their knuckles. "Guess again, fat stuff!" Petross corrected.

Petross charged forward like a bull and brought his massive fist into Pete's gut. The large cat's body fat, however, absorbed the blow, and left the medical officer of the Restoration Committee stunned. Pete guffawed, then sent the medical officer tumbling back with a single punch.

"Alright, chubbo, let's see how ya deal with a guy raised in the Land Down Undah." Scott challenged.

Pete sprang at the Australian and seemed to clutch him in a bear hug. "HAHA! I gotcha!" When Pete opened his arms, however, Scott was no longer there. "Wha?! Where'd he go?!"

Pete then heard a whistle and looked up to see that April had Scott by the arms and…FLYING? Pete had only seen that in comic books, but hadn't even pondered it when she dropped the Aussie over the obese cat. "Say 'g'day' to me boot!" he said.

Scott's crocodile-skin boot slammed into Pete's face, stunning him and making him howl as he clutched his nose. He then jumped off, leaving Pete dazed.

Petross walked back to Pete, massaging the side of his face and looking REAL upset. He tapped him on the shoulder again and when Pete turned around, Petross growled, "THAT hurt…"

Both Petross and Pete raised their fists, then went into a battle that resembled a fight between Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. Both tried to get a decent blow in, but they were either blocked by forearms, oncoming punches, or backtracking. The game ended when Petross got a good punch under Pete's chin and sent the fat cat's head upward on an abnormally stretched neck.

Up above, April stared at what happened below in disbelief. "Never thought that THAT could actually happen."

Back with the Heartless battle, the black creatures were coming in by the hundreds. And the fact that Sora and Kairi kept trying to get the better of each other didn't help. Slowly, the Heartless herded the entire group into a tight circle. Just as defeat was at hand, a low, gravelly voice rang through the air. "Not as good at taking out Heartless as they said." it said.

Just as everyone looked around to see where the voice came from, a crimson streak came out of nowhere and zoomed around the entire group, creating a perimeter. This thing was, there was no other word for it, ALIVE.

"What is that thing?" Riku asked, "A Heartless?"

Kairi stared at it, then saw what it was doing. "If it is, then why's it taking out its own kind?"

Kairi certainly had a point. The group certainly heard gunshots and several Heartless vanished, one at a time, each one with three bullet holes in them. Blader's face brightened up for the first time Sora had ever seen him. "I was wonderin' when he'd get back!" he said, almost gleefully.

The streak had killed off every Heartless, seemingly without difficulty and then zoomed to Pete, who still had a neck that was taller than average. The red streak slowly settled to show a man with wild, black hair, a red overcoat, gold plated boots, a red headband, and an arm with a gold claw on it. He walked over to Pete, who looked freaked out, and said one simple word… "Boo."

Pete screamed in panic at the word and vanished in a puff of darkness. Some loyal servant he was...

The rest of the Restoration Committee ran over to them and Blader was the first to get to him. "Vincent! So, uh, where've you been, Boss Man?"

Crescent appeared and held out his hand in a gesture that suggested a handshake. "Hiya, Vinnie!"

The man named Vincent held out his gun, which had three barrels. It explained why there were THREE bullet holes in the Heartless with just one shot. "You want me to shoot you again?" he asked, threateningly.

Crescent's eyes darted from between the gun and Vincent, then he came up with an answer. "Uh…no, not really."

Vincent kept his eyes on Crescent and placed his gun in a holster. "Good, because if you use any other stupid nicknames, I'll shoot you where you DON'T grow back." Crescent's hands quickly shot over his "manly area". Vincent sighed, then said, "No. The OTHER place." Crescent's hands shot over his heart and Vincent nodded slightly. "That's better."

Petross gestured to Vincent for Sora and co. "Allow me to give the introductions." the medical officer said, "THIS is the leader of the Restoration Committee East Side, Vincent Valentine."

Luneth stepped forward with a slight nod. "I went with him for a while to get some hands-on experience, but when I went to get some snacks…CRESCENT STABBED ME IN THE FOOT!"

Crescent made a gesture of mock-defense then pointed an accusing finger at Luneth. "Hey! THAT was self-defense!" the ninja paused, then added, "How I came up with self-defense, I'm currently working on."

Vincent strode over to Sora, his eyes studying every inch of him. "So, you're the Keyblade's chosen one?" he asked with mild amusement, "From what I saw, you didn't seem too capable of teamwork when you battled the Heartless."

Sora scowled at the comment. Riku noticed in an instant and decided to change the subject there and then. "Blader told us that you left. Why'd you do it?"

Vincent took his attention off Sora and answered Riku's question. "To try and get some knowledge about the Crystalli. I didn't find much at first, but I found this out. Those drones we keep fighting have no real mind of their own, unless you count some kinds…"

Joyex interrupted briefly but only to ask one question. "Wait…what do you mean 'some kinds'?"

Vincent took in Joyex, then took a piece of newspaper from the inside of his overcoat and handed it to Joyex. Joyex stared at it, open-mouthed. "Traverse Town was under attack by Crystalli." explained Vincent, "This was NOT like any Crystalli that you've encountered this far."

Kairi snatched the paper from Joyex and studied the picture of it. It was a Crystalli alright, no mistaking the substance. But unlike the common Soldiers, which were easily as big as any human, this one was HUGE: about the size of a fighter plane.

Sakuzy, unlike the others, wasn't interested in Crystalli movement. He had something to ask Petross. "So, how are the tests going?"

"Well, while I was studying Pearl, I took a blood sample." Petross took out a serringe from his pocket filled with scarlet blood and said, "THIS is a sample I took from Crescent while he was asleep..."

Crescent suddenly appeared out of the group with Vincent to interrogate the medical officer. "Wait, that was YOU?!" Crescent suddenly noticed that Petross had taken another serringe with a pink fluid inside. "Is that Pepto-Bismol?" he asked, pointing at it.

Petross' face was abnormally sour as he answered to both him AND Sakuzy. "NO. This is Pearl's blood."

Crescent snapped his fingers as though saying, "darn", which he did. "Darn! I had an ulcer…"

"Anyway, Sakuzy, I did an analysis on Pearl's blood and found out that it has tiny, microscopic crystals in them; pearl to be precise." he informed.

Sakuzy scratched his head. "Okay, what exactly are they doing?" he asked.

Petross examined the pink blood and answered, "Apparently, they enhance her healing ability by some unknown process. Where they come from, I have yet to find out…"

Sakuzy turned his attention back to Vincent. The leader of the Committee had just said something that caught his ear. "They're not just here to aimlessly destroy things. It's as if they're looking for something…"

"They're searching for this world's Pure Heart." Sakuzy answered.

Vincent stopped pacing, then turned to Sakuzy. "Pure Heart?" he asked.

Joyex then spoke up. "Yeah, they're looking for some crystal heart thing. They want to use the heart to infest the worlds with Crystalli and take over the universe. THAT'S their plan."

"You're sure of this?" Vincent asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Yeah…" Joyex then looked over at Vincent and added, "You know where it is, don't you?"

Vincent paused, then reached into his overcoat and pulled out a reddish-purple heart. "I knew what they were up to LONG before I left." he told them, "So, I took the heart with me so that they wouldn't find it at Radiant Garden. Why are you so interested in it?"

Sora stepped forward to answer Vincent's question. "We need it to change King Mickey and Queen Minnie back to normal. Then we can stop the Crystalli for good."

Vincent thought for a while, then closed his eyes and held out the heart for someone to take it. "Take it. You need it more than I do."

Sora reached for the heart, but Kairi beat him there and snatched it before Sora was even an arm's length away. THIS earned her a scowl from Sora. Vincent sighed before turning to the other members of the travelers. "Why are they fighting?" he asked, sharply.

Ryan shrugged. "We don't really know. We think it has something to do with J, though." Ryan held out the Suicide Pill and shrugged. However, he didn't even open his mouth when J smacked it out of his hand and it bounced away. "HEY! That was my only ticket out of here!"

J rolled his eyes. This was getting ridiculous.

The pill landed at Crescent's feet and the ninja picked it up, eagerly. "Hey, this looks tasty!"

Crescent opened his mouth, popped the pill in, and swallowed. For a second, he was still, then he started foaming at the mouth, made several convulsions and gags, fell to the ground, and didn't move.

Sora stared at the ninja's corpse, then said, "Wow…never thought he'd go out like that."

Sora spoke too soon, because Crescent's eyes suddenly lost the deathly veil and he coughed before propping himself back up and turning to the rest of the Committee. "WOW! THAT was tingly!" he said, oddly enthusiastic about it, "You should try it sometime!"

Vincent's voice RINGED with sarcasm. "Yeah that looks fun." Vincent looked at Sora, then at Kairi. He then turned to leave and addressed the entire group. "Get going. I believe you have a problem to get rid of at Disney Castle. And MORE than one…"

Blader, Crescent, Petross, and Luneth were soon quick to follow.

Vincent Valentine

The leader of the Restoration Committee East Side. He and Leon don't get along very well for unknown reasons. He has an immunity to age, can change into a phantom that can fly and go at super speeds. He also is a skilled gunman with a triple-barreled revolver, a machine gun, and a sniper rifle. He's an old acquaintance of Cloud and left his group to hunt Crystalli. He first appeared in _Final Fantasy VII_ 1997.

I originally thought that Vincent sounded like Leon, not having the luxury of a PS2. But, when I brought up a video from Dirge of Cerberus on Youtube, I heard him and thought "Hey, this guy sounds like Batman."


	133. NRA Nonstop Relational Battle

**Chapter 134: NRB (Nonstop Relational Battle)**

**On the Gummi Ship, Ryan and Joyex were virtually in Hell. The two were being forced to act like telephones even if Sora and Kairi were just a short distance away from each other. It was now that Ryan wished Crescent hadn't eaten his Suicide Pill. "If this keeps up, I'm gonna…"**

**Joyex then decided to have a bit of fun with Ryan, cleared his throat and proceeded to do a very good impression of Sora. "Ryan, please tell Kairi that you miss your Suicide Pill."**

**Ryan sighed as he turned to look at the unoccupied seat that was next to him. "Kairi, I miss my…hey, wait a minute!"**

**Ryan turned to look at a chortling Joyex. The Nobody had just suckered him. "Sorry, couldn't resist." the Nobody chuckled.**

**Ryan glowered at Joyex, then got up. "I'm going to bed." he grumbled, "Consider me being disconnected. I hate being people's cell phone."**

**When Ryan was out of earshot, Joyex pressed his hand into his forehead. "I hate being caught BETWEEN these things." Joyex then slumped up into his room. Another day, another MAJOR headache.**

**If you thought that THEY had an uncomfortable time, you should check out what Sakuzy, Riku, Scott, J, and April had to deal with.**

**On ONE side of the battlefield, you had Sora with Sakuzy and Scott trying to get him to drop it. Both were at the entrance of Sora's room while Sora was sitting on the edge of the bed, refusing to make eye contact.**

**"C'mon, Sora," Sakuzy reasoned, "You can't keep sniping at her forever."**

**Sora simply glanced at Sakuzy with an expression to make J proud. "Doesn't matter. She's perfectly entitled to date whoever she wants. I don't care!"**

**Sakuzy flinched, as though he had been forced to smell something foul. "Then why're you…insisting on going on with this?" Sakuzy flicked his hand at Sora to emphasize his point.**

**Scott then decided to speak up. "Look, Sora, I don't know what went on in the kitchen. I only know what I smelled."**

**Sakuzy caught on to Scott and nodded. "Yeah, I mean it's possible that they showed up at different times in the morning…" he said, casually.**

**Scott took off his hat and scratched his mess of brown hair. "What're you talkin' about?" the Aussie asked, "They were around the same time and the same age."**

**THAT was the wrong thing to say, because Sora, not wanting to hear any more, shoved the two out of his room. Sakuzy turned to Scott with a flat look and said, with a voice overflowing with sarcasm, "Way to go…"**

**Scott laughed nervously. "Oops…"**

**On Kairi's side, there was J and April trying to talk her out of trying to harass Sora. However, they were having just about as much luck with her as Scott and Sakuzy had with Sora.**

**"I understand how you feel. Don't think that I've never felt it before." J relayed, "I once had a girlfriend I thought was going out with someone…"**

**April bit her bottom lip. THIS wasn't helping too much judging by Kairi's expression, which hardened a decent bit. "I think what J is TRYING to say is that…"**

**Kairi cut April off in mid-sentence. "I KNOW what J is saying! Sora is being the biggest drama queen I've EVER seen."**

**J and April both rolled their eyes. Kairi wasn't listening to them. "So are you. No offense." April said, ignoring Kairi's response.**

**Where were Riku, Donald, and Goofy in all this? Riku was playing messenger boy between the two armies (which were working together), whereas Donald and Goofy were just staying out of it. Riku sighed, then asked, "Why did I end up with this job?!"**

**"We drew straws for it and you got the longest one." Donald answered.**

**  
Goofy then whispered to Donald, "But that straw was telescoping, Donald."**

**The next sentence Donald said came from the corner of his mouth. "Quiet, you big palooka…"**

**The four then had a midnight meeting in the main hull. "Anything?" Sakuzy asked.**

**"You first." J suggested, "Why's Sora fighting with Kairi?"**

**Sakuzy sighed. He always hated romantic spats, though not enough to poison himself. "Apparently, Sora's angry with Kairi because he thinks she has a crush on you."**

**J's eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. "That's a lie!" J snapped, catching everyone off-guard, "I've only loved ONE girl in my life and I promised myself I would NEVER love another one."**

**J's gloved hand grasped a silver locket around his neck that looked like a heart impaled on a sword. Sakuzy hadn't noticed it until now, probably because the shapeshifter hid it under his shirt, but he decided to ignore it for the time being.**

**"Now it's YOUR turn, mate and sheila." Scott said with a gesture, "Why's Kairi havin' a fit with Sora?"**

**"Because she thinks Sora's being overly dramatic while being so herself. I mean, Sora was just not thinking straight." April said, pointing it out.**

**Sakuzy gulped, then seemed to check himself for some sort of object. When nothing was there, he seemed okay for the moment, save the fact that he sighed. "We are NOT gonna be in for a good time." he grumbled...**

**Riku then walked in with Donald and Goofy. "Disney Castle's approaching and I HATE trying to make small talk between two people in a fight."**

**J adjusted the angle of his sunglasses and emitted a small, almost unnoticeable, scoff. "Welcome to MY world."**

**Meanwhile, Joyex and Ryan were playing cards on a coffee table with Ryan wearing sunglasses and Joyex wearing a baseball hat. "I bet five." Ryan said, throwing in a few gambling chips.**

**"I'll see that five and raise ya ten." Joyex agreed.**

**Riku noticed the two and raised an eyebrow. "What're you doing?"**

**Ryan and Joyex looked up and answered the question. "We're gambling on whether someone will get slapped." Ryan said.**

**Joyex also added, "Yeah. And so far, things seem to be going MY way."**

**There was suddenly a siren blare and they knew that the final battle was going to be held.**


	134. Chrysallis

_**Boy, this is the first time I've been able to update in a while! During that time, Loony celebrated his 14**__**th**__** birthday.**_

Chapter 135: Chrysallis

Disney Castle…

When the group arrived at Disney Castle, the place was virtually unrecognizable. "Crikey! What a state!" Scott said in surprise.

"Crikey! What a state!" was the best sentence to describe the castle's current condition. It was COMPLETELY different from what it used to be. Most of the castle remained untouched, probably due to the Cornerstone, but the town and the area outside of it were crystals and spires that looked like ice.

"What have they done to this place?" Sora asked in shock.

"Looks like they, if 'they' means the Crystalli, turned the place into a crystalline wasteland." Ryan answered.

Sora moved forward, but before Ryan had time to step forward, he heard someone clear her throat. He turned and was quickly immobilized by a look from Kairi. "How come Sora has to act like the leader all the time?" Kairi asked, grouchily.

"C'mon, Kairi, isn't it obvious?" April asked, trying to brighten the room, "He's jealous and wants to prove himself. That's all."

Kairi walked past April as though she wasn't there, but clearly heard her. "Well, it's not working. I'm NOT going to listen until HE comes to ME and apologizes. Understand?"

As April watched Kairi, a blast from the past came to her mind. A while ago, she and Scott had a little squabble eerily similar to the one going on with Sora and Kairi. J thought it was stupid and tried to get the two back together again. A few times, it failed, but then J brought out his secret weapon… _Is THIS what happened when J was trying to get me and Scott back together?_

Meanwhile, Chrysallis was watching them from the highest tower. His mouth was curved into his crooked smile and his eyes shifted to the visitors. "And when I looked out, I saw Sora and Kairi." the Crystalli leader chanted, "S-O-R-A is how his name is spelled, and for me, that spells NAUGHTY." After the word, "naughty", the Crystalli turned on his heel and slowly walked out of the tower.

The inside of the castle was almost exactly the same as Sora remembered it. Sora summoned the Ultima Weapon and heaved it over his shoulder. "Let's get rid of Chrysallis and put everything back to normal. I'm going to enjoy running my Keyblade through his heart…"

Sora walked forward, but Sakuzy stopped him by grabbing his shoulder. "Sora, you CAN'T kill Chrysallis like that." he said.

Sora was taken aback by this, seeing as Sakuzy was the one who wanted to kill the mad crystal man. "What?! Why?"

"Because I've already killed him before…twice as a matter of fact." Sakuzy answered, "And he keeps coming back."

Donald then walked forward. "Don't worry. If we could find ways take down Maleficent, Xehanort's Heartless, AND Organization XIII, we can find a way to take out this weirdo. What could happen?"

The large door slowly creaked opened to reveal an army of Crystalli. They consisted entirely of Crystalli Soldiers, but there was a LARGE number of them. Donald's eyes widened as the Soldiers aimed their gun arms at them.

"You had to ask, didn't you?" J asked. The shapeshifter charged at the Crystalli with Scott, Ryan, and April in hot pursuit. When they did, the Soldiers opened fire, but not one shot hit the superhumans.

Scott slid right between a Soldier's legs, then seized it by the gun arm. With a heave, he began to use the Crystalli as a shield against the oncoming Crystalli Shells. He actually ducked under two Shells that had been fired at him from opposite ends and the result was that the two Soldiers shot each other down.

Ryan turned to Sora and the rest and asked, "Hey! How 'bout we pave the way for ya?"

Ryan dashed under and around Crystalli fire, countering fire with his solar blasts. Some intentionally knocked the Crystalli's ammo out of the air while Soldiers fell on contact with them. One almost caught Ryan, but a certain shapeshifter had other plans and brought his fist slamming into the Crystalli's "face".

After J knocked one out, he turned to the rest. "Shouldn't you be trying to defeat Chrysallis?"

Sora nodded, then he and the others ran into the throne room. Scott turned to J, a smug expression on the Aussie's face. "Crikey, J, never knew that you would turn into the brave type."

J beckoned towards the soldiers honing in on them. "Why don't you save the compliments until we've won?"

The four then charged into the horde of Crystalli, doing their best to hold them off.

Sora and co. ran into the throne room and saw Mickey and Minnie caught in their crystal cases, looking mildly surprised. Standing next to them was the hunchbacked, crooked-toothed Chrysallis. Chrysallis' gaze fell upon Sakuzy and he spread his arms as though welcoming a hug. "Why, hello, Sakuzy. Been out collecting Pure Hearts, I see? But tell me, please tell me, have you been NAUGHTY?"

Sakuzy's expression had about as much cold in it as J's. "Your time is up, Chrysallis. YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" he snarled.

If this offended Chrysallis, he didn't show it. All he did was stare and smile as he said, "Since your journey began, I've been at this castle. You could have stopped me any time you wanted, which has put me…in a particular mood…"

"At least he didn't say 'naughty'." Donald pointed out.

Keyblades sparkled to life and weapons were drawn as the odd Crystalli snapped his fingers. A small battalion of Crystalli Soldiers marched through the door. At the same time, a field of energy separated Keybladers from non-Keybladers.

"O-kay, no fighting Chrysallis for me…" Joyex said, somewhat crestfallen.

Donald turned to Joyex, then at Goofy as he said, "Let's go get 'em!"

A white light pulsated into Chrysallis' hand and formed into a crystal staff that was easily taller than he was. At that time, Sakuzy just couldn't wait anymore; he sprang. Chrysallis met his Eagle Feather Keyblade in midair with a single swing of his staff and the two continued exchanging blows. Riku and Kairi had barely taken a single step forward when Sora joined the fight without even paying a passing glance. Sora swung his Ultima Weapon with all his strength, but all he got was a parry from Chrysallis' staff.

"Trying to attack me from behind?" Chrysallis asked, "That would be rude, and NAUGHTY."

Chrysallis spun on the spot, dislodging both Sora and Sakuzy and sending the two skidding. As Sora and Sakuzy skidded across the floor, Chrysallis seemingly walked right into a stab from Riku's Way to Dawn. The ebony blade went right through Chrysallis' heart and exited his back, but the Crystalli leader simply smiled and dislodged the blade with one hand. "WHAT?!" Riku exclaimed.

Before Riku could comprehend what had happened, Chrysallis summoned a ball of blue, pulsating energy and almost hurled it at him. The Crystalli hadn't even fired when Kairi tackled Riku to the ground, the ball missing by inches.

"Do you want another diamond hand?" she asked, humorously.

Riku shuddered at the experience. He certainly did NOT want to become left-handed again.

Chrysallis turned to spot Sakuzy getting up and swung his lance at him. Sakuzy parried and barely ducked under a swing from the other side. For an old man, Chrysallis was abnormally fast and agile, because the leader of the Crystalli simply ducked under Sakuzy's own swing and jumped all the way back to the king and queen's throne in a single jump. Sakuzy growled. "I forgot how annoying it was to fight him…" he muttered.

Chrysallis didn't even have time to make a "naughty" comment when the Flowering Strength Keyblade came spinning at him like a boomerang. He retained his crooked grin as he simply shot it away with a burst of blue light. The Keyblade didn't turn into diamond, because it wasn't a living being anyway and returned to Kairi's hand in a flash of light.

Now it was Sora's turn again. The Keyblade Master jumped into the air and attempted to smash this weirdo's face in, but when he finished his swing, Chrysallis wasn't there. Instead, he was about ten feet behind Riku, who advanced on him in a heartbeat. Riku swung his Keyblade five times, each with blinding speed and coming from different directions. Not one touched Chrysallis, either being sidestepped or parried.

"Oh, Riku, you'll have to be faster than that. And be a little NAUGHTY." Chrysallis said, almost chanting.

Before Riku could strike again, Chrysallis was back at the throne again. He gathered the same blue energy orb and fired it at his closest target: Sakuzy. Sakuzy simply swatted it back at Chrysallis, who sent it back to Sakuzy until a pattern formed. "Anyone for tennis?" Sora's descendant asked.

As the orb came back at him, Sakuzy actually caught the orb on his Eagle Feather Keyblade and spun it around a few times. Finally, at the peak of his spin, he catapulted the energy at Chrysallis. Chrysallis saw it coming and jumped, half a second too slow. The orb hit the Crystalli leader right in his midsection, knocking the wind out of him. He fell to the ground, immobilized, and Sora's descendant ran towards his worst enemy and swung. At first, there was no apparent injury, but then a crystal on Chrysallis' shoulder shattered. Chalky-white blood flowed freely from the wound and it actually stayed.

Riku stared in disbelief as he asked, "What just happened here?"

"I was just as confused as you are, Riku." Sakuzy answered, then explained, "Originally, I tried simple fatal blows, but I found out that piercing the heart or lung won't kill him. I now know that I can kill him by getting rid of those crystals!"

Kairi overheard all of this and threw her Keyblade at Chrysallis in a Strikeraid, but he regained his composure and sidestepped the attack. He looked at his wound, but for some reason, kept his crooked smile as though he hadn't gotten hurt. "Though I may be hurt, it's only a setback. I'm still powerful and NAUGHTY." he said, as though he didn't have a care in the world.

Sora studied Chrysallis closely. There were still six crystals on the kook's body, each one on the upper body: chest, shoulder, and on one point, his neck. "I can believe you're naughty, but now you don't seem so 'powerful'…"

Sora sprang and missed Chrysallis again, then glanced outside the field he set up. It looked like Goofy, Donald, and Joyex could handle their current situation. They were carving through the soldiers with relative ease, just like he did at the battle of the Great Maw.

Back to business, Riku jumped and attempted to catch the easiest target: the crystal on Chrysallis' chest right over where his heart should have been. He jumped into the air and performed the Dark Break. Chrysallis blocked some of the attacks, but the Dark Break caught him on the back of his neck and caught a shard of crystal, which broke on contact. Chrysallis leaned forward as though someone slapped him on the back, yet he remained calm. Two crystals down, five to go…

Riku wasted no time when he recovered from the Dark Break and shot a Dark Firaga at Chrysallis only to see it sail right past him. Chrysallis took the moment of weakness to his advantage and thumped Riku in the midsection with his staff, sending the wielder of darkness skidding backward. He was about to target an oncoming Sora when a beam of light clipped his left shoulder and shattered another crystal. Kairi had fired a Light spell while Chrysallis had his back turned.

The attack didn't just take out another weak point, it gave Sora a chance to strike. He slammed his Keyblade into Chrysallis' face and knocked out some of the Crystalli's crooked teeth. "What do you think? Was that 'naughty' enough?" Sora asked.

Chrysallis quickly got to his feet. He only had four crystals left on his body: one in the middle of his back, one on his right shoulder blade, one on his bicep muscle, and one right over his heart. However, this didn't seem to worry him as he kept smiling, though he was missing a few teeth and had a black eye. "Oh no, my boy." he answered, "I'm afraid I'm not done being…NAUGHTY."

Suddenly, Sakuzy leapt clean over Sora with a battle cry and his Eagle Feather collided with Chrysallis' lance. Sakuzy struck again and again, hammering away at the staff in his worst enemy's hands. Sparks littered the ground and Sora took advantage of the Chrysallis' current situation. He rolled around Chrysallis, who was busy trying to fend off Sakuzy and caught him across the back, shattering two crystals. Chrysallis forced Sakuzy away and turned to face Sora with an insane smile on his face. The Crystalli raised his staff and swung down only to meet the CLANG of the Ultima Weapon.

Sora swiftly evaded the lance as it swung down a second time, but hadn't even tried to attack when Kairi beat him there. She swung Flowering Strength at his arm in an attempt to injure him, but caught the crystal on his bicep.

"Hey! He was-"

But what Chrysallis was to Sora, Kairi never found out, because the Crystalli, down to only a single crystal over his heart, swept both of them away with a single sweep. He lifted his staff and spoke again in his soft, yet pure malicious voice. "It's been a pleasure fighting you, Sora." Chrysallis admitted, "But you're too much of a risk and you'd act very NAUGHTY if I let you live…"

Sora braced himself, but nothing came except a strange force of breath. As Sora looked up, he saw that Chrysallis had the Eagle Feather Keyblade lodged into the crystal on his chest. The last crystal cracked, then broke into pieces as the Crystalli dropped his staff in defeat.

Chrysallis grinned the same, toothy grin, despite the fact that he was BADLY injured. Perhaps he thought dying was amusing, too… "Looks like my time has come to an end. But, at least I've had my time to be NAUGHTY." Chrysallis gave one last breath, then fell to the floor where he evaporated on the spot.

Around them, Chrysallis' defeat was becoming obvious. The Crystalli in the immediate fell like de-powered robots and the field around them vanished completely. Donald and Goofy jumped for joy while Joyex sighed in relief. "Glad that's over." all three admitted.

At that same time, J and the other superhumans arrived at the scene. They were VERY exhausted, but looked like they would live to fight another day. Scott looked at the fallen Soldiers and whistled, impressed. "Been busy, haven't we?" Scott asked, impressed.

Riku took in the scenery, the floors littered with defeated Soldiers and the walls laced with crystal. He turned to Sakuzy and asked, "Alright, how about we fix the King and Queen now?"

Sora walked over with a somber expression on his face. "We can't."

Riku was stunned. Sora was usually the very positive guy at times, so this was a surprise. "What do you mean we can't?" he asked.

"Sakuzy said that the Pure Hearts won't work on others without this 'Prince of Heart'." Sora answered.

Donald walked over. "Wait, if Sakuzy knows about this 'prince', he must know who it is." the duck mage turned to Sakuzy. "Do ya, Sakuzy?"

Sakuzy thought it over, then saw there was no way out of it. "Yup."

Sora suddenly turned his attention to Sakuzy. "Well, if what you say is true, who's the Prince of Heart?"

Sakuzy sighed, as though no one would believe him. "It's…" he said, uneasily, "It's…HIM!"


	135. Prince of Heart

_**In other news, I got the new Hellboy movie. IT'S AWESOME!**_

Chapter 135: The Prince of Heart

Sora suddenly turned his attention to Sakuzy. "Well, if what you say is true, who's the Prince of Heart?"

Sakuzy sighed, as though no one would believe him. "It's…" he said, uneasily, "It's…HIM!"

Sakuzy pointed and they all couldn't believe who he was pointing at. It was J. J took a step back, as though he had been shoved, then stared at Sakuzy, a trace of disbelief in his hard expression. "What did you say?" the shapeshifter asked.

"You, J." Sakuzy answered, "You're the Prince of Heart, because it did run down your bloodline."

J cocked an eyebrow as he removed his sunglasses. "What does THAT mean? Because I told you I'm NOT getting married." he reminded.

Sakuzy chuckled as he shook his head slightly. "I'm not telling." he answered, then said, "Let's put it THIS way, YOU'RE the only way Mickey and Minnie can get back to normal. You're a special person who is given one of the purest hearts."

J looked at his hands, then clenched them into fists. He looked back at Sakuzy with something a bit less than his usual glare. "No. I'm not him. My heart is anything BUT pure. I've been through and done things that ravaged it. It's over-filled with hate and grief."

Sakuzy shook his head, then countered with, "Sora and Kairi BOTH know differently. They can tell you that you're ACTUALLY wrong."

Sora instantly had the answer, but Kairi got there before him. "Even in the deepest darkness, there's a light that NEVER goes out." she told him, "Hearts grow stronger in different ways. But one thing can help strengthen a heart; suffering. It helps it accept some things and gives experience."

A sudden feeling of jealousy flowed through Sora's veins, but he hid his clenched fists behind his back and tried to look normal enough.

"She's right, J." Sakuzy said, "Just look into yourself and find that little bit of light. Just this once."

J was, at first, reluctant. Then he closed his eyes tight as though remembering something painful. Everything was dark until a small ray of light burst through. _Did someone put that there or was it there all along? _he thought to himself.

The answer came to him in a voice he hadn't heard in almost a year: a gentle, female voice. _You always had it. You just didn't look hard enough._

J couldn't believe who had spoken to him. _Maria?_ J snapped open his red eyes with fiery determination coursing through them. He then walked over to Sora and asked, "Where are the Pure Hearts?"

Sora, reluctantly, took out a sack and tossed it to J. He pulled out the Hearts and placed them around the King and Queen's statues. Around the King, he put down the white one (North Pole), the gray one (Radiator Springs), the green one (Treasure Planet), the pink one (Beast's Castle), the silver one (Gamma Quadrant), and the red one (Twilight Town). Around the queen, he put down the yellow one (Olympus Coliseum), the bronze one (Kauai), the teal one (Prydain), the dark purple one (Halloween Town), the blue one (Atlantica), and the maroon one (Radiant Garden).

"Hope this works…" J closed his eyes and raised his hands, as though praying.

At first, nothing happened, then the hearts started spinning. The hearts spun faster and faster until they became a blur of light, just like when they cured Riku. Slowly, King Mickey and Queen Minnie's diamond shells cracked like they had been struck with a sledgehammer. The cracks grew and grew until they shattered, leaving the two looking a bit dazed.

Mickey clutched his head in an attempt to make the dizziness go away as the hearts turned into beams of light and returned to their original world, but not before curing the rest of the castle's inhabitants. "Ow. What hit me?" asked Mickey, still a bit dizzy.

"Mickey!" Riku grabbed Mickey, who barely had time to register what had happened, and started swinging him around (like at the end of Kingdom Hearts II). "Good to have you back!"

Mickey exclaimed, which made Riku stop spinning him. "Well, uh, alright. Uh…where've I been?" he asked, scratching his black, furry head.

Riku laughed slightly, then put Mickey back down as Sakuzy walked over to the mousy monarch. "Chrysallis placed you AND the queen in diamond statues." Sakuzy explained, "Oh and I'm Sakuzy, and the dude with the ponytail's Joyex."

Joyex walked over, looking confused, and scratched his head. "Hey, shouldn't I be fading as the new timeline is being made?" he asked. When everyone stared at him, he said, "Just curious."

Sakuzy had no sooner heard that when he glanced around. The castle's interior hadn't changed even if Mickey did. The walls were made of diamond as was almost everything else. "DANG! The damage that Chrysallis did has already been done!" Sakuzy cursed. Sakuzy then smashed his fist into his hand, but before he could do anything else, an idea SLOWLY came to him. "I got it! We could go back in time and destroy that meteor!"

Mickey was chatting with the rest, having been introduced to J, Scott, April, and Ryan. "So, you four have different powers?" he asked.

Sakuzy nearly fell over. When he spoke, it was with an exaggerated southern accent. "I don't get no respect."

"Yes you do, Sakuzy." Sora said, "Besides, we heard you and I think it's a great idea."

Donald then spoke up. "There's a door to the past that's already here!"

"Right! The one that leads to Timeless River!" Goofy said, catching on.

"So, we go in there and destroy that meteor?" Sora asked.

Sakuzy scratched his head, then shrugged. "Why not?" He then went over to Mickey to catch his attention. "Your Majesty? Is there a door to the past here?"

Mickey thought it over, then dashed over to his throne and pushed it back, revealing the secret stairway. "It should be back at the hall of the Cornerstone." he said, pointing down the stairs.

Joyex was about to go downstairs when someone burst in front of him out of nowhere and spoke in a thick, German accent. He was a duck, but that was the first thing they noticed about him. "Hello, there!"

Ryan screamed and clutched J's face in a manner similar to a cartoon he saw once. J got him off in a similar manner—by worming him off his face, getting his feet out, and chucking the hyper-freak away.

Mickey walked over to the duck, who had a fringe of gray hair, a pair of glasses, and a lab coat on top of a pink, button-on shirt. "Professor Ludwig von Drake! Glad to see you again!"

The duck, Ludwig, shook Mickey's hand. "Glad to see that you're finally out of that diamond statue, your Majesty! And I must say…"

At that time, Sakuzy interrupted. "Can we mind the duck LATER? We have a meteor to find!" he said, surprisingly frustrated.

Ludwig paused for a while, then nodded. "Well, why didn't you say so? Let's get going, shall we?"

As the group entered the hall with the shining orb, Sora saw the familiar door that Merlin summoned not too long ago. "They still have that up?" he asked.

Riku, in a manner similar to Leon, playfully slapped Sora on the shoulder. "Why not? You once kept up a Jack o' Lantern from Halloween…LAST year."

Sora turned on this comment. "Hey, I got rid of it BEFORE we came on this journey!" he said, defensively.

"ONLY after your mom told you to get rid of it because it was rotting." Riku countered.

Sakuzy eyed the pure-white door and asked, "So, this door leads to the past?"

Ludwig nodded. "Why, it most certainly does! This should take you back to when the castle vas first being built!"

Sakuzy, realizing that everything he needed was behind this door, opened it up and forced Riku, headfirst, after saying, "Get in there already!"

Everyone then piled into the door to the past, ready to search for the one thing to change the future.

Ludwig von Drake

The King's royal scientist, Ludwig has a thick German accent and has made unusual inventions all around. He's made everything from a teleporting shower to a Super-Charged Santa Sleigh (with dual toy banks). He's a bit eccentric and his methods are usually…the wrong thing to do.


	136. Stooges and Searching

Chapter 136: Stooges and Searching

Timeless River…

Riku landed, face-first into the dirt of the past Disney Castle. When he got up, his head was lolling from side-to-side with birds twittering and flying around his head. Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked in, followed by Kairi, Sakuzy, and Joyex, finally followed by the superhumans.

Riku inspected himself and noticed that his eyes were reduced to black ovals and his wardrobe was a black-and-white version of the ones he had when he was fifteen. Kairi's wardrobe was the same when she was fourteen, Sakuzy's were virtually the same, except without his scarf, and Joyex was back in an Organization XIII jacket. The Nobody inspected himself and was abnormally glad. "Man, I miss this old thing!" he said, inspecting it.

J was the same, save losing his sunglasses and jacket, showing a long-sleeve shirt. Scott looked virtually unchanged, save when he took off his hat to show that his hair was tidy (for once). April didn't change much, either. Ryan was missing his hoodie and showed a simple T-shirt.

"Alright, guys, we've gotta find…" Sora began, but then Riku interrupted Sora's command with a VERY amusing question.

"Uh…why does the entire world look like it belongs in my grandma's video collection?"

Ryan took in this world's wacky physics, then saw a gorilla driving a car that was WAY to small for it. He laughed, but the gorilla stopped the car, stepped out, and lumbered towards Mr. Syrus. "Crud." Ryan cursed.

Ryan ran away as fast as he could, NOT wanting to face the ape. When the gorilla crossed a corner, Ryan was gone, but J was still there. "He's in THERE." The shapeshifter pointed to a manhole, where Ryan's voice came out.

"CRUD!"

The gorilla reached in, grabbed Ryan by the head, and lifted him to eye level. Surprisingly, he spoke in a low, somewhat-nasally voice that reminded him of a sophisticated worker. "You find something comical about my appearance when I'm driving around in my automobile?"

Ryan wasn't sure what to think of the ape, so he went with what he thought. "Yeah." he said, uneasily.

The gorilla eyed Ryan so close that their noses virtually touched. "Everyone needs to drive a vehicle, even if they're very huge." The ape pointed to the small car he had been driving previously and added, "THAT was the largest vehicle I could find. By therefore, you made the situation fun?"

Ryan shrugged. "I guess so."

This, obviously, wasn't the answer the gorilla was looking for, because he stammered before he replied. "Would YOU like it if I laughed at YOUR misfortune? HUH?! Maybe we should find out!" The gorilla put Ryan down on the ground, then pulled down the boy's pants, revealing tidy-whities and pointed in one direction. "Now, MARCH!"

Ryan OBVIOUSLY didn't want this, because he pulled his pants back up. "I won't march! I REFUSE to march!" he huffed. The gorilla stood up on two legs and let out a loud ROAR as he beat his chest savagely. THIS seemed to change Ryan's mind for him, because he immediately dropped his pants again. "I'll march!"

Ryan was walking down the street, followed by the ape. The rest looked weirded out by this entire experience. "Okay, that was strange..." Riku said.

J simply shrugged with casual indifference. "Ah, he had it coming to him."

Sora was searching the area with Sakuzy and Joyex. They then saw three people working on the skeleton of what would soon be the castle. One had a pudding-bowl haircut, the other had a fringe like a clown, and the last one had a shaved head. The guy with the fringe, Larry, accidentally hit the pudding-bowl man, Moe, with the end of a ladder.

Moe scowled as he pushed part of the ladder down. "Why you…" he growled.

Larry dropped the ladder and raised his hands, apologetically at Moe. "Oh, sorry, Moe! Didn't see you there!"

Moe smiled, falsely, for a second, then said, "No hard feelings." Moe then grabbed Larry by the nose and sharply brought it up, causing him to yelp in pain. "I'll slaughter ya, you lamebrain!"

When Moe released Larry, the victim clutched his nose in pain. The bald guy, Curly, laughed at this in a very funny sort of way. "Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!"

Moe slowly turned to face Curly with a grumpy expression. "What're YOU laughin' at, Curly?!" asked Moe, grouchily. He raised his fist, then clunked Curly in the forehead. The third stooge massaged the spot rapidly and gave his trademark growl as he tried to size up to Moe.

Sora laughed at what had just happened, then noticed that Joyex was gone. "Hey, where's Joyex?" he asked.

Sakuzy looked around, then gestured at a tree with his thumb. "Oh, he's hiding in a tree somewhere…he's afraid of these guys." he said.

Joyex's head popped out of the leafy cover, upside down, with his ponytail dangling like a vine. "Is it safe to come out now?" he asked, nervously.

Sora shook his head. "No."

Joyex's head returned to the canopy and Sora walked over to the Three Stooges. "Uh…excuse me?" he asked, nervously, "Have any of you guys seen a strange rock around here?"

The Three Stooges turned to face Sora and scratched their chins with surprising coordination. "Why certainly, it's right here." Moe answered. He reached down and picked up a normal rock to show Sora, but Larry didn't seem too impressed by this.

"Hey, that looks like just an ordinary rock!" Larry pointed out.

Moe then hit Larry on the head with said rock, causing the poor man to clutch the spot in pain. "Shaddup!"

Curly looked at the rock and pointed at it. "Y'know, I think he's right..." he pointed out.

"Ah, what do YOU know?" Moe then hit Curly over the head with the rock, breaking the stone in the process. Curly yelped repeatedly in pain, then growled at Moe again.

Sora shook his head and Sakuzy walked over to him. "Ah, forget it." the latter said, "These guys are useless…"

Sora and Sakuzy walked away, leaving Joyex behind. The Nobody noticed them and yelled at them as he tried to catch up. Back at the construction site, Moe scowled at them. "Ah, don't come back soon." the puddin' head scowled.

When Sora returned, J walked over to them. It was amazing how serious his cartoon-esque face looked, even here. "We've searched all over. The meteor ISN'T here!"

Sakuzy sighed in exasperation, rubbing his temples. "Ah well...Let's get outta here." he said in agreement, "This place will drive me over the deep end if we stay ANY longer!"

At that time, Ryan walked back with the gorilla off his back and looking red…er…dark gray. He pulled up his pants and fastened them tightly around him. "Oh, that blasted gorilla! I hope no one got a picture of that."

Scott, April, and Kairi walked over. "I got nothin'. Let's get outta here." Scott said, removing his hat to scratch his head.

The three then walked out, but Kairi shoved past Sora slightly. Sora growled, but held back an insult as he muttered to no one in particular. "She has issues."

J turned an eye to Sora before he left. "You found that out NOW?"

Sora paused, then left Timeless River, followed by Donald and Goofy.

The Three Stooges

Moe, Larry, and Curly are their names, causing mayhem's their game. Moe beats up on everyone, Larry says stupid things, and Curly does stupid things. They first appeared in _The Three Stooges_ 1927.

_I like the Stooges. The Stooges are FUNNY!_


	137. Further in Time

**Chapter 137: Further in Time**

**Sora and co. returned to the multi-colored time of the present to find Ludwig waiting for them, along with Mickey and Merlin. "Welcome back!" the German duck greeted.**

**Sora noticed the wizard and took a step back in surprise. "Merlin? What're you doing here?"**

**Mickey decided to answer the question rather than Merlin himself. "Well, I still remember who brought up the door to Timeless River, so I called in Merlin in case you couldn't find that meteor!"**

**Merlin adjusted his glasses a bit. "Yes, indeed. I take it that the meteorite wasn't in Timeless River?"**

**Sakuzy shook his head, disappointed. "No."**

**Merlin paused for a while, then an idea sprang to mind. "There's no doubt that the time you were looking in was wrong, but I also think that you got the wrong world. I think that it's…"**

**Sakuzy quickly caught on to Merlin in a heartbeat. "On Destiny Islands, NOT Disney Castle!" he said, eagerly, "When the ocean appeared, the pressure awakened the meteor and it spawned!"**

**J paused, then remembered something he read in a prehistory book. "In order to find the meteor, we'll have to go so far back in time that Destiny Island will still be on land."**

**"Ah, yes." Ludwig said with a nod, "Time to do a bit of digging!" Ludwig reached into his coat and pulled out a book that looked WAY too big to fit in his shirt. He flipped through the pages, then placed his finger on a spot with an "ah-ha". "Here we are! According to this book, Destiny Island wasn't always an island. It was part of a mainland in the Mesozoic Era."**

**Upon looking at the group's confused faces, Merlin decided to handle things from there. "I think it would be best if I just summon the correct door…"**

**Merlin waved his hands and, in a puff of smoke, a door appeared next to the one for Timeless River, only it was more…archaic. The door was much larger than the one for Timeless River and made of solid stone, possibly limestone. It was rectangular in shape, looked like a push-only door, and had various fossils embedded in its surface.**

**J's voice was about as good as a smirk. "I think I might like this world…"**

**Sakuzy went up to the door and traced the dinosaur skull on one of the doors. "This'll take us to Destiny Islands in the ancient past." he said to no one in particular.**

**"I wonder what it'll be like, or what'll happen…" Sora said. He placed his hands on the stone door and, with a strenuous heave, pushed it open. A light engulfed the entire group and when it cleared, they were gone.**

_**Where are they going? Oh, YOU'LL see! And YES, it IS a Disney movie.**_


	138. With the Herd

Chapter 139: With the Herd

Destiny Waste…

_Several winged reptiles flew around and a herd of large creatures thundered past, leaving the stony words 'Destiny Waste' in their paths. The words stayed for a while, then crumbled._

Sora got up and saw that everyone now had scaly skin, but he, Riku, and Kairi were now taller than most. They had heavily nailed fingers with a thumb spike on each hand and a row of small spines down their backs. Riku's scales were black, Sora's were a shade of reddish brown, and Kairi's were purple. The three of them had turned into a species of dinosaur known as iguanodon. Out of the three, Riku was the biggest and Kairi was the smallest.

Sora looked himself over to take in his new dinosaurian appearance and what he said was VERY true. "I've changed into a merman, a lion, a vampire, a car, a mouse, AND a toy, but this seems a bit more dramatic."

Though Sora, Kairi, and Riku virtually looked the same, there were some differences between them—Sora had a spiky head crest of sorts that looked like his hair and kept his crown-shaped necklace, Kairi had her Thalassa Seashell necklace that was the keychain for Oathkeeper, and Riku had a necklace that looked like the Heartless symbol. But when Sora turned, expecting MORE iguanodon, he was QUITE surprised at the diversity of the group.

Sakuzy, unlike Sora, had copper scales and was shorter and more heavily built than Sora, Kairi, and Riku. He also had a parrot-like beak, a bony frill with several spikes coming out, and a single rhinoceros-esque horn on his nose. He kept his Kingdom Key necklace and walked on four, column-like legs like a rhinoceros. He turned into a styracosaurus. When he looked at Joyex, he moved in a manner that said "YES!" "Finally! I'm taller than Joyex!" he cheered.

Joyex was, indeed, far smaller than Sakuzy. He was bipedal and had sharp claws on his three-fingered hands and three-toed feet. His long snout was filled with sharp teeth and he was a dark-blue color. He was about as big as a large dog, but no more. He also had several pinfeathers on the back of his head that looked like his ponytail. He was a Velociraptor. He compared himself to Sakuzy and shook his head. "Great. I'm a pipsqueak." he said, crestfallen.

This wasn't true, because Joyex was NOT the smallest: Donald was. The duck-mage no longer had feathers, but a downy fur all over his body. He had small, bat-like wings suspended on a VERY long fourth finger and three fingers that may have been used to cling to things or walk. He also had a long, arrow-shaped tail and was about the size of an eagle. He kept his hat and head, though. He was a small pterosaur.

Goofy was the third smallest now, right behind Joyex and Donald. He had the symbol of his shield on his back, which was now covered in thick, bony scutes. The royal knight was easily as heavily built as Sakuzy, and kept his head and hat like Donald. He had black scales while his shell was green, and he had a long, stiff tail with a bony club on the end. He was a small ankylosaur.

Donald looked Goofy over, then roosted himself on the knight's back. "Well THIS was easy to see coming…"

Goofy got a better look at himself and his head dropped slightly. "Oh, how come I'm always something like a turtle?" he asked.

Back to descriptions…

Ryan had a build similar to Joyex, only he was taller and ganglier, had a long neck and beak, like an ostrich, and a look that suggested he was built for speed. His build for speed was emphasized by powerful hind legs and smaller forelimbs. He was an ostrich dinosaur (Gallimimus, to be precise). He saw what he had turned into and groaned. "GREAT! I look like a giant chicken!"

April was a pterosaur, just like Donald, only there were QUITE a few differences between the two. Donald was tiny while she was much larger, like comparing the wingspans of an eagle and a hang glider. She didn't have a tail, but did have a long, stork-like beak and neck. She looked at her wings and moved them awkwardly as she tried to walk. Nothing alive in her world moved like a pterosaur, except bats or a man on crutches. _THIS is going to be a problem…_ she thought to herself.

Scott was slightly smaller than Sakuzy, his frill had only two spikes that curved downward slightly, and his parrot-like beak only had a bony stump instead of a horn. He was what paleontologists would call a "pachyrhinosaur": thick-nosed lizard. He stared, cross-eyed at the lump on his nose. "Crikey, this is weird."

"Uh, little help here?" The group turned to see a black dinosaur that could only be J, struggling to get back up on its feet. Scott shrugged.

"A'ight, here ya go, mate…" Scott went over to his fallen comrade and heaved him back to his feet. When he turned to face them, Donald, Goofy, and Joyex screamed.

J was a bit larger than Sora and Kairi, but only by a foot or two. He had little arms that looked just about useless, as there appeared to be no forearms; the hands just grew out of the elbow joint. He also had black scales that had little, bony thorns going down his back. He still had red eyes as well as a pair of short horns that stuck outward like a bull's over each eyebrow. To make things better, for him anyway, he had a mouthful of teeth and bore surprising resemblance to Tyrannosaurus rex. He was a carnotaur. (Skull Island residents came to Sora's mind)

As J looked himself over, he cocked his head as though he was shrugging. "Well, I was hoping for a T-Rex, but this'll do."

Before Sora could take in where they were, a heavily built iguanodon with a horn-like lump on his nose plowed over Ryan. Oddly enough, the iguanodon looked down at him and growled at him. "Stay out of my way!" it roared.

Ryan picked himself up before ANOTHER Iguanodon knocked him over again. He had a bony stump on his nose and his coloring was black with orange splotches. "You heard Kron! Move it!" it said, easily as angry.

Sora looked past the two iguanodon and saw a herd of dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. Some of them were small enough to slide under his legs while others were bigger than Riku. Ryan didn't seem to pay attention, because he picked himself up and glowered at the iguanodon that was leading the way. "I guess this is before MANNERS were invented!" he said, grouchily.

As Sora looked through the herd, he spotted something: someone in a similar situation. It was another Iguanodon with a blue row of spines lost in the herd and not quite sure what to do. He also had a group of four lemurs on his back.

Sora didn't have time to greet it, because there was a tremor like a small earthquake. When Sora turned to see what it was, he found it: a large creature with a HUGE amount of neck was lumbering past them. It was taller than a certain ruler of Skull Island, over forty feet tall, and had a small head WAY at the top of the neck. J clearly remembered this creature: a brachiosaurus. The brachiosaur actually walked OVER the small herd, most members actually passing under her legs: it was THAT tall.

Following the brachiosaur was a styracosaur similar to Sakuzy, but looked a lot older due to its thick spikes, aged skin, and dulled nose horn. Accompanying it was a small ankylosaur similar to Goofy. The elderly styracosaur then spoke to them in an elderly, female voice that would have belonged to a black woman. "Walkin' backwards?" she asked, "Well, let me know if that gets you there any faster." She then called to the Ankylosaurus, who was carrying a hunk of rock in its mouth like a dog would a bone. "Keep those little legs movin', Url! Or you'll get left behind!"

The entire group, as well as the lost iguanodon, looked at the herd from a hilltop. Three of the lemurs on the blue iguanodon's back got up. One was small and apparently female, judging by her voice, the next one was elderly and male, another was a younger female that was possibly the old male's offspring, and the last one was a young male and had blonde fur, as opposed to the rest who had white fur with brown splotches.

"Look at all the 'Aladars'." the girl lemur said in awe.

The old male lemur seemed to be addressing the iguanodon they were riding on. "If you're even THINKING about going with them, I'm…"

The blonde lemur then started as a pack of raptors, similar Joyex, only with blue scales with pale yellow undersides appeared and snarled. The Nobody eyed them, then laughed nervously. "Uh…hey, homies?"

One of the raptors simply snarled at him, scaring the wits out of Joyex.

"If we want to survive, we'll have to go with these guys." Sora said, looking after the herd, "They have to be going somewhere…"

Sora and co. then ran into the group. J and Joyex seemed to retreat a little bit.

"Uh…Sora DID remember that the two of us are predators, right?" Joyex asked, looking up at the obsidian carnotaur.

"Not likely." J replied. He and Joyex simply walked in a manner that didn't suggest that they were stalking. They wanted to avoid attention from the herd, especially with reputations like theirs.

As Sora and co. followed the herd, the group came to a place where the two Iguanodon with horns were standing. Oddly enough, a female Iguanodon was standing next to the one with the lump: the one the MORE hideous Iguanodon referred to as Kron. This Iguanodon had a lavender back and looked pretty normal, as opposed to her brother.

"There's a more protected place further down…" the black iguanodon said, but "Kron" cut him off.

"We'll rest HERE for the night. Go ahead, Bruton."

The Horned iguanodon, Bruton, paused for a while, then emitted a low, guttural bellow. Almost immediately, the herd started settling down. The elderly Styracosaurus, the Ankylosaurus, and the Brachiosaurus stopped around the edge of the area. The Brachiosaurus, to everyone's surprise spoke in an elderly, British accent that could have belonged to a grandmother. "Oh, such chaos. So much pushing and shoving, just for a place to sleep." she said in what appeared to be disbelief.

The Styracosaurus, Eema, lumbered towards Baylene. "C'mon, Baylene." she said, "You've got big feet, just give 'em a KICK." She then kicked a small creature with spikes around its face and a bony skull. In an instant, the creature scrambled away.

Baylene flinched at what Eema did and said, "Oh, I couldn't!" From Baylene's point of view, the small creatures were about the size of cockroaches. She clearly didn't want to step on them as she simply moved her foot and said, "Uh…shoo. Shoo."

Eema rolled her amber eyes as she said, "Oh, come on, Baylene. If you wanna get to the Nesting Grounds ALIVE, show some backbone."

Scott then walked up to her. "G'day!" he greeted. Eema screamed in surprise and turned to face the thing who spoke to her. J and Joyex decided to stay in the back, whereas Scott said, "Er…sorry."

Sora and co. went towards the three. "Hey, we're new around here." he explained, "I'm Sora. And these are Donald, Goofy, Riku, Sakuzy, Joyex, Scott, Ryan, and April."

Kairi growled as she realized that he left her out…on purpose, too. "And I'm Kairi." she added.

The other Iguanodon with the lemurs on his back ran forward. "Uh, hi. I was just-"

But what the iguanodon was just doing, they never found out. Url, the ankylosaur had dropped his rock at his feet and panting like a dog and hopping around like an eager puppy. "Well, would you look at that?" Eema said in surprise, "Url doesn't warm up to strangers that fast…"

Baylene sniffed the lemurs on Aladar's back, then sneezed from the amount of dander she inhaled. "What an unfortunate blemish…" she said, sympathetically.

"A good mud bath will clean that RIGHT up." Eema pointed out.

The old lemur, Yar, apparently didn't approve of being called a "blemish". "Excuse ME?" he asked, offended.

Eema snorted in surprise and the new iguanodon laughed. "He's my grandfather. Heh. Couple times removed…"

The blonde lemur, Zini, obviously thought THAT was the understatement of the year. "Try a couple species removed." he said in a tone eerily similar to Joyex.

The young iguanodon then thought it was the perfect time for introductions. "I'm Aladar. This is my family. We're…all that's left."

THIS earned a gasp from Sakuzy. "What happened?" he asked, curiously.

Aladar turned to the group and lowered his head. The young lemur, Suri, buried her face into her mother's chest and quietly cried as Aladar explained. "I lived on an island once and things were perfect for me. Then a fireball came from the sky and crashed into the sea. A wave of fire destroyed our island, but we barely escaped. We wandered the mainland and were attacked by THOSE things and we're right here now." Aladar beckoned toward a group of raptors squabbling amongst themselves.

Aladar's story struck a chord with Baylene, because the brachiosaur's expression turned very sorrowful. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

Eema walked towards Aladar and her voice suddenly grew solemn as she explained, "Baylene's the last of her kind. Finding stragglers like her all along the way."

Sakuzy then walked over to Eema and said, "I know how THAT feels. I'm the last of my…old herd, too."

The adult female lemur, named Plio, brought something up. It was something that she had heard Eema mention once. "I heard you say something about 'Nesting Grounds'."

Eema's eyes misted, as though she was having a VERY pleasant thought. "It is THE most beautiful place there is, child." she explained, "It's where the herd goes to have their babies."

The youngest lemur, Suri, then decided to speak up. "Will there be anyone…like us there?"

Eema glanced at Aladar and his family, then at Sora and co. before smiling. "These last few days, I've seen 'em come in all shapes and sizes."

Sakuzy turned to the others and spoke in a hushed voice to make sure the others didn't hear him. "That sounds, to me, like that's gonna be the place where the meteor's gonna be."

It worked. Eema didn't appear to hear him, because she pointed out, "Our only problem NOW is just gettin' there."

"And we're being driven unmercifully." Baylene added, "We have to keep up and, for an elderly woman like myself, it's positively indecent."

Sora decided, at this time, to enter the conversation. "So…who's this slave driver?" he asked.

Eema's voice rang with sarcasm as she answered, "Kron. The herd's head honcho."

"Well, sounds like WE need to talk to him." Sora said, feeling surprisingly brave.

Aladar had to agree. "How bad could he be?" he asked.

Url suddenly whimpered and waddled away as Kron, Bruton, and the female Iguanodon walked past. Kron snorted at them like a rhinoceros and brushed Aladar and Sora as he passed. "Hey!" Sora said, barely catching himself.

"What's HIS problem?" Aladar asked.

Eema beckoned to the iguanodon up front with her blunted horn. "That's HIM, honey. Kron."

Aladar sort of shrugged, then said, "I'll just talk to him."

Aladar and Sora trotted over to the three and Sakuzy suddenly got a bad feeling in his gut. "Why do I feel like this is a BAD decision?" he asked the others.

Sora and Aladar quickly caught up to the three iguanodon. Sora had gotten used to this body already, the only problem being his size.

"Excuse me! Kron! Got a second?" Aladar called.

Kron stopped upon being addressed, but Bruton turned and Sora saw that he had a tough look about him. He was also rude, judging by the way he spat his next sentence at him. "Get lost, kids."

Kron chuckled slightly at his colleague's behavior, then said, "Relax, Bruton." Bruton growled before backing down. Kron then walked over to Sora and Aladar and looked them in the eye. "Who are YOU?"

Both hesitated, but answered Kron's question nonetheless. "I'm Sora."

"Aladar."

Kron nodded, then asked, "Then WHY are you two not in with the…" He noticed the four lemurs on Aladar's back, which were waving nervously at him. "Uh…young bloods?" he finished. Kron gave the little primates a rude snort before returning his focus to Sora and Aladar.

"Well, we were back THERE, talking to these guys." Aladar answered. He jerked his head towards Eema, Baylene, and Url. Eema seemed to be trying to hide from Kron by going behind Baylene's leg.

Sora nodded as he continued for Aladar. "And it looked like they were having a bit of a hard time keeping up, so could you slow things down a bit?"

Kron didn't seem to take the two seriously as he asked, "Hmm…let the WEAK set the pace? Now there's an idea." Kron turned to leave, but not before giving them an order that neither liked. "From now on, let the position of leadership go to ME, Sora and Aladar."

As Kron walked away, Aladar seemed pretty ticked by this. "Hey! They need help back there!"

Kron chuckled before turning to Aladar. "Watch yourself, boy." he warned.

Kron and Bruton left, but the female iguanodon turned to the two. Her voice, though somewhat kind, had a taste of sarcasm. "Don't worry, that's how my brother treats newcomers." She then added another sentence, aimed at Aladar, "No matter how charming they are."

The other iguanodon left the two. Sakuzy heard the whole thing and looked a bit ticked off by this as he said, "THAT guy has issues…"

Eema, on the other hand, walked over to Aladar and advised, "I wouldn't be gettin' friendly with anyone. Especially Neera."

Now that Sora thought about it, Aladar did seem a bit nervous around the female Iguanodon, who Eema called "Neera". At the wrong time, J and Joyex walked in. Eema seemed a bit afraid of the two and snorted in an attempt to chase them off. Joyex screamed in fright while J simply snarled back at her. Fortunately, the black carnotaur caught himself before things got TOO violent.

"Don't worry, we WON'T harm you! I'd cross my heart, but my arms are biceps with claws." J assured her. Eema cast a suspicious eye at J, then dismissed him.

Joyex, after his little flinch, was snarling at Kron, who had his back turned to him. Yar seemed pretty ticked off by this, too. "And we have to take orders from HIM?!" the lemur asked.

Joyex shook his head, then answered, "Looks like it, gramps. And I'm NOT happy about it!"

Eema walked over to the two and chuckled. "Kron has swatted flies bigger than you two." she told them, "Nothin' to do except keep your head low."

Yar decided to throw another comment at Eema. "I could hold that monster's brain in the PALM OF MY…" Yar never finished, because Aladar seemed to submit to Kron's ways.

"No, Yar, she's right." he said, looking over behind them.

Scott decided to further Aladar's sentence. "Better to be takin' orders from a demanding tyrant than bein' eaten by, uh…" Scott jerked his head towards Joyex, who seemed confused. Scott tried wording this without sounding offensive to the Nobody. "Joyex's…uh…kind."

Eema chuckled, then turned her attention to three raptors that were STILL squabbling amongst themselves. "You should consider yourselves lucky that his kind's ALL that's followin' us…"

Aladar

A young iguanodon who was raised by lemurs. He and his family were the only survivors when a comet's blast front killed everyone on Lemur Island. He's courageous, believes no one should get left behind, and is a strong believer in teamwork. He first appeared in _Dinosaur_ 2000.

Zini

Aladar's fellow bachelor. He's tried getting a girl every year during the courtship ceremony and failed. He's wisecracking, enjoys messing with love (hence the nickname, "The Love Monkey"), and can be a bit exaggerative. He first appeared in _Dinosaur_ 2000.

Suri

Zini's younger sister. She's sweet, is a good friend of Aladar's, and enjoys playing with the giant dinosaur. Other than that, she's playful, fun-loving, and sweet. She first appeared in _Dinosaur_ 2000.

Plio

Suri and Zini's mother. She's a kind lemur who adopted Aladar the day he hatched. She doesn't believe in giving up and has a warm soul for those in a tough situation. She first appeared in _Dinosaur_ 2000.

Yar

Plio's dad and Aladar's adoptive grandfather. He uses bluster to hide the fact that he's a nice guy. He actually suggested killing Aladar when he appeared on Lemur Island, but decided not to. He first appeared in _Dinosaur_ 2000.

Eema

An elderly Styracosaurus who has been with the herd longer than any other member. She's Url's owner and is as grouchy as Yar, only a bit more positive. She first appeared in _Dinosaur_ 2000.

Baylene

An elderly Brachiosaurus who's a bit of a pacifist. She's a bit more merciful than Eema and is the last of her kind. She has a sensitive soul and seems to have a few insecurity issues despite her size. She first appeared in _Dinosaur_ 2000.

Url

An Ankylosaur who acts more like a dog than a dinosaur. He is always seen around Eema and keeps carrying a rock wherever he goes. He's a sturdy, little reptile and is easily entertained. He first appeared in _Dinosaur_ 2000.

Kron

The head honcho of the herd. He's ruthless, brutal, and MANIACAL…wait, scratch that last one. He's Neera's older brother and believes that the weak should be left behind and that only the strongest should survive. He first appeared in _Dinosaur_ 2000.

Bruton

If Kron were the MCP, this nasty piece of work would be Sark. He's more brutal, vicious, merciless, and uglier than Kron. He sometimes questions the leader of the herd, but will give out his orders without question. He first appeared in _Dinosaur_ 2000.

Neera

Kron's younger and less brutal sister. She's kinder towards the rest of the herd and is just…unsure of what her brother is doing to them. It appears as though she wants to follow her brother, but is now starting to question him. She first appeared in _Dinosaur_ 2000.

Raptors

Nasty little predators of Destiny Waste, they roam the desert for any scraps of meat. And that could be anything from a dead carcass to a straggling dinosaur. They hunt in packs so that they can take down even LARGE prey like iguanodon. They first appeared in _Dinosaur _2000.

_2000 was a REAL good year for movies. The Emperor's New Groove, Dinosaur, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and MANY others!_

_You gotta give Disney credit on this movie. You can tell that they actually did RESEARCH on dinosaurs, because they didn't go with the common Apatosaurus, T-rex, or Triceratops._


	139. Gaining Meals and Water

Chapter 140: Gaining Meals and Water

The next morning, Joyex scuttled up to Sora's sleeping form and saw Zini doing the same thing with Aladar. "Sora…wakey, wakey!" he said, trying to coax Sora away. The raptor poked Sora in the side with one of his claws. Sora twitched slightly before falling asleep again. Frustrated, Joyex got onto his back. "Wake up, you lousy mass of lizard!" he barked, "The herd's moving out!"

Joyex stomped on Sora out of simple rage and it was MORE than enough to wake him. Sora bellowed slightly, because Joyex accidentally jammed his sickle-claw into Sora's back. "OW!"

"Oh, sorry!" Joyex apologized.

Sora had suddenly gotten up, leaving Joyex dangling from Sora's back by his claws. The Keyblade Master had enough of the pain, so he got to his feet then turned to face the raptor. "Take out the claws." he said through gritted teeth.

Joyex let go of Sora with a VERY apologetic look and dropped to the ground. As Sora and Joyex joined up with Aladar, Zini saw Bruton standing next to an Iguanodon who was just waking up. "Rise and shine! Kron says everybody goes." The Iguanodon struggled to get up, but apparently not to Bruton's liking. He shoved the less fortunate dinosaur in an attempt to get him back on his feet. "Come on, get up. ON YOUR FEET!"

Both Zini and Joyex's voices had an edge of sarcasm in them. "Heh. The charm never stops around here." Zini said.

"I can believe it." Joyex agreed.

Bruton snorted before turning to the two nearest people—Sora and Aladar. He clearly thought that THEY were the ones who spoke as he asked, "You say somethin'?"

Joyex instantly hid, seeing as he knew that his kind were predators. And carnivorous raptors in a herbivorous herd did NOT mix.

"Uh…no, sir." Aladar said, almost buckling under Bruton's glare.

Bruton threw a nasty look to the three, his face clenched. He obviously didn't believe that, because he said, "Unless you both have a death wish, you and that little parasite had better GET MOVING!"

When the slave driver…I mean Bruton, was out of earshot, Zini decided to hop out. "Sheesh! Is that guy ugly or what?" he asked.

Meanwhile, Scott woke up to sunlight then heaved himself to his feet and accidentally knocked over Ryan. The ostrich dinosaur tumbled forward as the two-ton creature accidentally bowled him over. "OH! Sorry, mate!" Scott apologized.

Ryan lay there, sprawled out on the ground and his right leg twitching feebly. April, who hadn't gotten the hang of flying in this form, stared at the ostrich dinosaur. "Can't…move!" Ryan said in a strained voice.

Scott was apologizing over and over again when J decided to wake everyone else up. He had been DYING to do this now. He inhaled and emitted a low growl, making the rest almost jump to their feet. Donald actually flew into the air and landed on Goofy, shuddering. "O-kay…maybe I overdid it."

Donald then started hovering around J's jaws in a towering temper. "MAYBE?!"

J then snapped his jaws shut, causing Donald to flutter away in fright. Riku gave J a bit of a glare that didn't really seem to intimidate the carnotaur. "DON'T do that again." the Prince of Darkness said, glowering at J.

Kron and Bruton stood at the top of a hill and looked out at what it led to. Kron glanced at Bruton, whispering something in his partner's ear. "We have a lot of first-timers. Tell them what they should know. We stop for nothing and no one."

Bruton followed Kron's order without question and turned to the rest of the herd. "If this is your first crossing, listen up!" he barked. Ryan, Donald, and Goofy gulped at this. THIS obviously didn't bode well… "There is no water till we reach the other side!" Bruton told them, "And you'd better keep up, 'cause if a predator catches you, you're on your own! Move out!"

As Sora's group neared the top of the hill, they saw a great, barren expanse of sand and barren rock that was MILES wide. Baylene looked worried for both the journey and what it might bring… "Oh my. It looks like a very long walk…" she said, wide-eyed.

"AND hot!" Eema pointed out, then started moving out with the rest of the herd. "If you smell somethin' sizzling, could be ME." she added.

Sakuzy looked pretty shocked by this as he said, "So, they're sending US into Hell."

Ryan nodded. "Looks like it." Ryan seemed to want to take off at super speed, but went at just forty miles an hour. He stopped and looked a bit confused at how slow he was going compared to his regular speed. "Uh…how come I'm not at the front of the herd already?" he asked.

J then walked over. He and Joyex decided to lag behind to keep the herd's attention off them. "It's because the gene that gave us our powers hasn't come into existence yet." he explained, "Humans aren't around at this time, so…the human gene we have is useless."

Ryan then made a pought and sat down, stubbornly. "In THAT case, I'm not going!" he pouted, "Without my super speed, I'm NOTHIN'!"

Riku scoffed as he walked past. "Alright, if you wanna get eaten by those raptors, then be my guest." he pointed out, "Most likely, you'll be dead before sunset."

Ryan turned to the back of the herd and noticed the Velociraptors were looking at them in manners that suggested that they were…very hungry. THAT changed his mind in a heartbeat and the ostrich-dinosaur moved out with the rest of the herd.

Eema and Baylene were both right about this desert crossing. It was tiring, hot, and their thirst level increased after day one. One day, Kron looked up at the sun's position and noticed something. "They're moving too slow." he pointed out.

Bruton grunted in approval. "I'll pick up the pace." Bruton turned to the herd and issued another loud bellow. The herd understood this and they had to speed up.

Donald, perched atop Sakuzy's forehead scowled at Kron. "I HATE this Kron guy…" he said, grumpily.

"Feeling's mutual." Sakuzy said to the duck mage, "Now, how 'bout you get in the shade?"

Donald got what Sakuzy was talking about and got behind his spiky frill. At least he could get away from the sun here…

The desert sun was relentless as the herd continued trudging through. Sora and Aladar's group all lost count of how long they had been traveling already. And being hot, tired, and with water deficiency could even make a dinosaur have problems. Case and point—Sora accidentally swayed into Kairi due to tiredness. She almost fell down with him, and yet, Sora's very presence made the female iguanodon snarl.

"Watch it." she hissed.

Sora regained his balance and allowed a distance to increase before calling after her. "You watch it!"

Sora continued, despite his condition, and keeping his eyes OFF Kairi at all times. Joyex and J were watching the scene, Joyex looking sarcastic while J looking…well, casual.

"And this is supposed to HELP them?" the raptor asked, impatiently.

J snarled as he glowered down at the raptor, forcing the little predator to duck to the ground. "I didn't say anything. Remember?"

Joyex shook his head, vigorously as he said, "No, sir…"

Night fell over the desert like a blanket and Eema seemed to be going off-course, but Yar, who was in the shade of her frill along with Zini, Plio, and Suri, patted her side. "Whoa, girl, you're wandering off a bit." he pointed out.

Eema gave a wheezy laugh; a sign of her weakness. "That's just what I need—a monkey on my back." she said, sarcastically.

Sakuzy didn't even bother telling her that Yar was a lemur, NOT a monkey. He hadn't even mustered the urge when he bumped into Aladar. When he regained himself, he saw that Aladar and Ryan were staring at a Gallimimus, who apparently died from either exhaustion or thirst. Ryan gulped before Sakuzy nudged the two, wanting them to keep going. Aladar casually went on while Ryan shuffled around it, then darted off in fright.

Joyex and J looked at the corpse like it was the most delicious food in the world. "Hello!" Joyex said, eagerly licking his chops. Joyex then couldn't hold himself back. He dug his teeth into it and tore out a sizeable chunk of meat. He flicked it down his throat and smacked his "lips". He then said something similar to a father of a certain "Simpson" family. "Mmm…cadaver…"

Joyex wanted more food, but J beat him there. He took the dead creature in his mouth and bit it clean in half with one movement of his powerful jaws. All that was left of it was the tail and legs. "AAH! NO! DON'T!! I WANTED TO EAT THAT!!" Joyex screamed, tears running down his scaly face.

J simply glanced back at him as he followed Baylene. "Tough."

Joyex turned at a snarl, then ran off as more raptors arrived and started gorging themselves on the carcass' remains.

It was now their second day traveling and Aladar noticed that Eema looked close to collapsing. She had fallen to the ground, gasping for breath. Rather than leave her behind, Aladar stayed with her and kept trying to push her back up and get her going again. "On your feet, Eema!" As he was pushing, his voice strained slightly. "You can't let those…things EAT YOU. They're out there waiting!"

Meanwhile, miles behind them, the "things" as Aladar called them, had just stripped every scrap of meat off the dead Gallimimus. They got a good look at something over the dune and scattered as if something bigger was approaching them. Something WAS. They looked like J, only twice the size with scales the color of raw meat, grayish underbellies, and fiery orange eyes: carnotaurs. The carnotaurs got to the stripped carcass and noticed the tracks in the sand. Tracks meant food as they lumbered away, following them.

Finally, after more than two-and-a-half days of desert travel, Kron, Bruton, and Neera finally stopped near the foot of a hill. Both Bruton and Kron bellowed as the herd moved closer. Eema seemed OVERJOYED at this as she wheezed, "THE LAKE! It's just over that…" She coughed. A dinosaur of her age crossing a desert as hot as the Sahara was NOT good for her.

Scott beamed. "Strewth! If what the sheila said is true, we're almost there!"

Sora was just as happy as Eema to hear about water. During their journey, he had felt VERY parched. "I never thought I'd be happier to see water…" he said, relieved.

Meanwhile, at the back of the herd, Joyex was still snarling at J. Apparently, the Nobody was still hungry. "Why'd you have to take out half that corpse in one go?" he asked.

J shrugged…or he would've done so if his arms were longer. "You had one bite, I had one, too. It was only fair. You just can't let go of a grudge."

Joyex growled and grumbled his next statement. "That's because you could eat HALF of it with just ONE bite."

Aladar then ran past Eema, turning to her as though guiding her. "C'mon, Eema!" he called, "Water! Remember? The wet stuff?"

Eema seemed overjoyed by the fact that she was finally going to ease her stress. "Well, I think it's about time I refreshed my memory!" she replied.

Donald, and Ryan were the first ones to get to the hill. April tried, too, but she hadn't become accustomed to flying in this form and she flopped to the ground, her new wings outstretched. Scott lumbered over and helped her into a standing position. "Ah, don't worry." he assured her, "You'll earn your wings eventually…"

April awkwardly waddled to Scott. Her wing membranes joined her arms and legs, so she had to find her own way to walk. When she finally found a method that suited her, she clambered back on Scott's back and sighed. "I'm REALLY starting to miss my human form now…" she said in a nostalgic tone.

Back at the top of the hill, Donald and Ryan's mouths fell open as they saw what was beyond the hill. The last one to get there was Eema, but she was going on and on about the water. "Then I'm gonna go in until the water's up to my eyeballs…and soak it all in…"

Eema got to the top of the hill and saw what the rest of them did: nothing but another span of empty land miles across and miles wide. "Well, THIS is a bust!" Ryan shouted, his voice echoing through the vast expanse.

Bruton walked over to Kron. "Maybe the rains collected somewhere else…" he suggested. The ugly iguanodon noticed that Kron wasn't listening, or not responding. Bruton then asked, in a more clear voice, "What do you want us to do?"

Kron remained silent for a while, then finally replied. "Take a scout and check the entire perimeter." Kron took in the dried-up lake, then turned to the rest of the herd. "The Nesting Grounds are only a few days away!" he sounded off, "KEEP MOVING!"

Ryan shook his head, as though trying to figure out if he actually heard that. "WHAT?!" he asked in disbelief.

Sora was a good distance from the hill and he had heard Kron's response. "Why's he doing this? Is he just going to let them DIE?!"

Scott and April judged by Sora's response that Kron had done something cold-blooded. "Crikey, this is murder!"

J and Joyex ended up behind the herd again, but J did say, "There IS a bright side to this."

Sora gave the carnotaur a cold look. He still hated the shapeshifter. "What?"

J licked his teeth and Kairi recognized this, because he had the same look in the eye as he did when he ate Doctor Phil. "The more of you keel over, the more Joyex and I eat."

Riku heard the whole thing and looked revolted. "THAT'S a bright side?" he asked.

Joyex simply shrugged as he pointed out, "He didn't say it was bright for YOU."

Neera caught up with Kron as he was moving out whereas Bruton was finding a scout and checking for more water. He chose another Iguanodon and J, seeing as he could scare off the usual raptors. "Kron, we've never gone this long without water!" she practically begged, "If you keep this up, we'll lose half the herd!"

Kron's remark was cold as steel: "Then we'll save the half that DESERVES to live."

Joyex heard the deal about losing half the herd and rubbed his claws together like they were hands. "All you can eat buffet!" he said with a smile.

Sakuzy had heard him, however, and gave him a good kick as Eema once did to a smaller dinosaur. "Joyex, do the whole herd a favor and shut up, okay?"

Baylene noticed that the herd was moving out and gasped. It was a struggle to keep up before, but with Eema's condition, she would never catch up. "They're moving out already?!" she asked in surprise.

Kairi turned to look where Baylene was and couldn't believe her eyes. She growled in slight frustration and hate towards Kron. "If they keep THIS up, we'll never catch up."

Aladar looked around and noticed that Eema had disappeared. The elderly styracosaur was wandering into the waste that used to be a lake. "There was water here." she said, heatstroke talking, "ALWAYS water here, before. Always…"

The rest ran over to Eema. "Eema!" Sora called, "You have to snap out of it! We've gotta catch up!"

Eema wasn't listening, just mumbling to herself about how water used to be in the lake. "And there was always...plenty of mud." she coughed.

Scott, NOT wanting to lose this old dinosaur, chased after her. "Get back here, ya stubborn sheila!"

Baylene started lumbering towards her friend, her expression solemn. "Eema, we must keep moving. The herd won't wait."

"There was ALWAYS water here. Always…" Eema moaned.

"There is no water, dear." Baylene reminded.

The rest then heard a noise beneath the ground: a sort of soft rumble. Aladar heard it first, then sharply said, "Baylene! Don't move…"

Baylene froze on the spot and asked, "What is it?"

Aladar and Zini raced over to Baylene's right foot, got down and, upon putting their head close to the ground, heard the noise. Ryan dashed over in a heartbeat and heard it as well. "You hear that?" Zini asked.

Ryan nodded. "You'd have to be deaf not to." he replied.

Aladar got an idea, then said, "Baylene, pick up your foot..." Baylene did so and Zini, Ryan, Joyex, and Aladar started digging. Sora and Kairi would've gone in, too, but both backed off when they realized they were going to the same place. Meanwhile, Aladar's group dug Baylene's track a bit deeper (Zini accidentally fell in once). They decided it was deep enough and got out.

"Alright, Baylene, lay one on her!" Joyex called.

Baylene put her foot down and the dirt she had placed her foot on cracked. A few seconds later, a small pool of water submerged her foot. On seeing that little pool, anyone in the immediate area cheered. "I always DID like big girls!" Zini said with glee.

Aladar gasped. "Water!"

Riku saw what they had done and ran towards the rest of the herd to spread the news. However, the first to hear him was Kron as he turned with mild interest. Riku, on the other hand, caught Neera's attention. "Hey! WE FOUND WATER!" he called out.

The herd noticed this and Neera spoke first in an amazed tone. "They found water…"

Ryan walked over to Sora and Kairi with his tone ringing with the sarcasm usually found in J's voice. "Thanks for the help."

Around the lake's edge on the other side of the expanse, Bruton, J, and the scout were scouting out a canyon. However, J could swear he had seen a rock formation before. "Bruton, did you ever stop to think that we just MIGHT be walking in circles?" he asked, impatiently.

Bruton shushed him, his eyes darting back and forth wildly. "Keep it down." he hissed.

The scout turned and nervously asked, "What? What is it?"

Bruton shushed the scout this time. There was something in the canyon, something big, even bigger than J. For Bruton, his actions made sense, but to J and the scout, he seemed paranoid. "Let's get outta here." he quietly grunted.

Bruton had no sooner said that when the scout screamed in pain and shock as he was dragged back by the tail. Bruton scrambled away as well as J when the scout's screams ceased: dead. Bruton had barely taken a step forward when a carnotaur easily twice J's size sprang from behind a rock with a roar. J then felt something he only felt so rarely: fear. THIS was the first time on their quest that the anti-hero was ever TRULY afraid. At last he found something bigger, tougher, and a whole lot meaner than him and he couldn't use his martial arts or his power, just what he had.

Only one option was open for him—run, but he wouldn't leave Bruton to get killed. That would be considered cowardice. One of the carnotaurs then grabbed Bruton by the tail and J was quick to act by slamming the side of his head into its leg…

Carnotaur

The apex predators of Destiny Waste armed with sharp teeth and powerful jaws. They're vicious, merciless, and will kill for the taste of fresh meat. They're twice J's size and are more than a match for most dinosaurs. They first appeared in _Dinosaur_ 2000.


	140. Wandering

Chapter 140: Wandering

Sora was watching Aladar and Neera sharing water. After they discovered how to get the water, Kron had decided to get it for himself and drank that little pit dry. Didn't matter…they could get water anywhere just by pressing freshly dug ground.

Sora grinned at Neera and had a sudden flash of him and Kairi in the exact same forms, but then the image changed from two iguanodon to one iguanodon and a pitch-black carnotaur. THIS caused Sora to harden up and turn away from them.

Kron was watching the scene between his sister and the newcomer when Bruton and J ran in. Bruton was heavily wounded and J didn't look too good either.

_Enter flashback…_

_J bashed his head into the Carnotaur's leg and it roared in pain, letting Bruton go. J felt a bit dizzy, but shook it off. He then sank his teeth into the other Carnotaur's leg and it grabbed his back with its jaws. Bruton then rammed into the Carnotaur's other leg. It let go of J, but turned its attention to Bruton._

_"GO! I'll take on this guy!" J, didn't try to bite the larger beast, but tried to change form. However, no matter how hard he concentrated, he remained a black Carnotaur. J stared at himself and asked, "What's going on? Why can't I change?"_

_Then it hit J, because he had said it to Ryan a few days ago. How could he have been so stupid? THIS time was before the human genome in his DNA existed. And since humans weren't around at this point in prehistory, no mutations existed. However, J didn't panic and did the thing he did best: improvise._

_The black carnotaur bit into the Carnotaur's leg again, but not to fatally injure: just enough to escape. When the Carnotaur was dislodged, J and Bruton started running as fast as they could, narrowly escaping the predators._

_End flashback…_

"Kron!" Bruton called, painfully, "Carnotaurs!"

Kron heard what Bruton said and turned to face him and J. He noted that the other scout was missing and gave J the evil eye. The black carnotaur's lip curled into a scowl as he said, "Not me. I couldn't injure ANYONE like that even if I could."

Kron dismissed J's statement and replied to Bruton's exclamation. "What?! They never travel THIS far north!" he said, trying to make sense of it.

"The fireball must've driven them out!" explained Bruton.

A roar sounded in the distance and when it cleared, J roared, showing that it was slightly higher than the one they just heard. "If I had attacked Bruton, how do you explain THIS?" the black predator asked. J gestured with his head and showed that part of his back was injured, but those bites were defensive, not offensive, so they were only light wounds. Bruton's, however were from a full-on attack with the intention of killing.

Kron was FURIOUS with his right-hand man and barked his next words at him. "You led them right to us! MAYBE YOU CAN FEED THEM WITH YOUR HIDES!"

J snarled at Kron. Didn't he realize that it wasn't THEIR fault?! Bruton seemed afraid, though...Would Kron actually turn on him?

"Move the herd out! Double-time!" Kron barked, urgently.

Bruton looked at the ground, then emitted his traditional bellow. On reaching Aladar's ears, Sora got out of his vengeful thinking and saw that the rest of the herd was moving out. He ran towards Kron and saw that Neera and Aladar were already there.

"Kron, what is it?" asked Neera.

Kron's explanation was short, urgent, and to the point. "Carnotaurs! If we don't hurry, they'll catch up with us!"

Sora then saw where his friends were and saw that they were still sleeping. They couldn't outrun the carnotaurs now; they were exhausted enough as it was. "But, my friends are back there…they'll never make it!" he said, reasoning with Kron.

"They'll slow down the predators!"

Sora and J snarled. "Hmph. I may be cold, but what YOU'RE doing is slaughter!" J roared, "What gives YOU the right to sacrifice them like this?!"

Aladar then bolted to the ledge Kron was previously standing on and started calling out to random dinosaurs in the herd. "Hold it! That could YOU back there, or YOU!"

Kron obviously wasn't used to having his command questioned, seeing as he charged as fast as a school bus and knocked Aladar to the ground. As Aladar fell, he collided with Sora, knocking the younger Iguanodon off his feet. He then used a calm, threatening voice that J often used, but he obviously MEANT what he was said. "If either of you EVER interfere again…I'll kill you." Kron looked at J, who looked about ready to attack him on the spot, then added, "That goes for you too, carnotaur."

J's upper lip pulled back to bare his teeth. He did NOT like the sudden name-change, but refrained from trying to put Kron on the menu. Kron made to walk away, but then noticed Neera, who was looking at Aladar with concern and trying to help him. If the older dinosaur was angry now, he was FUMING now. "STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" he spat.

Kron charged forward, then started shoving Neera away. Aladar made to get back at Kron, but Neera knew that would lead to trouble. "Aladar, just go!" she pleaded, "I'll be fine!"

Aladar, Sora, and J glowered at Kron, then hurried back to the dried lake. The others seemed to be just getting up, but that didn't matter anymore. "C'mon, let's go! Carnotaurs!" Aladar said between gasps.

Yar scratched his head, the word completely new to him. "Carno-what?" he asked.

Eema just struggled up, wanting to get away as soon as she could. "Carnotaur." she explained, "A mouthful o' teeth with a BAD attitude!"

To emphasize things a bit, J explained a bit more. "In other words, ME. Only bigger, hungrier, and MUCH meaner."

Ryan was confused by this comment and cocked his ostrich-like head. "How do YOU know?" he asked.

J jerked his head towards the wound on his back. It was a U-shaped bite pattern that leaked blood, but wasn't too serious to be considered fatal. "Experience."

Kairi thought this over and came to the conclusion that she did NOT want to meet something bigger than J. "In that case, let's get going!" Without another word, Kairi took off with Donald on her back and Aladar not too far behind. She didn't want to get away from the carnotaurs, she just wanted to get away from Sora.

Kairi's sudden speed, however, was NOT to Donald's liking, because he was having trouble holding on. "WAK! Kairi, slow down!" he shouted, trying to hold on.

Kairi either didn't hear Donald or didn't care, not even noticing that Donald had fallen off with a small "plop". Goofy scurried over to Donald to help him, but every member of the group was already getting back to the herd, save Aladar's group, Sora, Donald, Goofy and J.

Aladar was about to go join them when Plio noticed something. She got on top of Aladar's head and said, in a quiet, reasoning voice, "Aladar, slow down!"

The thing she noticed was that the rest of their friends weren't moving out fast enough. Aladar would have given anything to go with Neera and the rest of the herd, but couldn't afford the older dinosaurs to deal with the carnotaurs. So, with much reluctance, he stayed behind and watched the herd vanish from sight.

Sora made to follow the herd, but J suddenly barked something at Sora. "Sora! Get back here! THAT IS AN ORDER!"

Sora froze, then slowly turned to see the black Carnotaur stalking over. Sora's next words were through his clenched teeth. "What did you say?"

J simply glowered back at him, his voice as cold as ice as he answered, "I said, 'that is an order'. Understand?"

Sora lumbered over to J and looked him straight in the eye. "You gave an order to your leader." he pointed out, "I thought I was in…"

Before Sora could say anything, J cut him off with a quiet, sharp voice. "You used to believe in the entire team and now you've let it all fall apart. Your fight with Kairi has only gotten us in trouble." J slowly started to walk toward the others, then explained, "I'm taking over."

Sora felt like he had just gotten rammed by Kron all over again. He simply stared at J in disbelief, his mouth gaping, trying to find words to say. "WHAT?!"

J turned, then answered, "I'm relieving you of leadership." he continued glowering at the copper iguanodon and further explained, "I'm in charge. And when I'm not, Aladar is. He seems to care about the others more than you do now."

Sora growled at this and was now VERY tempted to attack J there and then. Before Sora could even lift a foot, J spoke again. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." he warned, "The only way for YOU to get your leadership back is to admit what you did was wrong and make it right. THEN, you might gain enough kindness from me to get it back."

As J waited for the rest of the group, Sora dipped his head in thought. He knew his constant fighting with Kairi had gotten him here in the first place, but he just had trouble accepting it. He was still angry at J. First he had to steal Kairi, now leadership? What next?

The elderly dinosaurs had finally caught up to Sora, who stood there like a statue. "The Carnotaurs are still coming." J called out, "We move out!" Sora didn't respond until J turned his dinosaurian head to look him right in the eye. "Am I clear, Sora?"

Sora complied, throwing as much contempt in the last word as he could. "Yes…SIR."

Sora then slowly walked after them. He was in no hurry.

The rest of the herd was moving through the desert well enough, but Scott sensed there was a problem. He scouted the herd, then noticed someone missing. "Wait a minute..." he said, "Where's J?"

Joyex heard the stump-nosed Aussie and looked around. Sure, Sakuzy was with them, but he sure noticed that a familiar face was gone. "Hey, Sakuzy?" Joyex tapped Sakuzy's leg with his claw. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to draw the Styracosaur's attention. When Joyex saw that he had his buddy's attention, he asked, "Have you noticed that some of our number is missing?"

Sakuzy looked toward the back of the herd. Baylene was no longer there, nor were Eema, Aladar, or the lemurs. But most importantly…Sakuzy's eyes widened. "Uh-oh…Sora's gone!"

Kairi turned on that comment to see if it was true, then cocked her now-scaly eyebrow. When did she care all of a sudden? She shook it out of her head and followed Riku.

That night, the two Carnotaurs that attacked Bruton had reached the valley. One dipped its head and took a long drink of water from the same hole that Aladar and Neera helped make. When the first one drank its fill, the other could smell where the others were headed. It sniffed the air, then roared at its companion as though saying, "this way".


	141. Caves

Chapter 141: Caves

The small collection had just gotten pretty much lost in a small valley of sorts. Goofy then stopped to look at his VERY sore feet. "Gawrsh…I got blisters on my feet." he groaned.

"I've got blisters ON my blisters." Eema said, irritably.

"You don't wanna KNOW where I got blisters." Yar said, scratching his seat.

Donald made a small retching noise, which was immediately silenced by a low roar. The image of J and Bruton getting attacked by carnotaurs flashed in front of the duck mage's eyes. He quickly dismissed the thought. Sora was mainly sulking in the background, angry at J. Zini and Suri looked startled at the sudden noise.

"Alright, what's the WORST thing it could be?" Zini asked.

"A Carnotaur." Suri answered.

Zini paused for a second, then asked, "Okay, what's the second-worst thing it could be?"

"A bigger one." J answered, "And the third one is TWO big Carnotaurs."

Baylene turned to walk away as she said, in a panicky voice, "We'd better get moving!"

Aladar, however, stood his ground. "Wait! It could be the herd…"

The small herd followed the noise to see something big, but it wasn't a carnotaur, it was…

"Oh, it's Bruton!" Eema said in surprise.

Sora took a good look around the corner. It WAS Bruton, left behind by the herd, probably by Kron due to his carnotaur injury. Aladar felt enough pity in him to go over to the larger Iguanodon. "You don't look so good. Let me help…" he said, sympathetically.

Bruton struggled to sit up and growled. "Save your pity." he said, curtly, "I just need some rest. Now GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Bruton grunted viciously enough to make Aladar back off a step. Sora made to walk past, but Plio called after him. "We can't just leave him here!"

"We can if we move fast enough." Sora said, indifferently.

THAT response was enough to earn him a snarl from J. There was a clap of thunder and a small drop of water fell from the sky to land on the carnotaur's scaly head. "Oh, THAT'S perfect." he sarcastically remarked.

Aladar looked around, then heard a dull "thud" and looked down to see Url with a small, pointed rock in his mouth. He adjusted the rock so that it pointed a certain direction, then waddled off. Aladar followed the rock's point and saw the little ankylosaur headed toward the mouth of a cave. He then turned to Bruton and said, "If you change your mind, we'll be in those caves."

Sora was a bit reluctant to follow, but one glance from J was enough to convince him. The cave was dark and had several supported rocks, held up by stalactites and stalagmites.

"It's dark, but at least it's dry." Aladar pointed out, optimistically.

Eema scoffed. "I'm okay with the dry." she said, "It's the 'dark' part I got problems with." Eema then brought her foot right into Url's spiky shell by mistake. She winced from the pain and shook her foot in an attempt to stop the pain. "OW! Oh, sorry, Url." she apologized, then turned to the group with a little smile and a slight laugh, "Sturdy little thing, ain't he?"

Baylene cleared her throat, catching Aladar's attention. "We appear to have a visitor…" Baylene said as she gestured outside and Bruton was at the entrance, limping. Aladar smiled slightly, then walked outside…

Sora had isolated himself further back in the cave, not exactly wanting to interact. He was still angry that J had taken leadership from him to add insult to injury. He heard a footstep and growled in an attempt to make him or her go away. A responding snarl changed his mind, because that snarl came from J.

"Relax. It's just me." J said, sternly.

"I know." Sora grunted, refusing to look at J.

The black Carnotaur hunkered down slightly, low enough to make eye contact with Sora. When Sora looked away, J didn't just walk off after a failed attempt. He stayed hunkered down where he was and said three simple words: "She misses you." Sora remained silent, but J took it as curiosity and filled in. "Kairi misses you. She may say she doesn't, but I can tell that's a lie."

Sora gritted his teeth and his voice rang with sarcasm as he said, "Sure she does."

J bared his sharp teeth, then spoke in a quiet, fierce voice. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"She doesn't miss me." Sora said, coldly, "As long as she's got YOU, the Prince of Heart, she doesn't need me."

J scowled, then stood and turned. "That's not what you told Sakuzy at Olympus Coliseum." he said.

Sora's eyes widened and he got to his feet to meet J face-to-face. "How do you know that?!" he asked, furiously.

J cocked his head. "You're not aware of the bug in your pocket?" he asked, "I read that little journal he has, so I know what you've been through up until now."

J hunkered back down, then said, "I think it's time I told you what happened that morning." J closed his scarlet eyes as he let the memory come to him. "That night, I had a nightmare; one I've had for the last year or two, almost every week. I went to get a drink and it turned out that she was excited to go back home. I told her about why I turned down the offer to go to the islands, and she told me I deserved more than I thought. That's what happened…"

Sora tried to understand everything that the black Carnotaur had told him. However, one question still came to mind..."Did anything else happen?"

J mentally sighed to himself. He was hoping that question WOULDN'T come out and he couldn't lie to Sora. He took a deep breath through his nose, then slowly exhaled out his mouth. "She gave me a small peck on the cheek." he answered.

J quickly put a foot on Sora's shoulder to make sure he couldn't move. His instinct was right, because Sora almost got to his feet. Before Sora could even shout a single insult, J whispered sharply into the copper-colored iguanodon's ear. "Take it easy, kid. I don't know why she did it either. But if I had to guess, it was just to be nice or it was out of pity for me." J explained quickly and decisively before Sora could even try to push him off. Sora calmed down slightly as he added, "If you want a straight answer, you'll have to ask Kairi yourself. And I WON'T be your messenger boy. Am I clear?"

Sora's breathing eased as he slowly calmed down. J sensed that Sora was calm enough and took his foot off him. J then stalked off to another part of the cave while Sora thought this all over.

"Hey, J?" Sora asked. The Carnotaur paused, hinting that he heard him. "Sorry…about punching you." he apologized.

J turned, his Carnotaur face now looking very solemn. "I appreciate the apology." he said, "But I think it's Kairi you should REALLY apologize to."

Back in the cave, Bruton had now entered the cave and, like Sora, isolated himself from the others. He watched the lemurs, as well as Donald and Goofy, laugh at Url. The little ankylosaur was rolling around on his back, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. Goofy guffawed as the little thing lay on its back, its tongue hanging out. "Kinda reminds ya' of Pluto, huh?" asked Goofy.

The little pterosaur nodded in agreement as he said, "Yup. Sure does."

Yar sighed as he said, "Heh. If I could sleep that deep, I'd be in paradise."

Eema chuckled, then corrected him, "If you could sleep THAT deep, you'd be DEAD."

As Bruton watched, he moved a small plant closer to himself. Plio had given it to him to help his wounds, but he wanted to accept his fate: to die here, in this cave. However, what the mother lemur said really touched him. _You'll only die here if you choose to stop fighting. It's your choice, Bruton, not your fate._

Back with the others, Sora had finally come to join them. Donald and Goofy looked at him, half-expecting some sort of angry outburst again. Sora sighed, then said, in possibly the most apologetic tone anyone could get, "Guys…I'm sorry for the trouble I caused."

Goofy smiled almost instantly, but Donald cast him a suspicious look. "What're you trying to say?" he asked, pointing a scaly finger at Sora.

Goofy turned to Donald, confused as to why the duck would think he didn't mean it. "He just said he's sorry, Donald. I don't think he's mad at J anymore." The knight looked up at Sora and added, "And I don't think he's mad at Kairi neither."

Donald looked a bit apprehensive, but then fluttered on top of Sora's back. "Oh, alright, I forgive ya." Donald said in surrender, "But DON'T try and beat up teammates again. Understand?"

Sora smiled as he answered with just one word. "Yeah."

The group then tried, uneasily, to get into a decent sleep. However, the night was going to be ANYTHING but quiet, OR nice…


	142. Carnotaurs

Chapter 142: Carnotaurs

Sora's eyes fluttered open as a rock on the ground moved ever so slightly. He looked at the cave entrance and saw something he REALLY hoped he wouldn't run into. Right at the cave entrance was a pair of carnotaurs, similar to J, but a crimson color and about twice his size. Aladar noticed this too and almost gasped if Bruton hadn't shushed him. "Sh…Carnotaurs."

The two carnivorous dinosaurs were RIGHT at the mouth of the cave, but didn't appear to see them. In curiosity, one of them let out a low growl that was loud enough for a snoozing Donald to hear. "Zzzz…Very funny, J... Now cut it out…" the duck snored.

J slowly lowered himself to Donald and whispered as quietly as he could. He did NOT intend to fight these things again. "Donald, there's just one problem with your theory." he pointed out in a hiss, "How can that be me when I'm standing right here?"

Donald looked toward the cave mouth and barely stifled his trademark "WAK". Goofy's jaw dropped at the sight. The carnotaurs were sniffing around, but the water had drowned out their scent. But if they moved even the slightest bit into the cave, they'd probably see, or hear, their prey.

"What do we do?" Aladar asked quietly.

Bruton answered, "Wake the others…"

Aladar and Sora woke the others, moving slowly to avoid detection. Aladar noticed that Url was still asleep and nudged him slightly. He soon wished he hadn't, though, because the ankylosaur let out a disturbed bleat. Aladar quickly put a foot on Url's head, forcing his mouth closed, but the carnotaurs already heard it and moved ever closer. THIS was starting to get a little dangerous…

It seemed that the only way to go now was further into the cave, which wasn't exactly easy for a certain member of the group. Baylene craned over as low as she would go, but as she went deeper, the suspended ceiling proved a handicap for her. Then, in an action that pretty much doomed them, she accidentally bumped the ceiling. A rock fell loose and began to roll toward the entrance. Aladar, not wanting to get noticed, tried to get the rock, but he tripped. All he could do now was watch as the rock exited the cave, catching the attention of one carnotaur. It sniffed the rock, then slowly peered into the cave. Its eyes searched the cave interior until a flash of lightning illuminated the cave, revealing Aladar to the predators. The carnotaur roared, causing Aladar to flee, then gave chase.

As the others went deeper into the cave, Eema was having trouble. Aladar pushed her, trying to move her. But by the time he did, the larger of the two carnotaurs grabbed Aladar by the tail and dragged him backward. It was about to get dinner when the smaller one wanted its share and they ended up squabbling. Sora saw Aladar was in trouble, but had just summoned the urge to go in when another dinosaur slammed into the large carnotaur. It was Bruton. "I'll hold them off!" he told them, "You help the others!"

Aladar took Bruton's word and quickly got away from the struggle at hand. When he was a respectable distance, his worry for the larger iguanodon got the better of him.

Bruton roared his challenge at the two predators, which returned the favor with their own. The smaller carnotaur charged, but Bruton turned to bring his tail slamming into the side of the beast's head. The carnotaur stumbled sideways, slamming into a stone pillar and causing some debris to be shaken loose. Bruton saw the results, then charged the pillar at top speed and knocked the pillar down. The entire cave ceiling began to crumble after a loss of its support and the rocks came tumbling down on both carnotaur and Bruton. The large iguanodon tried to make his way back to Aladar and the others, who were safe from the debris, but soon a large rock pinned him to the ground and others continued to fall.

"BRUTON! NO!" Aladar screamed.

The rocks had now ceased falling and Sora couldn't believe what happened. Bruton, the iguanodon that had once been so cruel, had actually saved their lives. He and Aladar quickly went over to the pile of rubble and began to dig through the rocks in a desperate attempt to find Bruton. Sora moved a rock only to find a dead carnotaur, its mouth hanging open, then took a step back.

Aladar, on the other hand, found Bruton…dead. The rocks had crushed him. Plio hopped over to the two and looked up at them. Her voice was as solemn as her expression. "You did what you could."

On the other side of the fallen debris, the large carnotaur forced itself free from the rocks. It was injured, but not badly. It lumbered toward the cave entrance, then turned to where Aladar and the others had previously been and let out a vengeful-sounding roar.

Miles away from the cave, the herd was still moving on through the staggering heat. April was riding on Scott's back while Joyex was hiding out behind Sakuzy's spiky frill. The Keyblader was actually jealous of the raptor; at least HE had shade. Ryan, on the other hand, was making a melodramatic action of crossing a desert.

"Three days…" he gasped, "No food…no water…"

Riku turned to face Ryan with a stern look and pointed out, "Ryan, it's only been a day since we left the lake."

The ostrich-like dinosaur flinched, then immediately stopped the melodrama. The last thing he wanted to do was make enemies with something bigger and stronger than him.

Kairi was still angry inside, but on the outside, the heat was starting to get to her. The purple-shaded iguanodon had just realized that she hadn't eaten since she got here. Sure, she had water, but no food. She suddenly heard a small cry in worry and turned to see two young iguanodon struggling to keep up. One had just collapsed while the other was trying to get some form of attention to help. Kron, not surprisingly, left them behind to fend for themselves. Neera, on the other hand, went back to help them.

"Don't worry." she said, gently coaxing one to get up, "You won't get left behind."

Neera nudged the little dinosaur and helped it back to its feet. She stayed with them until the fallen one had regained its footing and could walk normally.

Kairi had paused to see this and hadn't taken a single step when she felt a little weak. She lay down, trying to get some rest, but felt someone pushing her back to her feet.

"C'mon, Kairi. We won't be here much longer…" said a familiar Australian voice. The Aussie was using the stump on his nose to kind of buck Kairi back up.

Scott heaved until Kairi had gotten back to her feet. She was a little shaky at first, but regained her balance and continued with the herd. Strangely, she found herself wishing that Sora had helped her up instead of Scott. This time, she didn't lie to herself and say she didn't.


	143. Nesting Grounds

Chapter 143: Nesting Grounds

Back with Aladar's group, the only place they could go was deeper into the cave. Zini, in a desperate attempt to entertain himself, had tried to bring up a game. "O-kay, lets see…" Zini said, scouring the cave with his eyes, "I spy, with my little eyes…"

Yar cut him off by suggesting, "A rock."

Zini growled in defeat as he said, "You got it again! MAN! You're good at this game!"

J rolled his eyes as he pointed out, "That's because that's the ONLY thing in this cave."

Eema, it seemed, had other things to say. "You want to know what I spy?" she asked, "A dead end."

Eema was right, because RIGHT where they were supposed to be going was a huge stone wall. "Well, we did our best." Baylene said, indifferently, "We'll have to go back…"

Zini, on the other hand, caught something: a scent. He sniffed the air a few times and confirmed it, but had to know if others could sense it. "Hey, do you smell that?" he asked.

Suri also sniffed the air, catching the same whiff. "Yeah." she answered.

Zini and Suri jumped up on the rocks. The scent must have come from there. Zini moved aside a few rocks and a small beam of sunlight pierced the darkness. THIS brought a gasp from just about everyone.

"Get a load of that!" Eema exclaimed with joy.

Sora's eyes widened. "A way out!"

"Everybody, stand back! WE'RE OUTTA HERE!" Aladar went to a larger rock and gave it a powerful push. Rocks shook free from the ceiling, but it wasn't exactly what he was expecting. Rather than fall free, they fell in, threatening to flatten him.

"ALADAR!" Eema cried, "LOOK OUT!"

There was suddenly the sound of the rocks caving in and the small beam of light was instantly blocked out by one rock. Aladar seemed to be shocked by this, but soon roared back to his feet. "NO!" Aladar charged again and rammed against the pillar to no avail. He then saw that the rest were staring at him. He bellowed and continued until he tired himself out. Only then did he stop.

Plio hopped towards Aladar, a sorrowful look on the mother lemur's face. "We'll go back." she told him.

Aladar seemed to be defeated, a state in which none of them had ever seen him in. "Back to what?" he asked, "It's gone. We're not meant to survive…"

After a disturbed stare, Baylene objected, "Oh, yes we were!" Baylene moved her head from side-to-side to each of them, to make a point. "We're here, aren't we?! Shame on you!" The elderly brachiosaur then moved her long neck towards Aladar and glowered down at him. "Shame on you! Shame on you! The worst of it is, you allowed an old fool like me to believe I was needed, but I still had a purpose! And, you know what? You were RIGHT. And I'm going to go on believing it. And I, for one, am NOT willing to die HERE!"

Baylene reared up on her hind legs, reaching her full height of over forty feet and smashed her giant feet into the wall with a CRASH. After seeing the brachiosaur attempt it, THAT was enough to get everyone in on the job.

Goofy went up to the wall and gave it a good slam with his tail club. WHAM and WHAM again, each one shaking dust loose and turning the tail club into a makeshift jackhammer. Eventually, he turned to the others and shouted, "Well, what're we waitin' for? Baylene needs our help, so we'd better give it to her!"

J roared in determination and bashed his skull into the nearest rock he could find. He was thankful for his thick, predatorial skull, because without its density, he would have suffered brain damage.

Url, not being as intelligent as Goofy, tried dragging away rocks in his mouth. He wasn't making much progress, though, because the rock was bigger than his mouth.

Eema charged like a rhinoceros and her shield-like head smashed into the rock. She continued pushing with strength that surprised even Sora. Speaking of which, the Keyblader-gone-dinosaur charged as fast as a school bus and smashed into the rock that Aladar had tried earlier.

Aladar watched and saw that virtually everyone was giving it their all to break the wall down. THIS motivated him enough that it brought back his will to survive. Then, with an earthshaking roar, he charged too and began pushing against the wall.

Suddenly, with one last push from Baylene, the wall came crumbling down, leaving a cloud of dust and filling the cave with sunlight. When the dust cleared, it revealed that they arrived at a great meadow rather than a desert. The sight of lush plants and a large lake seemed contrast to the rocky, barren terrain outside. It was as Eema described: the Nesting Grounds. Sora admitted that she was right about one thing; it WAS one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen. The elderly styracosaur was VERY dumbstruck. "The Nesting Grounds…it's untouched…" she said in awe.

Aladar's family was AMAZED at the sight of what would be..."Our new home…" Plio said with a warm smile.

Zini took it a bit more playfully as he shouted, "And it comes with a POOL!"

As Zini and Suri bounded off, Url waddled after them just as Baylene slowly walked toward the lake as well. Near the lake, Zini clambered all the way to the top of Baylene's head and did a cannonball all forty feet of the way to the water. Baylene chuckled. "Amateur." she said, playfully.

Baylene "jumped" as best she could and created a splash equal to dumping a Peterbilt truck in the lake. Zini whooped as he rode the wave on a log like a surfer.

Url, on the other hand, seemed just as happy as he dropped his rock and took a seat on a hill. He did no more than sit, look at the landscape, and pant like an amused bulldog, and with every hint of satisfaction.

Aladar, Sora, and J gazed out at the Nesting Grounds with Eema. For the first time since who-knows-when, Sora actually smiled. "Nice…"

Aladar, didn't exactly seem as happy as Sora was, because he looked around the area, noticing the absence. "But I don't get it. Where's the herd?"

The minute Aladar finished that sentence, Sora was struck. What if something bad happened to Kairi and the others? J looked over at the two of them. "Don't worry. They'll get here…soon enough." he said, trundling off.

Eema slowly walked off with the other three dinosaurs following. Eema then retreated to the side a bit and Aladar turned to something that was filled to the brim with rocks. "Oh no…" Eema said, crestfallen, "Your buddy spoke too soon."

Sora looked around to see the caved-in passageway. It looked like no more than a pile of rock, but he still asked, "What is it?"

"THAT is the way we USED to get in here." Eema said with a gesture.

Aladar and Sora studied it and quickly found that it was a sheer drop. Knowing Kron, he'd have them try and climb it. All of the herd would fall to their deaths if that ever happened. The same thoughts raced through both their heads.

"They'll never make it over that!" Aladar said in alarm.

Sora, Aladar, and J then started running for the exit. "Guys! Wait!" Eema called after them, "Kron will eat you ALIVE!"

Aladar was now at the mouth of the cave they had come through and turned to face Eema. "Let him try!" he challenged.

J gritted his sharp teeth. "Besides, I might get to him first." he snarled.

Sora then turned to J and said, "No, J! That wouldn't be a smart move. If we told him about carnotaurs, you'd make matters worse."

J shot the young iguanodon a glare. Had he forgotten who was in charge so soon? "Sorry, but you're no longer giving orders…"

Sora turned to face J and, in an ironic twist of fate, barked a familiar order to J. "J, you will STAY HERE! THAT is an order!"

J first looked shocked, but, though his expression remained hard, he sounded utmost impressed. He then turned away and addressed Sora as he walked off. "Hm. Well, Sora, looks like you just got your wings back." After a brief pause, he added, "And now that I think about it, ME showing up won't be the brightest move…"

As Aladar and Sora hurried back to the cave, Eema sighed to herself. "I hope Kron's in a listening mood…"

Back with the rest of the herd, everyone was frozen at the sight of the barrier between them and the Nesting Grounds. Scott turned to the rest with April on his back, she still hadn't gotten used to her wings and she still hadn't learned to fly. "Bet Kron has a plan." Scott said, shaking his large head.

Kairi heard the Aussie speak and added, "But fifty munny says that it'll end up killing half, if not, all of us."

Neera walked over to Kron, who was looking at it, dumbstruck. "We'll find a way around it." she told him.

Kron's answer, however, was the one that got Kairi an extra fifty munny. "In the morning, we climb it."

_Dimensiondude still finds it hard to believe that they got the raptor noises of Dinosaur from…a Chihuahua. Yes, Chihuahua, as in the dog breed: it was all snarly and yappy, so they went with it._


	144. Stand and Fight

Chapter 144: Stand and Fight

Aladar and Sora dug their way out of the caved in entrance and dashed out of the cave. If they knew Kron, which (unfortunately) they did, he'd probably try and drive the entire herd over the wall by next morning.

The two iguanodon ran throughout the night and stopped at the sight of a dead dinosaur, not much bigger than Joyex. However, there was a plus side to it, because Sora said, "Well, Kron sure leaves an easy trail to follow…"

Suddenly, a rumbling noise caught both their attention and both Sora and Aladar hid behind a rock. As they peeked around the rock, the surviving carnotaur lumbered so close that they could smell its breath and growled hungrily. It snapped up the carcass and shook it like a terrier with a rat. While the predator was gorging itself, Aladar and Sora made their escape. The carnotaur finished its meal and began to search for more unfortunate victims…

Back with the herd, Kron was a few feet up the rocks, trying to motivate the rest of the herd, which looked (to tell the truth) a bit…uneasy. "We have to move on!" he preached, almost insanely, "OUR SURVIVAL, OUR FUTURE, IS OVER THESE ROCKS! NOW, LET'S GO HOME!"

Scott grunted as he scuffed the ground with his elephantine foot. "Flippin' heck, this guy's goin' WAY too far." he Some of us can't even climb…" Scott was referring to his build: horned dinosaurs weren't exactly made for climbing.

Riku stared at Scott, then at Joyex. "Do we need a news flash every time something obvious happens?"

Joyex simply shrugged and answered, "Scott wants to say somethin', he gets to."

Two Iguanodon, hardly a few weeks old were with Neera, looking a bit frightened of Kron. Kron noticed the two and nudged them along as he asked, "You'll do it. Won't you, boys?"

"Kron!" Neera objected.

Kron was continuing to encourage them and seemed to address Neera, the iguanodon, and the herd at the same time. "Watch them. They're tough! IF THEY CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU!"

The herd seemed to want to follow Kron's orders, save a few that knew better, and some began to clamber up the rocks. Kron nodded in satisfaction and was about to continue climbing when a familiar voice rang through the pass. "KRON!"

Kairi knew that voice and turned to see two familiar Iguanodon running towards the herd. It WAS Aladar, but then Kairi recognized the familiar spiky head crest of Sora's "hair". She felt like welcoming him back, but she remembered what he did and she huffed.

"STOP! There's a Carnotaur coming this way." Sora called, "It's NOT J!"

The whole heard seemed stricken by this. Kron had seen Carnotaurs before, but never a close encounter. He knew that most of them averaged twice of J's size, so it was no surprise that he continued clambering up the wall. "Come on!" he called, expecting the herd to follow.

"Wait! We've been to the Nesting Grounds, there's a safer way!" Aladar told them, "You have to come with me!"

Kron obviously didn't want Aladar "interfering" as he called it, seeing as he threw the next comment at Aladar. "Where?" he spat, "Straight to the carnotaurs?!"

"If we hurry, we can get around them!" Sora countered.

Kron scowled as he shouted, "THIS WAY!" He continued clambering up, but Neera seemed to side with Aladar.

"Kron! LISTEN to him!" she pleaded, trying to reason with her brother.

"YOU'RE GONNA KILL THE HERD!" Aladar shouted, "You can't make it over those rocks! There's a sheer drop on the other side!"

Sora nodded. "Face the facts, Kron!" he said, his voice as cold as stone, "Aladar knows a safer way and EVERYONE can make it! Follow us!"

Scott looked impressed by this and would have whistled if he didn't have a beak. "Crikey, Sora should consider bein' a motivational speaker." he said, surprised by what the Keyblade Master said.

Kairi grumbled something about where she could stick her thumb spike. Riku sighed in exasperation and asked, "Kairi, don't you think it's time to forget that it ever happened?" She simply ignored him.

Then, without warning, Kron growled as he sprang at them with such speed that no one had enough time to respond. He knocked Sora off his feet and sent him into the canyon wall. He then turned to Aladar with a look of PURE rage. "THEY'RE STAYING WITH ME!"

Aladar turned tail on Kron, then started walking toward Sora. "Alright, you have to follow us…" he said, making to help Sora up.

THAT tore it. Kron charged like an enraged rhinoceros and knocked Aladar to the ground with almost bone-crushing force. As Kron tried to crush his opponent, Aladar maneuvered under him and used his legs to push the larger iguanodon off him.

In the crowd, Scott and Ryan took a step back from this clash of the titans. "Crikey! Has Kron finally lost it?!" Scott asked in surprise.

"That or he never had it to begin with." Ryan replied, "Depending on what 'it' is…"

The two dinosaurs got back to their feet, circling each other slightly and searching for a weak point. Kron roared and charged, but Aladar stood on his hind legs and shifted his weight to send Kron tumbling away, sending him to the ground. Kron then pulled a VERY dirty trick and threw dirt into Aladar's eyes, causing the younger dinosaur to be temporarily blinded. Kron took advantage of this moment and raked Aladar on the chest with his thumb spike, creating a deep wound in his chest. To add even more injury to his opponent, Kron slammed into Aladar and sent the younger one slamming into the rocky wall. Several small dinosaurs jumped up in panic and ran away as Aladar's massive body seemed to shake the ground.

Sakuzy growled at this and scuffed the ground like a bull ready to charge. "Now THAT'S just dirty fighting!" he said, having had enough of it.

Sakuzy charged Kron and slammed into him with the force of a charging rhino, sending the large iguanodon into the opposite wall. The iguanodon rose to his feet, ready to spike the horned dinosaur, but Sakuzy hadn't even summoned the urge to charge again when someone else beat him there. Kron looked up from the ground, enraged that someone would stop the fight, but was soon struck dumb. It was NEERA who had stopped him and Kron was shocked that his own sister would do that to him.

Neera's expression was as cold as stone as she stared at her brother. She then walked away from her own flesh and blood and helped Aladar to his feet. Aladar had a bruised rib, blood trickling down his mouth, and a deep gash in his chest. Fortunately, he wasn't fatally injured and would heal in time.

Sakuzy took this all in, then lumbered towards Sora and heaved him up like a rhino tilting a car. "Up you get..." he said, helping him get his balance.

Sora struggled to remain balanced. He was lucky to have only gotten a bruise from Kron, unlike Aladar. "Thanks."

Sakuzy grinned. "No problem, gramps." he replied.

Sora looked around to make sure no one heard that. Upon noting that no one appeared to pay attention, he muttered something to Sakuzy. "STOP calling me that."

The group and the herd was moving out, leaving Kron all alone. Kron shook his head, unbelievingly, and a single word escaped his lips in pure rage. "NEERA!"

Neera simply ignored him and the herd moved out, leaving Kron to fend for himself. They hadn't even reached the halfway point when there was a roar in the distance.

Sora cocked a scaly brow, then asked, "What's J doing he-" Sora then realized that J was back at the Nesting Grounds and instantly knew what was coming. "Uh-oh…"

As the herd watched, the carnotaur that Sora and Aladar saw last night slowly emerged from around the corner. It turned to the herd and gave a hungry snarl. The rest of the herd turned into a panic to Kron, who was continuing his clamber up the crags. "He's led that monster RIGHT TO US!" he said, absolutely frightened, "Quick! THIS WAY!"

The other dinosaurs scattered, heading towards the wall, but Aladar got their attention. "NO! Don't move!" he commanded, "If we scatter, he'll pick us off! Stand TOGETHER!"

The carnotaur issued a fierce roar, then charged. Each step seemed to quake the ground as it approached. The herd stayed together, but didn't advance, just huddled together in fright. At that time, Kairi noticed that Sora was in front of her; not to get the attack first, but to protect her…she shrugged this off, though, still a little bitter toward him.

Aladar had had enough. He stepped forward and bellowed at the carnotaur, which stopped and snapped at him, trying to frighten the iguanodon. Aladar's actions puzzled the predator, but then a greater surprise came…

Neera stepped forward and joined Aladar, closely followed by Sora and the others. Their actions seemed to change all the herd's mind, seeing as they joined in from the largest Iguanodon to the smallest: Joyex.

The carnotaur, obviously, was used to the dinosaurs running and screaming (or at least bellowing) in fear, NOT standing together to mob him. It was now facing a wall of bellowing dinosaurs, outnumbered and outclassed. The predator couldn't attack now, because if it did, another dinosaur would turn on it. Eventually, it was forced to let them go. The dinosaurs moved out, single-file, and the carnotaur did NOTHING whatsoever, except roar at them.

A rock moved and the carnotaur turned to the rock wall to find an amusing sight. Kron was still trying HIS way, the hard way, instead of Aladar's way, the easy way. The carnotaur decided that HE was fair game and took off after the arrogant Iguanodon. Neera noticed and ran after it, fearing her brother's life. Aladar turned to notice Neera running off as did Sora. After a second thought, both ran off after her.

Sakuzy sighed as he stared after Sora. "Yup, he IS gonna be the death of me." he muttered. Sakuzy shook his head, then ran after him.

Kron was struggling up the rocks, wanting to prove himself against Aladar and get to the Nesting Grounds. He didn't notice the carnotaur as he tried to get to the Nesting Grounds "quicker" until he heard Neera's warning. "Kron!" she screamed.

Kron turned to see that the carnotaur climbing up the rocks and was right on his tail. He only climbed faster with the flesh-eating dinosaur in hot pursuit. Sakuzy tried continuing to climb, but his bulk, combined with his stocky limbs, proved too much of a handicap for him to continue and he huffed like a rhino. "DANG IT!" he cursed.

Kron had reached the halfway point as he continued, but suddenly, his foot slipped and he turned to see a chasm before him: a hundred-foot fissure filled with jagged rocks. Aladar (dramatic music here) was RIGHT as Kron turned to see the creature of his imminent death approaching fast. "No…"

The carnotaur had caught up to him and Kron stood his ground in an attempt to fight. The carnotaur lunged, only to have Kron's tail slam into the side of its face. It stumbled to the side a bit, but shook the pain out of its head and lunged again. THIS time, it anticipated Kron's move and the iguanodon's tail missed by inches, exposing his vulnerable back. The carnotaur dug its teeth into the middle of Kron's back and violently tossed him into a rock.

Kron stayed there, barely moving, and watched as the carnotaur came for its meal. However, it hadn't even moved when something slammed into it. Neera had actually shoved it away, but it was short-lived because the carnotaur butted her off. Sora and Aladar arrived just as the flesh-eater looked ready to disembowel her.

"Aladar!" Sora called.

Aladar bellowed as he slammed his tail into the carnotaur's face, sending it closer and closer to the edge. Sora joined in and used a little trick Kron used on Aladar. He swung his arm at the carnotaur's oncoming jaws and his thumb spike gouged the carnotaur across the face. The carnotaur staggered back a bit, a huge gash in its face, then roared again.

Aladar knew that physical force was NOT going to bring the carnotaur down, so he tried a different tactic. He roared in determination and pushed the carnotaur closer to the edge until it almost fell. The carnotaur turned to face Aladar when suddenly, the rock that they were standing on started to give way under about nine tons of dinosaur. Sora quickly got off before the rock crumbled. The carnotaur fell, but latched onto Aladar's hindquarters with its jaws. Aladar quickly grabbed a rock and held on with an iron grip while the carnotaur lost its own and fell to the chasm's bottom.

Sora heard the crash and went over to the edge to help Aladar up. When he was up, they looked at the bottom to see a clearing cloud of dust. There, at the bottom, lay the dead carnotaur.

"Kron…" Neera whispered. Aladar and Sora turned to see her next to Kron, who wasn't moving an inch. He, apparently, died from both shock and blood loss when the carnotaur attacked.

"I feel sorry for him, strangely." Sora said, pitying him.

Aladar nodded. "He thought he could be strong by leaving behind the weak, but failed to notice he would be if the herd didn't stand together. He became what he didn't want and it cost him his life."

Sora stared at Kron, then it occurred to him that he almost became like that. He had attacked his own teammate and left Kairi to whatever fate awaited her. He was thankful that he had learned, unlike Kron.

After a well-worth journey, the entire group was back at the nesting grounds. The herd couldn't believe their eyes and neither could Sakuzy or Kairi. Aladar turned to the whole herd, then said, "Welcome home…"

_Aladar's Archaic Attack._


	145. True Leader

Chapter 145: True Leader

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and J went back to their "herd". Scott and Joyex were very pleased to see Sora again, and in a much better mood, too. "Well, it's about time you showed up, mate." Scott said, cheerfully.

"Yeah. You just popped out of the picture for a sec." Joyex said in agreement, "Kron wouldn't tolerate 'the strong' turning back and April couldn't fly to see where you were."

Riku was the first to notice something different in Sora. He walked next to him and said, "You look…different than when we started here. Had a little change of heart?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. All I have to do now is apologize to Kairi…" He looked around, but his thought suddenly wandered to the mission. "That'll have to wait. Right now, there's work to be done." he said, dismissively, then turned to the group and asked, "So, did you guys find the meteor?"

J shook his head. "Sorry, but no. We're guessing that it's on the other side of the Nesting Grounds…" J looked over at the other side of the Nesting Grounds, which had to be MILES wide. He then knew what had to be done. "We'll need April for this."

The large pterosaur atop Scott's back backed up in surprise as J addressed her. "What? What do you want me to do?" she asked.

J went over to April and explained as simply as he could. "You're the only one who can fly long distances. Donald can't even make it past the halfway point."

THAT remark made Donald use Thundaga on him. However, his diminutive state made his spell weaken so much that J hardly felt it. The carnotaur got down low and beckoned for her. "Up you get." he said, "It's time to earn your wings." April got onto J's back, looking a bit unsure of what he was going to do. "On my head…" he coaxed.

April corrected herself and J took off at a full sprint. Suddenly, J bucked, momentarily sending April into the air, screaming in surprise. When April landed back on his head, he did it again, oddly enough. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" she screamed.

"No. I'm trying to teach you to fly." he answered, "And the only way to do it is to TRY!"

On the last word of that sentence, J bucked again and April tried flapping her fifteen-foot wings in an attempt to get airborne. It didn't work, because she landed back on J's head. He bucked again and she tried again only to meet the same result until J spoke up. "Don't flap. Let the wind currents help you."

April looked confused as she tried again and again to fly via flapping wings. "How do YOU know how to fly?" she asked, almost frantically trying to keep her balance.

"I've turned into large birds before, so I KNOW how to fly." he explained, "Just spread your wings and let the wind guide you."

April went out on a limb and jumped with her wings outspread. The air current lifted her up and she was flying in a low, straight path. She found herself in a bit of an awkward situation as she started getting lower to the ground and only flying straight. Fortunately, J was running right below her to help her. "Flap only a few times to go higher and use your body to steer." he called to her.

April had already tried flapping her wings before, but took his advice. She flapped her wings once and it propelled her up slightly as she tilted herself upward to go higher. She flew a few circles to get the hang of turning and finally was able to fly. She smiled to herself. "I'm doing it…" she said in an amazed whisper, but when she repeated it, she was overjoyed. "I'M DOING IT!!"

Flying wasn't too difficult for her, because she rarely had to flap her wings. She let the wind keep her up with only one or two flaps every now and then. She felt like she had just earned her wings all over again.

April soared over the far side of the Nesting Grounds and her new eyes spotted something on the ground: something shiny. She flew down to a rocky area and landed on a crag to find a strange-looking rock about the size of an egg. More amazing still, was that it was made of pure crystal. "This should be it…" she said to herself.

April picked it up in her stork-like beak and was then confronted with a problem. She couldn't lift off from the ground, because she needed air currents to stay aloft, which the ground was VERY low on. _And from here, J's gotta be miles away. How am I going to get high enough-_

An idea hit her all of a sudden. She climbed up onto the rocky wall of the border until she was a respectable difference from the ground. She closed her eyes, then pushed off into a spectacular dive. She zoomed toward the ground like a falcon, then pulled out at the last second. She was back where she belonged: the air.

She located the familiar carnotaur (and only carnotaur) in the area and landed. When she did, Scott whooped as he ran over, almost crashing into her. "Ya did it!" he cheered, "You were flyin' again!"

April dropped the crystal from her beak and laughed happily. "Thanks, Scott. And thank you, J."

J shook his head as though it was nothing. "Not the first time I've had to teach someone." he told her.

April cocked her stork-like head in curiosity and asked, "Who was the first?"

J simply answered, "Me."

Sora turned from this and saw Joyex picking the last bits of meat off a bone. "Joyex, you've only been travelling for a few days and you've already started eating the smaller members of the herd…when there's PLENTY of cadavers to eat."

Joyex tossed the bone away and shrugged again. "What can I say?" he said, casually, "They've all gone putrid."

Sakuzy, obviously, didn't seem too impressed with this remark. He scowled at Joyex and said, in a flat voice, "You're sick."

April suddenly sprang back to this world and said, "Oh! I almost forgot…"

The large pterosaur picked up the meteor and tossed it over to the rest of the group. It landed just inches from Ryan's head. The ostrich-dinosaur was taking a nap, but woke up when the meteor almost hit him in the head. "HEY!" he shouted in surprise.

April jumped at Ryan's outburst and quickly said, "Sorry!"

Ryan's reply was pretty sarcastic. "Oh yeah, 'sorry' REALLY makes up for the fact that you almost PUMMELED ME!"

While the two were bickering, Scott tried applying pressure to the meteor with his foot...to no avail. He looked at his foot and shrugged. "Alright, weight won't work, mates." he said, putting his foot back down.

J picked the crystal up in his mouth and crunched down. The only thing he got was a couple broken teeth. He spat it out with a disgusted look on his face. "THAT won't work either…ow."

Sora shook his scaly head as he said, "Better count me out. I've had experience…"

_Enter Flashback…_

_Sora was once so sick of Kron trying to kill members of the herd that he had tried to summon his Keyblade. Nothing happened…He tried again, but still, nothing happened. "Hey, how come I can't summon the Keyblade?" he asked._

_J paused, then came with a conclusion. "I would guess that you're already well-armed with size, weight, and those spikes in place of thumbs. Besides, I don't think you'd be able to hold it…"_

_Sora stared at his "hand", which was no more than a pad-like foot with a spike for a thumb and a free pinky. He couldn't hold his Keyblade with a hand like THAT. And the fact that his new mouth wasn't made to hold things didn't help, nor did the fact that his tail wasn't prehensile. "Good point…" he admitted._

_End Flashback…_

Sakuzy had one idea left. He shut his eyes and concentrated to the point where he seemed to be straining to remember something. In a flash of light, his Eagle Feather Keyblade appeared in place of his nose horn. He, as well as everyone else, seemed surprised at this appearance and when he spoke, he sounded like his nose was pinched. "Whoa! Didn't see THAT one coming! Now then…"

Sakuzy lifted up his head and brought his new horn down on the meteor. At first, nothing appeared to happen. Then, with a great CRACK, the meteor shattered into pieces. Sakuzy looked at the broken remains of the meteor, REALLY surprised. He stammered for a while before whooping. "YES!" he shouted, "The future's safe again! Yes! YES! YES!"

Suddenly, in a flash of light, they all vanished from that world. The fight seemed to have been won…for now.

Meanwhile, in a crystal palace, a figure with blood red eyes roared in a rage. When he stopped, he let out a low, vibrating snarl as he said, "Chrysallis has FAILED me yet again. Looks like I'll have to deal with this MYSELF…"

It got to its feet and walked off to nowhere in particular. The scene suddenly changed to a meteorite headed toward a certain world: a world called Destiny Island.

_If you think THIS is the end of Prince of Heart, don't count on it! It's not over, not by a LONG shot!_


	146. Wrong Turn

Chapter 146: Wrong Turn

Future Destiny Islands…

In a burst of light, Sakuzy appeared on the Islands that he called "home". He knew he was home, but there was something…different about it. He couldn't tell, because he was turned to face the ocean. Something was definitely WRONG here…something in the air was different. "What time is this, anyway?" He asked to himself.

Sakuzy checked a device given to him. The device would show what time period they were in even if they warped. Sakuzy was quite surprised at the sight of the date. They had warped one year more than they needed, so they traveled a hundred and one years into the future.

Suddenly, Sakuzy heard a familiar voice speak next to him. "Alright, Sakuzy, I've got THREE questions." Sakuzy turned to his side to see Joyex was still there and the Nobody continued. "ONE: How come I didn't fade from existence with the passing timeline? TWO: What's wrong with this place? And THREE: Do we dare look behind us?"

Sakuzy hesitated, knowing something horrible had happened. If Joyex was still here, then Joey probably wasn't. Still, he found it better to answer Joyex's third question. "I think it'd be better if we did…"

Sakuzy and Joyex turned around to see that the very Destiny Island THEY knew was…gone. Sakuzy now wished that he hadn't turned around.

Destiny Island was now covered in crystal spires the size of skyscrapers and the smaller ones about the size of a boulder. What amazed him even more were the lack of organic beings. There were no plants at all: the giant tree in the middle of the island was gone; replaced by the biggest crystal Sakuzy had ever seen. But most crucially, there weren't any animals either; there were no insects in the air, not even fish in the sea. The whole area was devoid of life as the lightning that lit up the dark sky showed. It was starting to rain, making the place look ever-gloomier.

"I always said it could use some redecorating, but THIS is ridiculous." Joyex said, almost humorously.

Sakuzy didn't take Joyex's remark very lightly, because he turned and snapped, "Shut up, Joyex!"

Joyex flinched at Sakuzy's sudden ferocity. Joyex hadn't seen him this serious since Chrysallis showed up, but he knew it was because Sakuzy was devastated by the loss of his home. "Come on." Sakuzy said, headed for the island's depths.

"What?!" Joyex asked, "We could be carving our gravestones if we go in THERE!"

Sakuzy turned on Joyex and said, "If anyone is behind this, I want to know. And if I want answers, we'll have to go to the center of the island…" He then walked off through the crystal jungle with a somewhat-hesitant Joyex close behind.

Meanwhile, in the center of the island, a being made of pure yellow crystals, save an eye, was watching them and spoke in a familiar, regal accent. "How dare those two arrive to tarnish my PERFECT world with their being?" the crystal being growled as he clenched his fist, "So savage, so vile, so…" He searched for the right word before saying it with as much disgust as he could. "So ORGANIC."


	147. The FutureOr is it?

Chapter 147: The Future…or is it?

Sakuzy and Joyex hiked through the crystal jungle, hacking off pieces as they went along. There was a sudden roar and Sakuzy turned to see a Crystalli jump at him virtually from nowhere. Acting on instinct, the Eagle Feather flashed to life and he sliced the Crystalli in half with his Keyblade. As it fell to the ground, Sakuzy recognized the dinosaurian shape of the species he had killed…

"A Crystalli Fossil." he said as he looked down at its remains, "Victor's probably involved in this…"

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang from the crystals around him. "My name is TOPAZ, you ignorant, little brat!" it corrected.

Joyex sighed to himself and shook his head as he said, "As if on cue, ol' Patchy's here…"

The pair of them turned at the sound of a thundering footstep to see a crystal figure in the vague shape of a human. It was at least NINE feet tall and made of pure yellow crystals that looked like jagged body armor, save its left eye, which looked human. It was BARELY human, anyway, save the fact that it had raw, red skin stretched over bone and had visible veins pumping to keep it alive. Its hands had become deformed, some fingers larger than others, complete with jagged claws. Its legs were wide and similar to various robots on a certain movie about machines turning into robots and vice-versa. The head, though it almost looked like a human head, was MUCH less than what it was, as though someone had turned a clay human head into that of an inorganic monster.

Topaz scowled down at them as he tilted his head up slightly. "Well, Sakuzy and your less-than-brilliant Nobody friend, welcome back." he greeted, "I must say, it's a bit of a conundrum how you two managed to keep yourselves alive."

Sakuzy and Joyex seemed a bit confused by this. "What are you talking about?" Sakuzy asked, taking a step forward.

"Topaz, ol' buddy!" Joyex said, pointing at the Crystalli, "The years have not, repeat NOT, been good to you."

Topaz's reply had enough command in it to get Joyex's yap shut. "Quiet, Nobody."

Joyex flinched, then held up his hands, apologetically. "Yes, sir!"

Sakuzy repeated his question, as Topaz didn't answer it the last time. "I said, What happened?'"

Topaz put a spear-like fingertip to his deformed chin, as though thinking of something. "Hmm…you seem a bit slower than usual." he said, inquisitively, "Has the Nobody's IQ level rubbed off on you?"

Joyex started, but was stopped by Sakuzy. "I resent that, you hunk of rock!" the Nobody said, defensively.

Topaz glowered at Joyex, who stopped talking in an instant, then clasped his crystal hands behind his back and paced in front of them. "Well, looks like I'll have to fill a few memory gaps for you two." he said to both himself and the two. He turned to them and explained, "Let's start with the Crystalli War. It's over now. You lost. You were close, but you tripped at the finish line."

Sakuzy stared blankly, as though someone had just winded him. "What?" he asked, not willing to believe Topaz, "How could this happen? Chrysallis is DEAD! The meteor is GONE!"

Topaz paused for a second, then burst out laughing. He then put his face so close to Sakuzy that he could hear the grinding of Topaz's crystal teeth as he spoke. "Ha! You ARE pathetic. Don't you realize that Chrysallis was serving 'The Living Crystal'?" Topaz took a step back, then asked, "What? Did you think he was being metaphorical?"

Sakuzy stepped back in surprise and asked, "The Living Crystal is a living being?"

Topaz slowly nodded and continued. "He came to Destiny Island long ago and purged it of all he deemed unclean. The Crystalli rule this world now. Or, more precisely, I do."

Sakuzy turned to Joyex and nodded. Joyex held out a small device that greatly resembled a Gameboy, with a white spot on it. "Hope this works, even WITH the pigeon poop." Joyex said, uneasily.

Topaz caught sight of the strange device and chuckled slightly. "Don't go thinking that you two can escape me THAT easily!" he sneered.

Sakuzy smirked at the thing that used to be his worst rival. "Who says TWO of us are going?" he asked, then turned to Joyex and said, "Joyex, if I'm not back in half an hour, go to Radiant Garden!"

"Why?" Joyex asked.

Sakuzy paused, but then said, "I'm making this up as I'm going along, okay?"

Joyex hastily pressed a button and vanished in a flash of bright light. Sakuzy then summoned his Keyblade just as Topaz made to grab him in his giant hand. Sakuzy jumped clean over him and brought the Eagle Feather stabbing into the back of his neck. Sakuzy was even MORE surprised when the wound he created simply healed over as strands of thin crystal fabric repaired the wound. Topaz's skin was not just body armor, it was self-regenerating.

Topaz laughed, then seized Sakuzy by the arm and threw him to the ground. "You really expect to defeat ME with that weak Keyblade?" he asked, his voice overflowing with pride.

Sakuzy growled as he got to his feet, then decided to use a very potential weapon. After all, it proved exceedingly successful when he used it on Topaz previously. "I may have been a bit of a slacker, but I seem to recall YOU using one of these 'weak' Keyblades yourself!" he pointed out.

Sakuzy waved the Keyblade at Topaz, whose oddly-mechanical features ground into a scowl. "And wiped it CLEAN from myself!" Topaz responded, "Like a virus!"

Sakuzy rolled his eyes. "Oh, rich irony, that!" he said, "Look what the Crystalli have done to YOU! You never learned from your mistakes, did you?! Instead of living up to them, you simply pinned them on someone else!(1)"

Topaz pointed his blade-like finger at Sakuzy, and his next sentence was a roar. "Hold your FILTHY tongue!"

Sakuzy used his Eagle Feather to smash off a hunk of crystal from a nearby spire. He took the hunk and put it in front of Topaz's face, showing it for what it truly was. "LOOK! The Crystalli didn't STRENGTHEN you! They weakened you! You're utterly HELPLESS without them!" He then put his Keyblade near enough to Topaz's face that he could virtually lick it…if he had a tongue. "I could stick Eagle Feather into your eye and you'd be dead!" he pointed out.

Topaz snarled and clenched his fist so much that his hand groaned in protest. "Well, even if you DID, you could NOT change the future!" he pointed out, "This IS the future!"

Sakuzy glanced around at the barren expanse of crystal and then lowered his head in apparent submission and sighed. Topaz grinned in delight as his fist turned back into a hand. "Finally accepted way of the Crystalli?" he asked, his grin widening by the second.

Sakuzy made a heavy sigh before replying. "No."

Topaz shot a glare at Sakuzy, surprised that he said it. "WHAT?!"

Sakuzy looked up with a solemn expression on his face. Throughout the conversation that followed, Sakuzy kept his cool, whereas Topaz easily lost his. "No." Sakuzy repeated, then said, "Victor, I don't believe it. You're telling me that the future IS, can only BE, THIS?!"

"You cannot change THIS future, Sakuzy!" Topaz growled, trying to make him see, "No matter how hard you try, the future belongs to the Crystalli!"

Sakuzy's anger momentarily escaped him at that moment alone. "You still don't get it! No matter how hard ANYONE tries, they can't keep the future under their thumbs!" Sakuzy took one step toward Topaz, a fire in his eye that seemed to burn through the Crystalli's soul. "I don't care what future comes out of MY actions, as long as it's one without those parasites you think are oh-so-powerful!"

Sakuzy then turned around, leaving a STEAMED Topaz behind him. "And where are YOU going?! You have nowhere else to go!" Topaz shouted, clenching his fist again.

Sakuzy answered without even looking back at Topaz. "Forward. Or in THIS case…" He held out a small machine, similar to the one Joyex used to warp to the past. "Backwards. I had Mr. Highwind make another one…just in case."

Topaz suddenly realized that he had been suckered and made a mad dash for Sakuzy. "NO!"

The corrupted man sprang at Sakuzy…too late. The Key Bearer already activated the portable time machine and already vanished back to the past. Topaz slammed into the ground and saw that Sakuzy was gone. Out of rage, Topaz grabbed a nearby crystal on the ground and smashed it into pieces in his grip.

"NOOOOOO!!!"

Topaz

Alright, THIS is one FREAKY mutation! Topaz goes from being a normal human being (with the exception of that eye and an urge to destroy all organic beings) to a hideously deformed crystal thing! He tried convincing Sakuzy to join the Crystalli, but he got a bit of a talk from the future Keyblader about the possibility of changing results.

_(1) Don't you hate people like that?_


	148. Truth and Apologies

Chapter 148: Truth and Apologies

Disney Castle…

In a burst of light, Sora and co. reappeared in Disney Castle, looking confused. At last, they were out of their dinosaur forms. Ryan scratched his head. "Uh…if I asked 'What the heck just happened?', would I regret it?"

J shrugged as he closed his scarlet eyes, slipping his shades back on. "I don't think so." he replied.

Ryan nodded. "Okay…WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!"

J brushed back his bangs. "Don't ask me."

Sora shrugged. "I dunno."

Riku said, "Don't know."

"Same here." Kairi agreed.

"Don't rightly know." Scott said.

April, however, had a different thing to say. "Hey, where'd Sakuzy and Joyex go?"

Sora looked around and found that, sure enough, Sakuzy and Joyex were gone. He then turned to see that Mickey, Ludwig, and Merlin were still waiting for them. Mickey exclaimed when the group reappeared back in the Hall of the Cornerstone. The door to Destiny Waste, on the other hand, was gone.

"Oh, thank heavens, you're back!" Merlin said, gratefully.

"Uh, how'd we get back here?" Sora asked, wanting an answer, "We didn't use the door like last time…"

"Well, when we saw that the crystals made by Chrysallis vanished, we had Merlin summon ya back!" Mickey answered with a smile.

Ludwig went up to Sora and shook his hand vigorously. "EXCELLENT WORK!" he congratulated, "Now, I have to go work in my top-secret laboratory. I'm working on a time machine so the doors won't be needed."

The scientific duck walked into a large, steel door that had the words 'Top Secret Laboratory' in large, neon-red letters. They looked confused by this. Some top-secret lab THAT was.

"Well…looks like our journey's over." Sora said, "We'll be headed back to the Gummi Ship."

As the group walked out of the hall of the Cornerstone, Mickey waved goodbye. "Well, I'll see ya soon!" he called, "I'll see if I can get it fixed up to make up for the disaster that was the last party. Hope to see ya there!"

The Gummi Ship took off to Radiant Garden so that they could drop J off. When Sora got on the Gummi Ship, J glanced in his direction. "It's now or never." the shapeshifter pointed out.

Sora knew what he was talking about. It was time to swallow his pride and do what he should've done since this whole ordeal started.

Scott shook J's hand with a smile on his face. "I guess this is goodbye, huh, mate?" he asked.

J released Scott's hand and walked off to his quarters. "Looks like it…old friend."

Scott was shocked. THAT was the first time he referred to him as a friend. J turned to the others—Riku, Ryan, April, Donald, Goofy (they came to see the others off), and Kairi—and twitched his mouth, which might have held a grin. "I'd hate to say it, but I think I've gotten used to you guys." he told them.

As J closed the door to his room, everyone stared. Scott shrugged. "I guess that's HIS way of saying that he likes you."

Ryan nodded. "Yeah. Just in a different pattern of words." he agreed, then said, "Maybe he IS starting to lighten up a bit…" Ryan suddenly registered what he was saying and shook his head. "Nah."

----

Nighttime arrived with extraordinary speed, even on the Gummi Ship. Sora still didn't apologize to Kairi…the person he cared about even more than Riku, his best friend. He just lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. _How am I going to apologize? _he thought to himself,_ She won't let me in her room and she's stayed there all day._

Sora looked at his clock and he saw that it was one in the morning. He kicked himself out of bed and went to get a glass of water: maybe a bit of hydration could get him back to sleep…He opened the refrigerator door to see that all the sodas were gone. He, almost instantly, knew who the culprit was. _Ryan, Ryan, Ryan…_ he thought with a grin. Most likely, tomorrow, Ryan would be hyperactive and running around the Gummi Ship like nobody's business.

Sora finished the glass in one go, shut the door, and turned to leave. He then saw that he wasn't the only person there. "Kairi?"

Kairi was, indeed, just a few feet from him. What was amazing was that he didn't even know she was standing there. A sour look crossed her face as she turned to leave, but Sora scaled the yard separating them and caught her by the shoulder. "Kairi, wait!" A pause. She was probably listening. "I'm…sorry."

Kairi instantly froze in her tracks. HERE was Sora, finally putting his pride aside and apologizing. She had to turn to face him now. "What?" she asked.

"I'm sorry." Sora repeated, "The only reason we got into that fight was because…because of me." Sora shifted his gaze to the floor. He was clearly ashamed of himself. "I didn't know what had happened between you and J, so I guessed what was happening and it turned out wrong. I…felt like you were trying to replace me or something, like everything I did for you was for nothing."

Kairi suddenly felt her anger subside as relief took over. The battle was over. However, it turned out she had something to say, too. "Sora…I could NEVER replace you." she told him, "There's only ONE you and there will never be another one." She put her index finger over Sora's heart and smiled. "Remember that, Sora. Remember it."

Kairi sighed a relieved sigh as she said, "I forgive you, Sora…And I'm sorry, too."

Sora looked up to see that Kairi had dropped her head a bit. Her expression was as solemn as his was a moment ago. "What for?" he asked.

"I'm sorry that I acted the way I did." she answered, "I should have waited for you to calm down, then we could have talked. But I didn't…instead, I just fed your anger and made things worse."

Sora put his hands on Kairi's shoulders. "Don't worry. I'll easily forgive you for that." he assured her, then added, "Now, Kairi, this may not sound friendly, but you know I'm not angry anymore. Can I ask you something?" Kairi could only nod. Sora took a deep breath, then spoke. "J told me about what happened that morning…including that you kissed him on the cheek. Why'd you do it?"

Kairi remained silent and racked her thoughts. She, herself, didn't know why she did it. She then answered with what made the most sense to her. "I just pitied him." she said, "He's had a rough life and it hardened his heart. I just wanted to help him. That's all."

Sora mentally sighed in relief. J was right back at the cave in Destiny Waste; she was doing it just to be nice. In a reversal of roles, Sora hugged Kairi off-guard in a manner eerily similar to what she did back at The World That Never Was. She hesitated, then hugged him back. Finally, it was over.

Sora and Kairi quickly broke apart when they heard someone talking. "C'mon, just a little more…" it said. Sora flipped on the lights to show Joyex with a digital camera and a hungry expression on his face. The expression then changed to something a bit sheepish as he hid the camera behind his back. "Oh! Uh…hey, Sora!" Joyex said, grinning uneasily.

Sora couldn't believe what he saw. Wasn't Joyex erased from existence when the meteor got destroyed? "Joyex? What're you doing back here?" he asked, "I thought you were supposed to fade when the future was changed!"

Joyex sighed, having been caught, and shook his head. Sora really wasn't used to Joyex being serious. "Well, you see, we DID change the future…not." the Nobody corrected.

"WHAT?!" Sora asked in surprise.

Joyex nodded, then continued. "Our time warp device was one year off, because we went further than we intended. From what I can guess, Chrysallis wasn't the head honcho. And destroying the meteor didn't help either…"

There was a flash of light and Sakuzy landed on top of Joyex with a very audible THUMP. The futuristic Keyblader groaned while the Nobody gave the thumbs' up. "I'm OKAY!" he assured them.

Sakuzy picked himself up and dusted himself off. He then saw Sora and Kairi and scratched his head. "So, Sora, made up with Kairi?" he asked.

Sora nodded as he answered, "Just now."

Kairi decided to get back on subject as she asked, "Why are you two back?"

Sakuzy turned to Joyex, then answered, "Turns out that neither Chrysallis NOR the meteor were the cause of the Crystalli."

"Then…what was it?" Sora asked, wide-eyed.

"I don't know." Sakuzy answered, "BUT it has something to do with what they called 'The Living Crystal'…" Sakuzy then changed the subject to something lighter. "Are our rooms still open?" he asked, hopefully.

"Yeah." Sora answered, "We said that we'd remove them, but it's something we haven't gotten around to doing yet."

Joyex sighed in relief. "'Hallelujah' chorus for that."

Destiny Islands…

Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie were watching the sunset with worried faces. It had been months since Sora, Riku, and Kairi left, but it seemed much longer to them. "Where do you think they went?" Tidus asked. The guy's voice had changed a lot in the last year or so. (His FFX voice, if you please.)

Wakka shrugged, then answered in his heavily-accented voice, "I dunno. Someplace far, far away, I'm guessin'."

Selphie sighed. "One day they're here, but the next…poof. They're gone. But why did Kairi have to go with 'em?"

Wakka turned to Selphie and clapped her on the shoulder. When she turned, he said, "Ah, don't worry. They be back before you know it, ya?"

Selphie cheered up a bit and would have agreed when her eyes caught something in the sky: a huge…something. She pointed up at it to direct Tidus and Wakka's attention to it. "What's that?"

Wakka and Tidus saw it too; a comet…thing was racing right toward the island at tremendous speed. It soared right over their heads and landed on the opposite beach with an almost-deafening CRASH.

"What da?!" Wakka asked in surprise, "What was DAT?!"

Tidus only stared at the place and answered, "Only one way to find out…"

The trio shot to their feet and ran to the crash site in an instant. When they got to the site, they were amazed to see a crater at least as wide as a baseball diamond with a smoking piece of space debris right at the center. Upon closer inspection, the trio saw that the asteroid was made of pure crystal. Stranger still, was that it seemed to be in perfect condition. It had been through atmospheric layers, which could burn almost any asteroid, yet it didn't have a scratch on it.

"What IS that thing?" Selphie asked in total awe.

Tidus slowly moved closer to try and get a better look at the asteroid. It was the size of a Gummi Ship, though they had never seen one, and seemed to have several inner layers. "I don't know…" he answered.

Tidus was now an arm's length away from the meteorite and was about to touch it when the part he was going to touch shifted. Tidus fell onto his back in fright as more parts shifted to replace others and make new parts of an entirely different being. Slowly, it formed a pair of arms, legs, and a near-human body. Whatever this thing was, it was something monstrous…

The crystal being reared to its full thirty-five-foot height and flexed its claw-like fingers. Its whole body was pure crystal and jagged, as though it were made from the parts of an alien machine. The middle of its five-fingered hand was the widest of them all while the others looked more like very long machine appendages. Its legs were large and bulky, terminating in column-like feet. Its head looked like it was clad in a battle helmet, but it had a humanoid face. Well, ALMOST human anyway. It had burning, red eyes, a barely distinguishable nose, and a mouthful of sharpened, diamond teeth. It opened this maw of teeth and let loose a loud command to anyone within earshot. "All organic beings, kneel before your new master!"

Parts in the being's arms shifted as he joined them together until they had changed into a giant laser cannon. He aimed at the closest tree he could find and opened fire. A burst of blue plasma erupted from the cannon's barrel and the tree exploded in a burst of flame. Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie hit the dirt as another blast soared over their heads and a piece of the shoreline exploded as though someone had stepped on a landmine. When the explosion cleared, the sand had melted into muddy glass.

The creature separated its arms, then a gear shifted in its left arm until a large spike ball on a chain appeared where his palm used to be. He took it in his free hand and extended the chain to its full length. Without a second's warning, he started to thrash any nearby houses and huts with it, smashing them into splinters. Its red eyes then fell upon a hut that the three humans used to hang out at with their friends. Without any form of hesitation, the creature smashed the hut into pieces and created a small crater where the spike ball slammed into the ground.

Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie did the only logical thing to do with this monster—run. The creature sheathed its spike ball, then roared to the heavens and ground his diamond teeth together so sharply, they created sparks. "I am…DIAMOND!"

The creature called "Diamond" leapt into the air with arcane agility as his inner mechanisms shifted to transform the crystal being into a new form. When the parts finished changing about, Diamond now had the form of an unknown aircraft that looked like a jagged stealth jet of sorts. With a blast of its thrusters, the jet took off from that world at well over the speed of sound. It had work to do, after all…

_Finally, Sora and Kairi have made up. Hope you guys are happy. I know I am._

_So, THIS is the actual boss of the Crystalli…Looks like trouble!_


	149. Grave of a Lover

Chapter 149: Grave of a Lover

Radiant Garden…

Sora and co. landed in the city of Radiant Garden, Sora standing next to Kairi, happier than he could remember. Ryan gave off a sneeze, which might have held a snicker. J then turned to Kairi and Sora and asked, "So, you finally made up?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. And J?" he asked, earning the shapeshifter's nod that he was listening, "You were right. She was just trying to be nice to you, that's all."

Kairi gave J a curious look, then asked, "But…why were you so concerned about us?"

J remained silent for one second, then issued a single order. "Come with me. There's someone I want you to meet."

Sora and Kairi exchanged curious looks, but went along, wondering if it was one of J's old friends. The two were slightly surprised when J walked into a florist's shop and almost went in with him, but he beckoned them to stay. When he walked out, he brought a bouquet of sunflowers and answered their question before they could even ask it. "You'll find out soon enough…"

J walked them through the city and even into the outskirts. He eventually brought them into a graveyard and Sora suddenly had a sudden suspicion of what was going to happen.

"We're here." said J as he walked through the graveyard. He eventually led Sora and Kairi to a particular grave and placed the bouquet at the foot of the headstone. Suddenly, his legs gave out and he dropped down on his hands and knees. He shut his eyes, as though restraining intense pain and actually emitted a single sniff. Sora and Kairi were shocked; neither of them had seen J like this before. He was actually grieving.

Before J regained himself, he said five words. "Every day, I miss you…"

J then noticed that his shades had fallen off when his legs gave out and put them back on as he got back to his feet. When J moved away, Sora saw the inscription on the headstone: "Here lies Maria Walker. Beloved friend, sister, daughter, and lover. 'She brought light to our hearts'. 1989-2006 Sora stared as he asked, "That's the Maria you told me about?"

Kairi stood there, staring at the tombstone; the girl was only seventeen when she died. Then, at the foot of the gravestone, she saw a picture frame that had fallen over. She picked it up and saw that it was a photograph of a beautiful girl, smiling. The girl had red hair similar to hers. In fact, they almost looked identical, save a few key differences. The girl in the picture had green eyes in contrast to Kairi's blue, and looked a bit older, judging by her longer hair.

J stood there, his arms folded and his expression hidden behind his sunglasses. "Yes." he answered, "She's buried next to someone else, but she's under the tree, whereas the other person is next to it." Sora glanced at the other tombstone, its heading was shorter "R.I.P., Thomas Grayson Kaine. Now you are free from your curse. 1983-2006". "And I know he is." J commented, solemnly.

Sora knew that this Thomas guy probably had a terrible power and understood what J was talking about. "Wait…Thomas was that guilt guy, right? I thought you said that you hated him…"

J corrected Sora, still keeping his posture. "I didn't say that. I only said I didn't care much for him. It greatly troubled me to learn that he died…He kept trying to tell me something and I threw it in his face." J then gave a mirthless grin. It was actually the first smile he had actually given, though he didn't seem too happy; something both Sora and Kairi had hoped to see at least once. "You think I'M an anti-hero, you should've seen him. At least he admitted his problems."

Kairi stared at the picture she found, then snapped back to reality and popped the question she'd been dying to ask. "Why'd you bring us here?"

J turned back to Maria's grave. "I thought I'd show you what happens to those who get torn apart too soon." he answered, "I spent eighteen months with her, I told her how I felt after sixteen. She was murdered two months later…by the same man who killed my family and friends."

J looked at his hands as though he was holding a dying creature in them. "She died of blood loss…and in my arms. Yet, she had enough strength to give me two gifts that NO ONE can take away." J said, his voice going very strong, "She gave me her most prized possession and her love. After that, as I told you, Sora, I washed my hands of love and was one of the first people at her funeral. I knew she would have preferred it that way."

Sora hung his head and thoughts of Kairi being in Maria's place rang through his mind. The pain would have been unbearable to him. Finally, J turned to face both of them with a stern look. "You need each other, so I would think twice before fighting again." he warned, "How would you like your last memory of each other to be an argument? And if you're torn apart forever, you just might end up like me."

Sora now knew what J was talking about. Why didn't he think of that before? If either he or Kairi were going to die, he would want their last memory of each other to be one worth remembering in the afterlife. Suddenly, as J walked away, Sora perked up as a thought occurred to him. "Hold on there." said Sora, grabbing J's attention, "You said that you would never love again because it just scarred your damaged life." J nodded, but then Sora asked, "Is it that? Or is it because you think that falling for another girl would be an insult to your memory of Maria?"

J turned back to Sora and scowled, causing the Keyblade Master to take a step back. But it turned out to be a warning, because the shapeshifter just turned back and walked away without another word. Sora turned to Kairi, who had just tapped his shoulder. "What?" he asked, curiously. Before Sora knew it, Kairi was in his arms. She wasn't crying, but she looked close to it, though. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Kairi only said one word, but it seemed to be choked out. "Promise…"

"Promise what?" he asked.

Kairi gained some strength back, then said what she meant to. "Promise you won't leave me…or forget me. Ever?"

Sora closed his eyes and smiled warmly down at her. "I promise." he answered.

Sora and Kairi's moment of bliss came to a steady end as they walked through the graveyard. "So…Anything you wanna do?" Sora asked.

Kairi thought for a while, then shook her head. "Not really." she casually answered.

The two of them hadn't even left when they saw Blader walk in with a bunch of flowers. Both hid behind a large, important-looking tombstone and peeked out from behind it. Blader didn't appear to notice them, so when he was a good distance away, they came out of their hiding place. "What's Blader doing here?" Kairi asked.

The pair saw Blader put the bouquet of flowers down and walk away without another word. Sora walked over to the headstone and read it out loud. "'Here lies Blader's hopes that Crescent would never come into his life.' He's bizarre." Sora said with a flat look.

Blader heard this comment and rushed back to come to a halt in front of them, tapping his remaining leg. "What did you say?" he asked.

Sora turned in surprise. Blader could move REALLY fast when he had to… "Nothing!" the Keyblade Master lied.

Blader shot an accusing look at Sora, but returned to a "somewhat-pleasant" look as he folded his arms. "So, why're you guys back here?" he asked in his cocky voice.

"Well, it goes sort of like THIS…" Kairi answered. S then proceeded to tell Blader of what happened since they last left Radiant Garden.

When Kairi got to J being the Prince of Heart, the Shield Wielder's jaw dropped. His outburst was pretty much expected. "WHAT?! Johnny Rain Cloud's the Prince of Heart?!" he asked in shock, "What next? One of you turns out to be the heir to Radiant Garden?!"

Sora scratched the back of his head, as though uncomfortable about something. "Y'know, it's funny you should bring that up…" he said with a slight chuckle.

Blader stared at them, open-mouthed, then sighed. "I am NOT pursuing the subject." he told them, holding up a hand to stop them, "Things have just gotten a whole lot weirder…"

Back with the rest of the group, they were waiting patiently for something. April had taken this moment to say good-bye to her parents, but had the others stay behind; it was personal after all. Crescent seemingly walked in out of nowhere and watched them from behind. After a bit of silence, he broke it with a single greeting and question. "Hiya, guys! How's the argument goin'?"

Everyone jumped, which gave Crescent more than a good laugh. Scott was the first to recover and answered the psycho's question. "Well, Crescent, from what we can tell, it ended last night. And you're gonna have to not sneak up on us, mate."

Crescent looked a bit crestfallen and slumped over slightly as he whined, "Aww…Are ya tellin' me that no one got slapped?"

Joyex shook his head quickly as he answered, "No, but I'll change THAT now!" Joyex turned on his heel and slapped Riku across the face. The wielder of darkness retaliated by punching the Nobody across the face. Joyex massaged the side of his face, which had turned a raw red. "I can't have ANY fun." the Nobody complained.

Riku folded his arms and informed, "Because your idea of 'fun' includes driving us all crazy."

"Exactly." Joyex said with a proud nod.

Crescent held up his index finger, informatively, then spoke in his casual voice. "Anyhoo, Vinnie wants to see you guys back at the base. And I wouldn't suggest making him angry…" Crescent looked around, then asked, "By the by, where are the Keyblader, the redhead, and the anti-hero?"

Sora, Kairi, and Blader walked back and, as expected, the hacker looked exasperated to see the ninja with them. "Great. If it ain't the Walkin' Asylum (1)."

Crescent turned, as though he hadn't heard Blader and just noticed him. "What?" he asked, inattentively.

Blader simply huffed as he said, "Never mind."

"No, seriously. I wasn't listening." Crescent pointed out.

Blader decided to ignore this comment as J returned, earning shocked glances from everyone. "Thought I might as well stick around for a while longer. At least until all this is solved…"

"In THAT case, welcome back, mate!" Scott heartily said. The Aussie moved to give J a slap on the back, but hadn't even moved his arm when J caught his arm in his gloved hand. The shapeshifter's strength never ceased to surprise Scott.

"Just don't get used to it." he reminded.

There was a slight gust of wind as April returned to make a nice, smooth landing. She came to a stop, then brushed her wind-blown hair out of her face.

"Where have YOU been?" Sora asked, curiously. He hadn't exactly known where she was, as J had hurried them off to the graveyard before he could find anything out.

April dusted herself off, then answered Sora's question. "My parents' house. I told them that I was thinking about leaving, and they caved in. Especially considering I said that I'd leave whether they wanted me to or not."

Scott looked a bit worried by this as he fingered his chin. "Not the method I'd have chosen…" He then lightened up with a slightly playful shrug and said, "But at least yer still comin' with us, sheila."

April smiled. She didn't know why, but she just liked Scott's Australian slang term for a girl.

Riku turned to the two members of Restoration East Side and asked, "You said Vincent wants us back at the base?"

Both Blader and Crescent nodded with a "Yup" from Blader and an "Uh-huh" from Crescent.

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Riku asked, ready for what lay ahead, no matter how dreadful.

_Full credit to Mrfipp for that description of Crescent. I never woulda thought of that._


	150. Invasion

Chapter 150: Invasion

Blader and Crescent led Sora and co. back to their base. Sakuzy seemed to be blushing slightly as one thought raced through his head: _I wonder how Maya's doing…_

Sora and co. arrived in the bottom where Petross was taking another blood sample from Pearl, a.k.a.: Maya. Vincent was the first to notice that they were back and turned on their approach. "Welcome back." he greeted, though unenthusiastically, "And Crescent, if you say ANYTHING stupid, you'll end up facing Cerberus."

Vincent fingered his gun, but Crescent still seemed to have his happy/enthusiastic face on as he held up his hands and slowly sidestepped away. "Well, given THAT option…" the ninja said as he backed off.

When Crescent was out of sight, Petross sighed with content. "I am SO glad that Vincent's back." he said with equal satisfaction, "Crescent doesn't listen to a WORD I say."

Crescent zipped back into the room, rubbing his chin in curiosity. "Sorry, did you say something?" he asked, inquisitively.

Sora decided to ignore the two's antics and get back on subject. "Why'd you bring us back, Vincent?" he asked.

Vincent leaned up against the wall and folded his arms. "Petross and I have been talking." he answered, "And we think that this 'Living Crystal' that the Crystalli are talking about wasn't just a metaphor describing the Crystalli whole. It's most likely a living being—their REAL leader."

Sora glanced, worriedly, away. For a long time, he believed that Chrysallis was the leader, but now that this "Living Crystal" had come into the picture, things were getting a little strange. What if it was WORSE? "What do you think it is?" Sora asked.

Vincent remained silent for a while, then closed his eyes and shook his head. "Hm. I'd rather NOT find out…" he said, seriously, "For all I know, it could be another deranged Crystalli Host like Chrysallis…or worse."

Realm of the Crystalli...

"DIE!!"

"You gotta catch me FIRST!"

Amethyst was pursuing Emerald, the violet Crystalli's scepter drawn. Emerald blew a raspberry at the master of magic, who summoned an army of Neo Soldiers to bar his path. The younger of the two touched the end of one staff and yelped in pain as he realized he'd been suckered. "Wuh-oh!" the green Crystalli panicked.

Emerald changed direction just in time, because Amethyst's scepter had almost jabbed him in the rib. Sapphire sighed in exasperation and rolled his ocean-blue eyes as the two continued their little game of cat and mouse. "I'm surrounded by idiots." he groaned.

Topaz growled at this comment. The yellow Crystalli didn't really appreciate the insult, having been Sapphire's right-hand man at one point in time. "Correction, Sapphire." he said, informatively, "Only SOME of us are idiots…"

Emerald raced all the way to the top of a spire and held on to the top, keeping himself on it. Amethyst fired orbs of dark energy up at him, all of which missed. After a failed attempt, Amethyst growled as he roared, "GET DOWN HERE, SO I CAN KILL YOU!"

Emerald stared back down at Amethyst and scratched his head. "Jeez, who're YOU kiddin'?" he asked, still clutching the spire like a monkey.

Aquamarine growled slightly at this utter nonsense; Amethyst had had a shorter temper than usual ever since Pearl vanished. From what the nautical Crystalli could tell, Amethyst was just plain jealous. "He was easier to handle under TWO conditions—one, Pearl was here, and two, Chrysallis could control him." the seagoing Crystalli explained.

Emerald glanced down to see that Amethyst was gone. He searched the immediate area and there was absolutely no sign of Amethyst. "Whew! Lost him…" he said in relief.

Suddenly, an all-too-familiar voice came from behind Emerald and it chilled him to the core. "Talk about a close shave." it said.

Emerald screamed a very high-pitched scream when he noticed that Amethyst was just behind him in a similar pose. He jumped off the spire and continued running with Amethyst in hot pursuit. The chaos continued until Aquamarine grabbed both of their hoods, tempted to kill them out of simple irritation, and barked, "Cool it, you two!"

Sapphire jumped down from his roost and landed on his feet as though he had just jumped from a small stool. Topaz followed behind him like an ever-present bodyguard. "Until the Living Crystal gets here, I am in charge and I suggest watching that mouth of yours, Aquamarine." Sapphire warned. He then stood up and addressed all the Crystalli hosts in the immediate area. "The Living Crystal wants ALL hosts to be present when he arrives. And I don't think he would approve of us if we deliberately disobeyed his orders."

Peridot raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Turquoise scoffed before replying, "In case you haven't noticed, old man, we're one member short."

Sapphire walked right up to the Goth woman and the ferocity in his eyes matched that of a hunting tiger. "I am well aware of THAT, Turquoise, which is why we shall all go to Radiant Garden. Sakuzy had Pearl stay with those foolish Restoration Committee members."

Ruby lifted a brow in mild amusement. "Restoration committee?" she asked in her low, seductive voice.

Spinel nodded, flexing the fingers of her gauntlet-clad hand. "Yep. He means those wimps that almost took out Emerald."

Emerald looked mildly offended as he looked Spinel in the eye. "Hey! Just because that ninja helped…" he said, defensively.

Amber interrupted to point something out. "Yeah. And that means you can't continue fightin' back?"

Opal scoffed. "Only a coward, which you are, would turn tail and run before knowing of defeat." she pointed out.

The argument, as far as Topaz was concerned, was getting irritating and FAST. "SILENCE!"

That single word was drawn out and spoken in a loud roar that silenced everyone in the area. When the Crystalli Hosts had calmed down a bit, Sapphire stepped forward. "Thank you, Topaz." he said, quickly, "Now, the Living Crystal will NOT approve of our failure if Pearl is absent. So, all forces…MOVE OUT."

Without any further hesitation, every Crystalli Host vanished in an explosion of different-colored lights.

Radiant Garden…

Things at Radiant Garden were going well, save the fact that they still didn't know the real leader of the Crystalli. Sakuzy walked over to an examination table that Pearl was sitting on and took a seat next to her. "Maya?" he asked, quietly.

Pearl turned on being addressed, then turned to stare at the ground again. "Hey, Sakuzy." she said, blandly.

"So, how's the testing going?" he asked, trying to strike up conversation.

Pearl nodded, somewhat casually. "It's going fine." she answered, "Or at least that's what Petross is saying…"

"Coulda seen that coming…" Sakuzy said to himself.

Pearl was quiet for a while, then directed her gray eyes to Sakuzy. "Why didn't you recognize me at Camp Greenlake?" she asked, "Y'know...when I attacked you?

Sakuzy sighed a sad sigh, then answered in a solemn voice. "You had changed so much, Maya."

Pearl turned with a questioning look. "I look the same as I did when you knew me on the island." she said, trying to explain, "Well, except the eyes…"

Sakuzy shook his head. "No. It wasn't your outside that had changed." he corrected, "It was your personality and your thoughts." Sakuzy scoffed as a small smile crept across his face. "Before this all happened, you were always sweet and playful...bubbly at times." Sakuzy's expression changed back to a serious one and his eyes lost their glitter as he added, "But when I saw you back at Greenlake…you were cold and…"

Sakuzy couldn't bear to finish that sentence; he did NOT want to use the word "evil" to describe her. But apparently, Pearl saw it coming, because she asked, "Evil?"

Sakuzy shifted his sight to the side, uneasily, then nodded. "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." he said, "You were a different person, and that's why I didn't recognize you."

Pearl was quiet a little while longer, then she stood and left without another word.

Back with the others, Blader had removed his metal leg and was monitoring the computer. An alarm beeped and with a few keystrokes, a look of shock crossed his face. He shot out of his seat, all the while reattaching his leg, picked up his shield, and ran over to the rest. "GUYS! Looks like we've got company!" he said in alarm.

Sakuzy darted into the room, worry in his face. "Does it have to do with Crystalli?" he asked.

To Sakuzy, the answer was obvious. Suddenly, Pearl stiffened up as her eyes suddenly glowed a bright white. Her expression looked like the same one where a person was watching a horror movie. "They've come." she said with a gasp.


	151. Negotiations

By the way, I need theme songs for some characters. Here are the ones who already have them:

_Sakuzy: Dreams of an Absolution by Lee Brotherton and the Remix Factory_

_Joyex: Move Along by the All-American Rejects_

_Scott: We Need Each Other by Sanctus Real_

_J: Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace_

_April: Thousand Miles by Vanessa Marshall_

_Ryan: It Doesn't Matter by_

_Crescent: Dare to be Stupid by Weird Al Yankovich_

_Quartz: Frontlines by Pillar_

_Diamond: Throwdown by Pillar_

_Amethyst: In the End by Linkin Park_

_Emerald: Welcome to my Life by Simple Plan_

_Pearl: Mirror by Barlow Girl_

_Aquamarine: Never Turn Back by Crush 40_

_Sapphire: It's Come to This by Kenichi Tonou_

_I need theme songs for Blader, Petross, and the other Crystalli Hosts. Anyone up to the challenge?_

Chapter 151: Negotiations

The Crystalli hosts were marching on Radiant Garden with the Crystalli they commanded from Neo Soldiers to Hawks. Sora and co. ran out to see this and their jaws fell open at the number of Crystalli on the street.

"This makes that Heartless Invasion look like kid stuff!" Sora said, his eyes wide.

"THIS is gonna be a problem." Riku said, tensely.

"Uh-oh..." Kairi said in shock.

Donald exclaimed, "WAK!" while Goofy shouted, "Whoa!"

"No problem." Sakuzy said, confidently, but Joyex had something else to say: "WE'RE DEAD!"

J scowled as he rolled his eyes and said, "Oh, crap..."

Scott gave his usual exclamation of, "Crikey!"

Ryan stared at it, blinked twice, then said, "Cool…"

April turned to Ryan as though saying, "are you serious?" She sighed, then pointed out, "Ryan, you're the only person I know who can say 'cool' in this situation."

Ryan simply looked confused and asked, "Point?"

April smacked herself in the forehead and sighed in exasperation. "Why am I bothering?" she asked herself.

Weapons came from their sheaths and Keyblades sparkled to life, but something was a little odd in this picture. The Crystalli were mere feet from them, yet they didn't even try to attack. The Crystalli Soldiers had merely put their guns up, not even thinking about firing. And any Crystalli with a weapon in hand, had it in a passive use.

"Why aren't they attacking?" Sora asked, suspiciously.

A familiar voice rang through the battlefield to answer Sora's question. "A truce has been made until negotiations are complete." a British, male voice answered. The army of Crystalli parted to reveal Amethyst, Turquoise, and Sapphire walking toward the Committee.

Vincent glowered forward as he turned and said, "Sora, Sakuzy, come."

Sora paused for a second, pondering the dangers of possibly getting killed. But, after a slight pause, they followed Vincent's orders without question.

Vincent and Sapphire were tall enough to look each other in the eye, but Sora eyed the hosts nervously. They happened to be three of the best fighters…and the ones that often gave him the heebie-jeebies. "Out with it." Vincent said, getting to the point, "What do you want?"

The lavender-haired Crystalli host stepped forward and answered, his purple eyes on Sakuzy with every hint of malcontent. "We want Pearl. We're taking her with us…conscious or not."

"And why's that?" Sora asked, his fist clenched.

Amethyst glanced at Sora, then to Turquoise. He beckoned her to go on and she answered Sora's question. "The Living Crystal has demanded that all Crystalli Hosts be available." she informed, darkly, "He'll be VERY disappointed if she doesn't show up in the next few days."

Sakuzy suddenly had an angry look on his face as he put his Keyblade between him and the three Crystalli. "Over my cold, lifeless body." he challenged.

Turquoise paused, then her face turned into a smile that chilled both Sora and Sakuzy to the core. "With pleasure." she said, malevolently.

Sapphire silenced Turquoise with one single movement of his hand while Amethyst took a single step forward. "Give her to us and we might spare your little city." Amethyst said, coldly.

Vincent grunted, as though saying, "yeah right". "'Might' is the key word there." he told him, not taking his eyes off the Crystalli, "You've just given it away. It won't matter if we give Pearl to you or not. You'll try to destroy us anyway."

Sapphire's face hinted a smile as he took this all in. He then turned his back on them as he said, "In that case, you've opted for death. You've got ten minutes before we are forced to remove Pearl forcefully."

Sakuzy mouthed something that was probably 'her name's Maya'. Turquoise, however, caught this and shook her head. "Call her whatever you want, kid. She's a member of the Crystalli alliance by the name of 'Pearl' now."

Amethyst clicked his tongue as he shook his head, then said, "He won't listen, Turquoise. It's going to be sink or swim for him…in this case, surrender or die."

Turquoise and Amethyst followed the blue-clad Crystalli and retreated to a respectable distance. The army, however, marched backward, keeping their weapons at the ready in case someone tried to attack from behind. Vincent beckoned as he walked away, and Sakuzy and Sora were quick to follow

Upon their return, nervous looks and murmurs spread through the Restoration Committee East Side and the others. "What do they want?" Kairi asked.

Sakuzy replied with one simple word. "Maya."

Ryan looked around, then asked, with a shrug, "What now?"

Sora gave an obvious, two-word answer. "We fight."

Vincent kept the others in his sight, his expression stern. "Sapphire says we've got ten minutes, eight now, until they attack." he told them, "That gives us more than enough time to get the message to the West Side…among other people."

Vincent took a radio transmitter from his mantel and pressed a button on its side. Within seconds, a voice crackled through it. "This is Leon." it said.

"This is Vincent." they replied, "We'll need you and your group here at the earliest opportunity, Squall. The Crystalli are attacking…again."

Sora could hear an incredible reproduction of a sigh from the transmitter. "That's Leon." it corrected in a grunt.

Vincent was undisturbed by this and spoke back into the communicator with his usual, gravelly voice. "I'll call you whatever I want…no matter how ashamed of the name you might be. And on your way…ask Merlin to fetch the witch. Pick up the others, too."

"What am I? A messenger boy?!" Leon asked, grouchily. Apparently, he and Vincent didn't get off on the right foot.

The line went dead and Vincent sighed as he pocketed it. "Why don't I have a phone?(1)" he asked as he shook his head.

"Uh…most likely, bad luck." Blader suggested.

J scoffed. "If you've seen as much of Radiant Garden as I have, you'd be surprised on how many phone stores there are."

"Crikey, J. You're cool as a cuke(2) even in danger of battle…" Scott pointed out, impressed.

"I know."

Five minutes had passed for the Crystalli. Sapphire sensed something and turned to see two things approaching in the distance. One looked like a fighter jet that was a mere dot in the sky and the other looked like a giant, crystalline tank of sorts. "He sent others…excellent." he said with a grin.

_That's kind of a running gag in Advent Children and probably will be in this fic._

"_Cuke" I use it as a shortened name for cucumber._


	152. No Holds Barred

Chapter 152: No Holds Barred

_For this chapter, I can hear the Toby Mac song "Ignition"._

War dotted the middle of Radiant Garden later that day. Since Pearl had not been handed over, the Crystalli launched their attack. All around them, laser-fire blasted holes into buildings, weapons clanged with others, and all kinds of battle noise exploded through the air.

"Exactly how many battles do I have to be in?" Sora asked this after narrowly evading the gaping jaws of a Crystalli Mariner, then stabbed it through the head.

Scott, who wasn't too far from Sora, was now wrestling the all-too-familiar, dinosaurian shape of a Crystalli Fossil. He had the beast by its neck and could feel the wind of its jaws slamming shut inches from his face. However, in a quick roll on the ground, the Aussie quickly turned the tables on the Crystalli. He was back on his feet in seconds and wrenched the fossil to the ground so hard that it bent the Fossil too far. The Fossil crumpled to the ground, bent the wrong way.

Scott dusted himself off, then explained to Sora, "Comes with bein' a hero, mate. If you've seen the things I've been through…"

Scott didn't even have time to finish when he heard wheels coming straight for them. A Crystalli Dasher was gliding towards them like a skater and dove forward. Sora dashed out of the way, but Scott took it head-on and they both went flying to the floor, kicking up dust.

J had just polished off a Crystalli Ninja, but the emerald fighter had just gone down when he saw a swarm of familiar insectoid Crystalli headed right towards him. "Oh no. Not Parasites again!"

In just a few convulsions, J had morphed into a black bear again, knowing that his stamina could keep the bugs at bay. Within seconds, he was swatting at the Parasites like flies, even as their size grew and his energy diminished. _I forgot how much I hate these things. _he growled to himself.

Ryan took notice of the light-blue creatures that appeared at Halloween Town: Crystalli Hawks. One took notice of him and barked to the others in some unknown, alien language. They shifted from walking mode to flight mode took off after the solar-powered boy. "Wuh-oh!" Ryan said in surprise.

Ryan took off and the group of Hawks traced his movements as though he were dragging them by a tow cable. Ryan, however, had practice with this kind of thing and hit the brakes. The Hawks almost flew right past him, but he latched onto the lead one's back. He then playfully waved to the one behind the first one and said, in a humorous, cheery voice, "Greetings, alien crystal thing!"

The Hawk went into open fire…during which Ryan instantly took off, leaving the lead Hawk to get blown to pieces. He took off again and blew another one to pieces with a burst of solar energy from his palm. The other one, seeing the loss of its comrade, continued pursuit of its target.

Kairi and April were back-to-back. Kairi was fending off a Ninja's rapid-fire punches, kicks, and open-hand strikes with her Keyblade. April, on the other hand, maneuvered away from an oncoming Dasher and brought her heel slamming into its chin. The impact sent its face snapping upward so sharp that it almost broke its neck and April actually punched it away before the Dasher had time to record what was going on.

"Wow." Kairi said, impressed that April had done so well, "When'd you get so good?"

April flung her hair back and answered, "J kinda gave me a few lessons. He didn't want me to be useless in the next war."

Kairi smiled. "That's good thinking." she then turned to the Crystalli and called out, "April!"

"On it!" Kairi threw her Keyblade up into the air and April flew up to kick it at an oncoming Crystalli Sniper. The Flowering Strength came back like a boomerang and Kairi caught it before throwing it again. This time, it caught the Sniper in the eye and bounced off to meet April's foot again.

When the Crystalli in the immediate area were destroyed, April came down, whooping in triumph. Kairi high-fived her on their success. "You go, girl!" she cheered. The celebration was short-lived, because MORE Crystalli had entered the fray, on which they decided to celebrate later.

Joyex had finished beating down a Crystalli Fossil, then looked up to see a Crystalli Beast glaring at him with a hungry look in its six eyes. "C'MON!" the Nobody challenged, "Bring your pretty face to my chain!" The Beast snarled ferociously, then charged like an attacking tiger. Joyex was about ready to throw his chain whip, but the Crystalli Beast had just jumped when it fell down. Riku apparently fired a Dark Firaga and caught it in midair. Joyex looked a bit ticked by this, because he jealously shouted, "THAT COUNTS AS MINE!"

Donald, Goofy, and Sakuzy were having a rougher time than most of the others. THEY had to fight Sapphire's self-trained Crystalli Paladins. One spun its blades around and met Goofy's shield, creating a shower of sparks and an echo of clanging metal. Goofy fell on his seat and the Paladin towered over the captain of the guards, its sword raised. It didn't even summon the urge to swing when Sakuzy sprang from behind and sliced the Crystalli's head right off its shoulders. "Is that all you've got?!" Sakuzy challenged.

Donald's eyes widened as he pointed behind Sakuzy and shouted, "WAK!"

Sakuzy turned just in time to see a Paladin smack Donald aside with its armor-like hands. With one blade, it caught Sakuzy's Eagle Feather in one sword and then tripped him up with its foot. It looked ready to slice Sakuzy in half when a female voice rang through the air. "Reducto!" it shouted.

A blast of red light shot from nowhere and struck the Paladin square in the chest. The Paladin froze in place, then turned into a pile of ash as though it had been constructed from dust. Sakuzy looked up to see a girl with black robes, brown hair and eyes, and a wand, which was pointing near her temple. She was also smiling a very playful smile as she introduced, "Me name's Riri.(1) Nice to meet you, ducky."

Sakuzy had NEVER seen this girl in all the times he had been to Radiant Garden. She had appeared virtually from nowhere. "Who IS this?!" he asked in surprise.

Vincent took his three-barreled gun, Cerberus, and shot a Crystalli Parasite right out of the air. He then cocked his gun and answered, "Restoration reject. We called in a few others, but they're probably elsewhere in the battle. Plus, she didn't meet my standards…or Squall's."

Riri took her wand and patted it on her palm like a nightstick. "C'mon, chums! These guys are NOTHIN' compared to the Death Eaters I've fought!" she said, almost boasting. She quickly spotted something behind Sakuzy and shouted, "Stupefy!" The young witch waved her wand and a blast of red light shot from its tip like a firework. The light rocketed through the air and hit a nearby Dasher across the head. The Dasher was blasted off its feet and it hit the ground with a CRASH. She smiled at Sakuzy, then ran off into the field of battle, firing spells at any Crystalli in her way.

"Cool…" Sakuzy said, impressed, then ran off to join her in battle.

Meanwhile, J was with Ryan and taking on various Crystalli…well, J was doing most of the fighting with all the leaping, the punching, and the kung-fu fighting. J often took out three for every one Ryan took. Things were going smoothly until a Dark Firaga shot out of nowhere and destroyed a Ninja. "Well, at least we have Riku's help." he said to himself.

Ryan looked around, but that Dark Firaga didn't come from where Riku was. "Uh, J?" Ryan said, catching J's attention, "Riku's over THERE."

Ryan pointed to an area where Riku and Joyex were fighting the Crystalli Beasts. J racked his thoughts for any person he knew could use this, then his eyes widened slightly and his teeth clenched. "Oh no! Not HER! Don't look, don't look, don't look…"

"Who?" Ryan asked, curiously.

"Don't look at her, just keep fighting…Okay, look-NO!"

Ryan gave J an odd look, then asked, "What?"

"I TOLD you not to look!" J growled to himself. He had just taken the staff of a Neo Soldier when a perky girl voice addressed him.

"Hiya, J!"

J sighed before turning to see a girl that had remarkable resemblance to Xehanort. She had the same hair, tanned skin, and yellowish-orange eyes. She wore a black tanktop, khaki pants with Heartless symbols on them, black shoes, and was wielding the Unlocking of Hearts Keyblade. J's voice rang with sarcasm as he rolled his scarlet eyes behind his shades. "Hello, Tanith (2)."

Tanith smiled "sweetly", but J knew better. It was basically poisoned honey to him. "NORMALLY, I'd try and kill you, but now doesn't seem to be the time." she said, then got so close to J that the shapeshifter's personal space was at risk. "By the way, WHO trashed my apartment?!"

Tanith's eyes narrowed by a considerable amount, as though she was accusing him of something. Before anything violent could happen, however, there was an explosion and J turned to see that Ryan had blown up a Crystalli Beast. He turned with a soot-covered face and answered, "The evil crystal guys. Who else?"

Tanith's expression changed from suspicion to realization, almost in the blink of an eye. "Oh." she said, "In THAT case…" Tanith dashed forward, then slammed the Unlocking of Hearts into a Neo Soldier's head. The Soldier stumbled, then swung its electric staff at her only to miss by a mile. In one second, the Unlocking of Hearts was lodged in the Neo Soldier's chest and leaking darkness. "Man! I've been waiting to do that!" she said, pumping her fist. Tanith then ran off, laughing maniacally and wielding her Keyblade like a berserker. She paused for a while to glance at Riku, then ran off like mad.

J stared after Tanith, then said, "I really hate her."

Ryan turned to give J a confused look and asked, "What's your deal with her?"

J REALLY didn't like recalling this moment. Ryan could tell by the way he spoke. "She and I have met on numerous occasions and each included us trying to kill each other."

"Why else?" Ryan asked, hoping for more.

"She's nuts, too." J pointed out through clenched teeth.

Crescent ran over out of nowhere and began parrying sword strikes from a nearby Paladin. All this time, he was talking as though he wasn't fighting. "Aw, c'mon, she's fine…compared to MY mental health defects, that is." he said, reassuringly. The ninja then jumped away with the Paladin in hot pursuit, not to mention leaving Ryan and J looking confused.

"How DOES he do this stuff?" Ryan asked, still amazed with Crescent.

"I don't know." J answered, "I just don't know…"

Back with Sora and Scott, Scott managed to dislodge the Dasher and they were carving through Ninjas. When an opening was available, Emerald joined the fray. "Havin' the time of your life, aren'tcha?" he asked, in what he thought was a suave tone.

Scott and Sora turned as the Ninjas ceased attacking and stood like a crowd that wasn't quite sure what to do. Emerald took his boomerang blade and spun it around on his index finger like a gun of sorts before catching it again. Scott flexed his arms, then took up his classic battle position. "Come on, then!" the Aussie challenged.

Emerald jumped forward and took a swing with his boomerang blade only to see Scott duck under it. The green-clad Crystalli sidestepped to avoid Scott's oncoming fist and almost severed the Aussie's hand there and then if Sora didn't interfere. The Ultima Weapon held back Emerald's blade and they ended up pushing against each other. Emerald may have been slightly taller than Sora, but that didn't change the fact that he seemed slightly stronger.

Emerald flipped away just as Sora spun to swing at him. In midair, he threw his boomerang at Sora, who rolled away to avoid it. Emerald caught his blade, then hammered away at Sora's Ultima Weapon. Fortunately, Sora had been working on his strength since his battle with Roxas. The same trick wouldn't work this time. Emerald continued hammering in an attempt to make Sora buckle, but was quite surprised when a strong hand gripped his forearm. The Crystalli soon met the fist of Scott Highflier coming right for his face. The impact sent Emerald staggering backward, but the Crystalli regained his balance to lean away from the Aussie's assault and brought his own hand slamming into Scott's face. Scott stumbled, but Emerald was NOT done yet. The Crystalli brought the sole of his boot smashing into the side of Scott's face and sent him tumbling.

Scott got to his feet, standing beside Sora, and massaged the place Emerald hit. "Heh. Either I've gotten better or YOU'VE gotten worse." he said, actually impressed that he had done it.

Sora glared at Emerald with a small amount of contempt in his eyes. "I don't think so…" Sora filled in. He placed his hand on Scott's shoulder and shouted one word. "DRIVE!"

Scott vanished in a burst of light and when it vanished, Sora had bronze clothes in place of his usual drive clothes. The pattern on his shorts turned to cave-drawing kangaroos, and he also got Scott's hat. When Sora summoned his Keyblade, the one he got was…unusually tribal. The teeth of the key was a boomerang with its bend forged into the blade. The Keyblade seemed to be made of wood at some points and had various markings on it. The keychain itself was a small boomerang. Jiminy hopped out of Sora's pocket and inspected the new blade, which he instictively knew as _Outback Boomer._ Sora didn't know what to think about this name. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either…

"O-kay…" Sora said with a slight smile.

Personally, Emerald didn't see what the big deal was. For all he knew, Sora simply got a change of clothes. "So, you got a new Aussie look. So what?" he said, seeing as it was no big deal.

Sora smirked as he answered, "So…THIS!"

Sora suddenly shot a spike out of his wrist and it caught Emerald across the face. The wound healed over, however, but Emerald was still surprised by this. Inside Sora's head, Scott was equally surprised. _Crikey, I couldn't do THAT before…_

Sora mentally shrugged as he answered Scott, telepathically. _What can I say? When I Drive, strange things happen._

Sora immediately did a backflip just as the boomerang blade spun at him and then kicked Emerald in the face in midair. The Keyblade master then did a pirouette in mid-fall that twisted him around to deliver a powerful backhand to the Crystalli's face. Emerald retaliated with his boomerang blade, but only met the Outback Boomer in a shower of sparks. Sora smiled, then jumped into the air, doing a VERY impressive flip in midair, then caught the Crystalli across the face with the tribal-looking Keyblade.

Crescent appeared seemingly out of nowhere as his wounds from the Paladin healed over. He had to watch the fight so far. "COOL!" he said with child-like enthusiasm, "Let's see that AGAIN in super-slow motion!"

Blader backed into Crescent as he blocked a shot from a Sniper. Petross was a bit busy battling the Crystalli Brawlers, so he couldn't make it. "What is this, Crazy-Man?" Blader asked in disbelief, "The movies?"

Crescent noticed Blader standing there, then waved as though the shield-man was doing nothing in particular. "Hey, Blader! How are ya?" he asked.

Blader blocked another attack, then threw a little gizmo into the air. The gizmo exploded and a wave of sound coursed through the area. The intensity of the sound was so great that it disrupted the Snipers' cloaking devices, revealing the spindly Crystalli. Blader seized his chance and cleaved the Crystalli in two by throwing his shield before it had time to reactivate its stealth mode.

As the Crystalli lay at Blader's feet in pieces, he caught his shield and turned to Crescent. "I was fine…then YOU started talking." he answered.

Blader quickly jumped back as Petross' boot slammed into the ground right where he was about to put his foot. The medical officer was going hand-to-hand with a Brawler as they pushed each other like Sumo Wrestlers. Suddenly, something shot the Brawler in the back, causing it to stumble forward and giving Petross enough time to bring his fist slamming into its "face".

"Thanks, Luneth." Petross thanked as his opponent crumpled to the ground.

Luneth's hands were glowing a bright yellow as he smiled. He had cast a thunder spell and hit the Brawler to provide the distraction. "No problem." he said with the thumbs' up.

Back in the battle with Emerald, the two were exchanging blows at incredible speeds. Each swing from either of them missed or met the other's blade with a "CLANG". Sora actually pulled a surprising move for both him AND Emerald. He actually let himself drop on his back to avoid Emerald's first swing, but had actually flipped to his feet to avoid a sweep from the boomerang blade. Sora got a good distance, then threw the Keyblade at Emerald in a boomerang fashion. What amazed Sora was that it moved faster and had a longer range than his Ultima Weapon's Strikeraid. THIS amazement was short-lived, because Emerald ducked.

"Ha! You missed!" teased the Crystalli.

Sora smiled as he noticed one thing the Crystalli was forgetting. "Aren't YOU the boomerang guy?" he asked with a glance behind Emerald.

Emerald then remembered something VERY important about boomerangs: the return trip…uh-oh! The Outback Boomer spun back and slammed Emerald across the head on its way back into Sora's hand. Emerald comically staggered around until he fell face-flat on the ground. As Emerald vanished, the Drive ended and Sora and Scott, who looked a bit dazed, were separated.

"Crikey." Scott said, stumbling slightly, "That was the weirdest experience I've ever had."

Sora scoffed. "You should've seen me when I drove with Crescent."

Sakuzy, Donald, Goofy, and Riri were surrounded by Neo Soldiers. Their weapons were longer than Sakuzy's Keyblade or Goofy's shield reach, so they could strike from beyond the reach of their weapons. When put THAT way, there was only one thing left to do…

"Riri!" Sakuzy called.

"Got it! Expecto Patronum!" Riri pointed her wand at Sakuzy and as she finished the words "Expecto Patronum", a silver dragon burst from Riri's wand and wrapped itself around Sakuzy's Eagle Feather. He threw his now-glowing Keyblade at one of the Neo Soldiers and the Dragon Patronus sprang out and encircled the Crystalli. When the Crystalli was engulfed by silver light, electricity pulsated through it and the Neo Soldier fell apart as though it was a toy that had all its joints severed. Sakuzy and Riri drew out the word "Cool" at the sight of the show.

The Crystalli were about half in number when something zoomed overhead with enough speed to break the sound barrier. Vincent looked up and, for the first time Sora ever saw him do it, scowled. "What?" asked Sora, "It's just a fighter jet."

It was true. The flying machine looked surprisingly like an F-22 fighter, but soon he learned THAT was the wrong thing to say. "That's no fighter jet." Vincent filled in, "It's a Crystalli…the same one that attacked Traverse Town."

Kairi's attention was NOW diverted to the jet than the Crystalli Ninjas around her. "How do you know?" she asked.

"Because ordinary fighter jets wouldn't fly below the tower without orders…" Vincent answered, his brown eyes burning like flame.

The giant, crystal jet flew up to the highest peak of the tower. Then, like other Crystalli, it began to shift into a new, humanoid form. It now had a V-shaped torso with long arms and legs that had sharp-looking talons and clawed hands. Its head looked like it had been fitted with an ominous-looking, futuristic helmet and its eyes were bright red. It said something in an unknown language in a menacing, metallic voice, then its right hand shifted into a six-barreled missile launcher. It opened fire three times, each barrel shifting to make way for another. The missiles raced through Radiant Garden and blew anything they hit into smithereens.

Sora had seen the damage the giant Crystalli had done and was about to head off after it when ANOTHER blast consumed the ground a few feet behind him. The blast front pushed Sora right off his feet and when he got up, he saw ANOTHER giant Crystalli. This one, however, was in the form of a tank of sorts. The explosion, it turned out, came from a burst of energy from the tank's cannon.

Sakuzy stared at it in fright as he said, "Oh no…It's a Crystalli Devastator!"

Sora rolled behind a piece of debris for cover, then asked, "How many of these things are there?!"

Sora was about to get up and try and get the tank Crystalli, but it had already opened fire with a barrage of energy blasts. Each one exploded like a Blast spell, which was about the same as the blast from a grenade. Fortunately, Joyex had beaten him there. "C'mon, Crystalli punk!" he growled.

Joyex jumped into the air with amazing agility and landed on the Devastator's hull with a dull "thud". He angled the cannon of the crystal tank away and a blast that would have blown Sora to Kingdom Come blew up part of a building instead. Suddenly, parts of the Devastator shifted until it turned into a giant, near-human creature with jagged, crystal armor and red eyes. It had multiple forms of firearms on its arm from its shoulder to its forearm. The Devastator had missile launchers on its shoulders and machine guns on its forearms.

The Devastator took notice of the Nobody on its back and tried to thrash him off. Joyex evaded one swing from the Devastator and actually severed one of the missile launchers with a single swing from his chain whip's blade. The Devastator finally caught Joyex around the ankle and heaved the smaller pest off him. Joyex sailed through the air and rolled on impact with the ground, but found himself in a situation where he couldn't move and the Devastator closing in on him.

However, fate had other plans, because a star spun from nowhere and clipped the Devastator's arm. The tank-like Crystalli groaned a metallic noise and stepped back in surprise. Yuffie landed in front of Joyex and caught her giant shuriken. "Need help?" she asked.

Crescent suddenly stepped in, combing back his spiky hair and grinning. "Nah." he answered. Crescent obviously thought Yuffie was talking to him. "I'm fine…when YOU showed up."

Yuffie responded to THAT statement by punching Crescent across the face. As the crazed ninja fell in a heap, the Devastator came back only to meet a blast of orange energy on the back of its shoulder. Leon followed up by swinging his Gunblade at the Devastator from behind and creating a gash in its back. The Devastator turned, then opened fire with one of its machine guns, but one of the barrels blew up from another bullet clogging it with a single shot.

Vincent had showed up on the scene, his Cerberus smoking at the barrel, then asked, "Finally decided to show up, Squall?"

Leon gave Vincent a disgruntled look as he looked the shadowy man in the eye. "It's LEON, Vincent."

"I told you before, Squall." Vincent said, striding past him, "I'll call you by your REAL name, no matter how ashamed of it you may be. Now if you'll excuse me…" Vincent took off in a blur of scarlet as the Restoration Committee took on the Devastator as a team.

J, Ryan, and Tanith were carving through the Crystalli with relative ease, each one with their own unique way of striking them down. Tanith actually grinned as she said, "Strange, but I'm enjoying something with you that DOESN'T involve trying to kill you!"

Ryan decided to ask J about how this whole thing started. "Why are you two at each other's throats?" he asked.

"Well, it all started when…" J then punched a Soldier through the chest before realizing something. "Hold on, how DID our little hatred for each other begin?" THIS question almost sent Ryan to the floor in disbelief, but then J said, "Never mind. I was just minding my own business when she came out of nowhere and TRIED TO KILL ME for reasons unknown."

Tanith then turned to J as she countered, "I thought it was because I'M the dark one around here."

J seemed ticked off by Tanith's remark as he replied, "I never claimed to be the dark one."

Someone suddenly leapt out of the blue and cleaved a Neo Soldier in half with a single swipe. The person carried a sword, had dark skin, jade green eyes, but copper (nearly golden) hair. He also had facial features that bore resemblance to a bird of prey's as well as a golden shirt and a pair of khakis. "My name would probably be a bit obvious, but it's Neo Kazea Age (3). Glad to help!"

Tanith seemed a bit ticked by Neo's presence as she put her hands on her hips and said, "I could handle this MYSELF…weirdo!"

Neo looked confused before messing around with his own hair. "That's the best you could come up with?" he asked, "At least I'M sane. Don't respond to that." He took off and cleaved a Soldier in two with a single swipe of his blade.

J looked a bit pleased by this, but ONLY a bit. "So, I'm guessing you've found someone ELSE to kill."

Tanith huffed. "I'm not talking to you!" she pouted.

Ryan scratched his head and said to Tanith, "You just did."

After a long, awkward silence, the trio resumed the battle. Ryan then noticed the jet-shaped Crystalli taking off after another ship that arrived. "ANOTHER one?"

Riri

A witch from a certain book in Merlin's house. She wanted to join the Restoration Committee, but was turned down by the fact that she was bound to her book. She's an above average witch and is able to cast a Patronus. She partnered with Tanith and Neo to help take down the Crystalli.

Tanith

Another Keyblade master…who is completely insane. She has a few issues with J and Neo for reasons unknown. She's been known to have violent mood swings in which she tries to kill anyone (which is why she was denied being in the Restoration Committee). She was left alone in Radiant Garden after it became Hollow Bastion, hence the insanity, and has killed multiple people (mostly crushes that didn't work out). She can use the darkness and is able to drain energy from other people and add it to her own.

Neo Kazea Age

A warrior who has an unusual body color coordination—he has dark skin, but blonde hair. He wields a golden sword and has a few issues with Tanith. He was denied by the Restoration Committee for being a severe pest (Crescent's one, too, but at least HE has a healing factor). He's sort of an older brother figure to Riri. He's also curious and somewhat immature.

Crystalli Devastator

A non-sentient Crystalli that can turn into a massive tank of sorts. It can virtually handle an army by itself and isn't called a Devastator for nothing. It's armor-plated, armed with cannons and missiles, and is much larger than most Crystalli.

_I do not own Riri, DaniCullen does. I'm just borrowing her._

_I do not own Tanith, Mrfipp does. I'm just borrowing her._

_I do not own Neo Kazea Age, Shadow of the New Moon does. I'm just borrowing him._

_That would be Riri's Patronus Charm, and April's Aerial Kick._


	153. Edge

Chapter 153: Edge

Neo jumped at a group of Snipers and sliced one of them in half with one stroke of his sword. He also swept the entire area around him and two more fell at his feet. "Yeah! In your face!" he said, pumping his free fist.

Ryan stared at J, sighing for the first time, in exasperation. "And you call ME immature." he said with a flat expression.

J glowered at him. The fact that he was already working with Tanith wasn't helping. Ryan heard the cock of a gun and blasted a Soldier with a blast of concentrated sunlight. The result was a charbroiled Crystalli. When Ryan finished, J noticed that he was looking into the skies again. J sighed. "Thinking about that aircraft again?" he asked.

Ryan turned on being addressed, then asked, "Sorry? Did you say something?"

J huffed, then punched Ryan square in the face, seeing as the kid was absent-minded at the moment. He recovered and looked at the skies again, but this time, he responded, "Alright! I'll look into it!"

Ryan took off in an instant and J slapped himself. NOW he had to deal with the psycho Keyblader and the immature warrior.

Ryan flew off until he spotted the jagged outline of the aircraft, which was shining like diamond against the sunlight. The previous airborne Crystalli, on the other hand, was as black as onyx. The two Crystalli intertwined in a DNA pattern in the air, then plummeted back down at the peak of their climb. The diamond one shifted like a Transformer while the black one pulled out of its dive. Ryan gaped at what he saw: a monstrous Crystalli that was actually moving on its own accord rather than following the orders of the others. The black Crystalli, on the other hand, transformed to land on a massive bridge and SPOKE in a cruel, metallic voice.

"I live to serve you, Lord Diamond." it said, loyally, to the other one.

The other one was an EXACT match to the one that attacked Destiny Island—it looked like a giant crystal monster. He then demanded at the black Crystalli with a deep, growling voice that Ryan could compare to a certain Decepticon…who bore surprising resemblance to this thing. "WHERE IS THE HEART?!"

The black Crystalli replied to him, "The organics have relocated it!"

The Crystalli, called Diamond, glowered at his claws, which he clenched into a fist so tight, sparks flew from where his claws scraped against his hand. Slowly, he turned to his servant, then spoke in a low, growling voice. "You fail me yet again, Onyx…" The next words Diamond uttered to the Stealth Union was a barking order, "FIND THEM!"

The black Crystalli, or Onyx as Diamond referred to him as, glanced and saw Ryan in the distance. He smiled a relentless smile as he pointed to the human and said, "No need. They've already found US!"

Ryan then seemed to notice that Onyx was referring to HIM and his eyes widened. "Wuh-oh!"

Ryan then listened to his primary instinct and as Scott put it—don't look back and RUN LIKE CRAZY…in THIS case, fly. Ryan took off without a second's hesitation and Diamond turned to Onyx. "KILL THEM!" the Crystalli barked, "And meet me in Airspace!"

Onyx bowed quickly, then jumped, and shifted into his jet mode in hot pursuit of Ryan. Diamond also turned into his aircraft form and took off at a ninety-degree angle.

Meanwhile, through events far too complex to mention, Sora ended up with J, Neo, Tanith, and Joyex. They were surrounded by Crystalli Mariners, Ninjas, Soldiers, and Fossils and there was only one way out of here: Limit Breaks.

"Neo!"

Neo turned, then said, "If this has ANYTHING to do with me doing the conga in my underpants…"

Tanith tugged at her hair as she shouted, "Will you just SHUT UP?!"

Neo held up his hands to silence her, then said, "Alright! I'll do it." Kazea threw his sword into the air and Sora threw his Keyblade. Kazea followed his blade and threw his and Sora's blades at a group of Mariners. They all fell to pieces in minutes, yet it didn't even seem that Kazea had moved. When the combo finished, Sora's Keyblade flashed into his hands.

"Tanith!"

Tanith then said in a singsong voice (the whole "nyah-nyah" tone), "I'm gonna kill Crystalli!"

Tanith had danced over, but Joyex stamped his foot in protest and said, "Just get it over with!"

Tanith froze, then turned to Joyex with an irritated expression. "You're no fun…" she grunted. Tanith returned to business, narrowly evading the fire of a Crystalli Soldier, then latched onto it with her hand. "DRAIN!" The Crystalli stopped moving as all the energy was sucked from its body and added to Tanith's. Tanith knocked it over with a swift kick, then stabbed it in the chest with the Unlocking of Hearts. "Now, let's have some fun!" Tanith then cast multiple Dark Firagas and threw them all into a group of Ninjas.

Now there was one last combo Sora had up his sleeve. "Joyex!"

"Let's have a little fun!" Joyex tossed Sora his chain, who tied it around the Keyblade's handle. Joyex then thrashed his chain, destroying Ninjas, around before the Keyblade Master caught onto it. The half-hearted Nobody threw Sora at the Crystalli and the chain untied itself. Sora then sliced through the Ninjas that Joyex missed. When the two landed, Sora and Joyex high-fived and Sora turned his Ultima Weapon to a group of Neo Soldiers. He sliced both its arms off just as it thrust at him and used the opportune moment to cleave its body in half.

J, on the other hand, had taken a different approach. He had turned into an elephant and charged through the Crystalli with a combination of tusk, foot, and trunk. Joyex stared at the pachyderm in disbelief and asked, "Why didn't he do that earlier?!"

Ryan suddenly soared over the battle with Onyx on his tail, causing a small gust of wind to ruffle those below them. So far, Ryan was ahead, but the Crystalli jet was catching up and FAST.

_RYAN?! _J said in surprise,_ What the heck are you…_

"Think LATER! Fly NOW!" Ryan shouted before flying off again.

J sighed before reverting to human form, then took off as a pterosaur similar to April back at Destiny Waste. It didn't exactly please Kazea to see him transform in a painful-looking way. Sakuzy then ran over with Riri, Donald, and Goofy hot on his heels. "Sorry we're late!" he apologized.

"Yeah! First we got cornered by Crystalli, met up with this optimist, and had to confront a math teacher." explained Donald.

A math teacher appeared from behind them and spoke in a voice remarkably similar to Ben Stein. "Now, let me explain this in the most boring way possible…" Tanith rolled her yellow eyes, then blew the teacher away with a Dark Firaga. Strangely, the teacher kept his same monotone even when he got sent flying through the sky. "Oh no, I'm being blown away. AARRGGHH."

The four of them looked a bit confused, Riri especially. "And she's my partner…"

J scoffed. He doubted Tanith would EVER get a partner. Kazea, seeing a moment of awkwardness, decided to explain. "Well, when we were booted out of the Restoration Committee, we became crime fighters and joined forces!"

Tanith glowered at Neo and held out the Unlocking of Hearts. THIS was obviously not something she liked to talk about, because she hissed, "If I didn't have my self-control…"

J muttered something out of the corner of his mouth, which was inaudible to everyone save him. "You HAVE self-control?"

Anyhoo, back to Tanith… "I'd KILL you!" she finished.

Neo mock-flinched and pretended to be afraid. "OH! You're threatening to kill me…" he mocked, then laughed, "If I had a nickel every time I heard THAT, I'd BUY the Restoration Committee!"

Crescent then appeared with Blader and the latter of the two spotted the three around him and sighed. "Great." he groaned, "Never thought Mr. Immature, Book Lady, and Little Ms. Insanity would show up."

Tanith, for reasons unknown (probably offended by his insult), jumped at Blader and kicked him across the face, sending the shield-bearer staggering to the ground. "Jerk!"

Crescent walked over to Blader and helped him up to his feet. "No worries, Blader, the pain will stop…IMMEDIATELY!" he assured him.

Blader, for the umpteenth time, punched Crescent across the face after that remark. "F.Y.I., I don't HAVE an accelerated healing factor, ya psycho!" the shield-bearer pointed out.

Crescent, it turned out, had recovered enough to hear this remark. "Oh yeah! THAT'S right!"

Blader then felt the place where Tanith kicked him and winced at the pain just as Riku came running back. "Hey, what'd I miss?" he asked.

Blader didn't appear to hear Riku come in and continued his little chat with Crescent. "Maybe you should go for Tanith instead of Yuffie." Blader suggested, "At least SHE'S as crazy as you."

Crescent thought this over, then shook his head. "Nah. I'm too old for her. Besides, I've read All's End and Mrfipp wants her to fall for Riku and vice versa."

Riku was dumbstruck by this. "WHAT?!" he asked, pointing Way to Dawn at Crescent like an accusing finger.

Crescent waved it off, then said, "And with THAT, I'm off!" Crescent jumped so suddenly, he seemingly vanished into thin air and left the rest confused.

"Can Crescent teleport?" Sora asked.

Blader shrugged. "Not that I know of." he answered, "But he can appear ANYWHERE at any time."

Meanwhile, Ryan streaked past a building, being pursued by Onyx. The chase was getting more and more difficult by the second as Onyx pursued him through every nook and cranny Radiant Garden threw at them. Whenever Onyx passed a building, windows shattered as he passed. And the fact that Ryan had missiles to deal with didn't help. He evaded them all, then darted behind a building and lost the Crystalli. When it was out of sight, Ryan sighed as he peeked out.

"Whew!" he sighed, loudly. Unfortunately, when he said THAT, Onyx turned around to come back at him. Apparently, he heard him. "CRUD!" Ryan cursed as he took off again.

Back with Sora and co., they heard an explosion in the distance. The Devastator was still at large even with a missile launcher missing.

"Jeez, THESE guys are rude." Tanith huffed.

"Ya THINK?!" Neo asked in disbelief.

An explosion was enough to catch their attention and they turned to see the Devastator fighting the Restoration Committee with missile launchers and machine guns firing wildly. Blader immediately blocked any shots with his shield and shouted to Vincent, "MAN! This thing just won't die!"

"Basically…" Vincent answered.

Blader activated something in his shield and it, once again, began its buzz-saw motion. As he ran, Luneth slid on the ground, firing bursts of magic energy from his hands and severely irritating it. Blader then jumped over to it, landing on its left arm, and brought the spinning blade into the Devastator's arm, severing it just above the elbow joint. The severed arm fell to the ground with a CRASH and one of its machine guns had been taken care of.

Vincent jumped up and began firing at the tank Crystalli. Even with melted Crystalli armor bullets, the shells didn't do much to the Devastator's armor. The best they could do to the Devastator was sting it like a swarm of angry bees.

Crescent then began throwing his shuriken at them and they bounced off, having the same result as Vincent's shots. As the shuriken returned like boomerangs, Crescent caught most of them…except one, which buried its sharp edge into his chest, opposite to his heart. "Ow." he said, casually, "That stinks…"

Crescent removed the shuriken, in a painful way, and the wound healed over in seconds. Petross then turned to Luneth while dodging a blast from its remaining missile launcher. Petross wanted to help in the battle, but from his height, he probably wouldn't do much damage to the tank-like Crystalli. He had to go for the one place where he would do the most damage… "LUNETH!" he called, getting the guy's attention, "Help me get in his face!"

Luneth nodded. "On it, Petross!"

Luneth struck the ground with two fingers, which glowed greenish blue, and a patch of rock, with Petross on top of it, tore itself out of the ground. Petross jumped and punched the Devastator in its crystalline mug, sending it keeling onto its back and it lay there. Petross landed on his feet, cracking the ground below his feet.

"Well, heh, thanks for the assistance, Big Green." said Blader.

Up in the sky, the dogfight was NOT getting any better for Ryan. The solar-powered kid quickly hit the brakes and latched onto the black Crystalli's wing fin. He kept his grip, but then Onyx began to climb higher and higher until he almost broke the atmosphere. Blood trickled out of Ryan's nose from going up so high until he eventually let go. Onyx dove after him and, in a spectacular move, transformed in midair and caught Ryan in one of his three-clawed hand.

"I have you NOW!" Onyx said with a malevolent smile.

"I'm in trouble!" Ryan then did something he only did rarely—he willingly let his adrenaline flow through his body. His eyes glowed yellow, like miniature suns, and an explosion of light burst from his entire body.

"WHAT?!" Onyx shouted in surprise.

The explosion soon engulfed both hyper freak and Crystalli. When it vanished, Onyx was still there (which went AGAINST Ryan's hopes), but was dazed enough for Ryan to slip out of his grasp and escape. "Well THAT was unexpected!" the kid said as he darted away with speed to rival a plane.

Onyx pulled himself back together and shifted back into his jet mode. When his transformation was complete, he took off with a massive BOOM.

In the air just above Radiant Garden, Ryan flew for his life. He did NOT want that thing after him again. "Maybe the others should know about this…"

Ryan screeched to a halt, because April had flown up with Scott in her arms. Scott didn't look pleased with Ryan AT ALL. "Ya think, bugger?!" Scott asked, seeming to have heard him.

Ryan smacked himself in the forehead. "Hey, Scott." he groaned.

April decided to take the conversation back to why she was looking for him. "Ryan, we've gotta get back down! The drones AND the hosts have retreated!"

Ryan stared in surprise. "WHAT?!" he asked.

Scott nodded. "And from MY experiences, whenever someone's lackeys back down, they do. And whenever THEY do, it means trouble."

Ryan saluted, then said, "Let's go, then!"

As Ryan darted off to find the others, Scott looked up at April. "No offense, April, but could you drop me?" he asked, "I'm feelin' EXTREMELY uncomfortable…"

"Okay!" April dropped Scott, and rather suddenly for that matter.

Scott fell for a while, then turned his hands into makeshift bat wings to catch himself in midair. He flapped until he regained his balance, then went back up to April and pointed out, "Not THAT suddenly."

April flushed as she scratched the back of her head and said, "Sorry." After that little ordeal, the two were headed back for the others.

Meanwhile, with Sora and co., the Devastator was back on its feet and roared, alerting them to its presence. "Guys?" Sora called, getting their attention, "That Devastator's getting back up!"

Blader looked where Sora was pointing, and his mouth fell open. "MAN! That tank-thing just won't die!" he moaned.

Vincent growled as the Devastator began to slowly lumber toward them. Each step seemed to shake the ground as it fired missiles and bullets at them. The whole group ducked under missiles and away from explosions as it got ever closer.

"At least it can't turn into a tank, seeing as Blader severed its arm." Vincent pointed out, "But, we can't do any better." As Vincent said this, he was firing bullets, which seemed to irritate the Crystalli. Sora was suddenly blown back from the blast front of a missile and landed next to Vincent. The sharpshooter held out his arm, then helped Sora to his feet. "Got any bright ideas?" he asked.

"Only one!" Sora answered. Sora gripped with his hand that had Vincent. "DRIVE!"

Vincent vanished in a flash of light that seemed to bond with him in an instant. When the light faded, Sora's hair became extremely wild and he had Vincent's headband. His clothes were black with markings the exact same color as Vincent's mantle. The symbols on his shorts turned into flaming wolves. He looked at his left hand, which had a metallic claw on it, it didn't cover the whole arm, like Vincent's, just the hand.

Sora summoned his Keyblade to see that it was a new one. It still had the blade, but behind it was a barrel like a gun, and its hilt was the color of old blood. The Keychain of THIS Keyblade was a metal wolf head that was more vicious-looking than the Keychain to Fenrir. Sora decided to call it _Cerberus_ (1). He took in the Cerberus' appearance before speaking to no one in particular. "I move, YOU shoot!"

Sora blinked, and his eyes turned brown in the same way how he and Crescent spoke to each other in the Carnival of Chaos. "Deal." he said, in Vincent's voice.

In the blink of an eye, Sora turned into a black blur before jumping away with arcane skill. Vincent's finger pulled like crazy at a trigger on the Keyblade's hilt. A bullet shot from a barrel in the Keyblade and pelted the Devastator in the midsection. Still, the bullets didn't do much to the Devastator's armor than slightly dent it. The Devastator shot some missiles that flew forward for a second, then split into thousands of bullets. Sora narrowly dodged them all, often rolling on the ground to avoid them. The Devastator took a swing at Sora, but since he was the one moving, the Crystalli missed. Sora jumped to avoid the swing, while Vincent still rained bullets on the Crystalli in midair, stinging it even further.

Sora noticed that they were getting nowhere, then said, "Vincent, the bullets aren't working!"

"There's another trigger on the Keyblade." Vincent pointed out, fingering the other trigger, "We'll try that!"

Sora jumped back to evade the Devastator again. Vincent's trigger finger went for the other trigger, but when it fired, a new shell fired from the barrel and hit the Devastator square in the chest. This was no bigger than any other bullets, but it seemed to do more damage, because it exploded on contact with the crystal surface. When the Devastator removed its hand, there was a sizeable hole right where the shot hit.

"Looks like these are the equivalent of sabot rounds (2)." Vincent pointed out.

Sora's blue eyes returned to their sockets as he said, "And if they all do THAT to it, we can take it out, no problem!"

Sora jumped high into the air, higher than he usually jumped for that matter. THAT had to be Vincent's work. The Devastator looked up, then fired several bullets from its machine gun, but Sora used the Cerberus to block the bullets. He spun the Keyblade so fast that not one bullet struck him. "Thanks, Vincent!" Sora quickly said.

"The pleasure's all yours." the sniper answered.

Cerberus continued firing sabot rounds at the Devastator as fast as Vincent could make Sora's finger pull the trigger. One, two, three, four shots, and the Devastator fell to the ground and didn't get back up again. Sora strode toward it and nodded. "Alright, the Devastator's definitely dead now." he confirmed.

Sora's Drive with Vincent came to an end and the leader of the Restoration Committee East Side stood at Sora's side. Vincent seemed perfectly calm about the situation, despite what he said. "Weird."

The rest of the group arrived with the Rejects hot on their tails. Each of them had their fair share of injuries, except Crescent.

"COOL!" Neo said, his eyes the size of saucers.

Tanith eagerly asked, "Can we do that again?"

Riri chuckled. THAT was something she had to agree with. "That would be fun, Tanith." she admitted.

Merlin suddenly burst into the picture in a puff of blue smoke and in his hand was the ancient-looking book with the thunderbolt on it. "Sorry, Riri, but it's time for you to go home." he said as he held out the book.

Riri looked, for the first time, disappointed and seemed to want an excuse to stay. "What? I feel like I just got here." she whined.

Sakuzy smiled before patting Riri on the back. "Forget about it, Riri. You were terrific!" he complimented, "We wouldn't have gotten past those Neo Soldiers if you didn't help."

Neo walked over to Riri and ruffled her hair. "Tell the funny twins I say 'hi'!" he said, cheerfully.

Tanith smiled "sweetly" again at Riri and said, "And tell those ex-Death Eaters that, if I was there, I'd hunt down them all and brutally…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Most of it involves physical violence. See ya!" Neo said, darting off faster than they could register. A pause, then he grabbed Tanith and took off again.

Riri smiled, then vanished in a flash of light that emanated from the book. When the light cleared, Merlin closed the book and poofed it away, probably back to his house.

Just as things were getting peaceful, an explosion brought it all to a sudden end. "What the heck was that?!" Riku asked in surprise.

Vincent looked up just in time to see the black jet fire a missile at a nearby building. The missile hit the building and blew it to smithereens in an explosion of superheated gas. "Apparently that jet Crystalli's bombing us..."

Another explosion sounded, but closer this time. THAT was a bit too close for Leon's liking. "Everyone to Vincent's base, NOW!" he ordered.

The group ran for it, not knowing that THIS was, in fact, a deadly trap. And as a Crystalli watched from airspace, it smiled and said, "Go on…you're walking RIGHT into my plan."

Onyx

The Crystalli Leader's right-hand man. It takes the form of something that resembles an F-22 fighter plane. He tried to kill Ryan and is currently bombing Radiant Garden. He also claims to 'Live to serve' another Crystalli named Diamond.

_Oh no! What could Diamond be up to? Stay tuned…_

_That is kind of a play on words. Vincent Valentine was the protagonist of a Final Fantasy VII game called the Dirge of Cerberus. PLUS, it's the name of his triple-barreled revolver._


	154. Deathblow

Chapter 154: Deathblow

The Restoration Committee and the heroes rushed through the city streets like a herd of deer retreating from a bear. They simply followed Vincent until Blader took the lead, despite his injury, and stopped at a manhole. He flipped the lid off and beckoned to it as he said, "Everyone, in here!" Sora and co. simply stared at him with an awkward silence. Blader smacked himself in the forehead, then sighed. "It ain't a sewer line. TRUST ME ON THIS ONE, WILL YA?! WE'RE BEIN' BOMBARDED HERE!"

No one exactly did anything until Vincent jumped in, stiff as a board (like someone in a ninja movie). Leon also jumped in as well as Yuffie, Blader, Scott, J, Joyex, Ryan, and April. Crescent jumped before curling up like he was about to do a cannonball. "JERONIMO!" he cried.

Everyone else (Sora, Riku, Kairi, Sakuzy, Donald, Goofy, Aerith, Luneth, and Petross) climbed down a ladder into the darkness.

Oddly enough, the place didn't stink like they thought it would, but the place was still as dark as Hollow Bastion when Maleficent had taken it over. "Boy, can't even see my hand in front of my face…" Joyex said, trying to inspect his hand.

Blader chuckled before tapping something on his helmet. "Ya want light? You've got it!" Suddenly, two mini-lights appeared from said helmet and caught them off guard. Everyone shielded their eyes from the suddenness of the light until Blader got a good distance ahead of them.

Blader led the way as they walked through the tunnel. Whenever they felt the ground vibrate, they knew that Onyx lay another one on the city. At least they weren't getting blown to bits outside. Leon decided to fill them in on something. "We built this underground base EXACTLY for this purpose." Leon explained, "In case of bombing, we could evacuate into this base for cover and to regroup."

As expected, Crescent had something either stupid or crazy to say about said comment. "Oh. I thought it was because you had a bad travel agent!"

Leon pointed a gloved finger at Crescent and said, "YOU, I'm ignoring."

Crescent playfully shrugged, only his outline available. "Y'know, if I had a dime for every time I heard THAT…"

Then, after a long trek through the tunnels, light pierced the darkness that WASN'T Blader's headlights. It was a computer similar to Ansem's computer back when Radiant Garden was Hollow Bastion. When they found the end of the tunnel, it turned out that the light was from a giant computer screen. The whole room appeared to be some sort of headquarters with SEVERAL computers on different sides of the room. where they found someone at the computer seat.

"HEY!" Blader said to the guy in his seat, "Who do YOU think you are?!"

The person turned in the seat to show a man that no one had ever seen before. He had short, black hair, a slight five-o'clock shadow, and he was not much taller than Sora. "Hi, my name is Riley. Riley Poole." he introduced, "I'm new to the Restoration Committee, so be nice."

Crescent waltzed over to Riley and waved enthusiastically. "Greetings, newcomer!" he greeted, earning a weird look from Riley, "I am Vincent Valentine! Better watch what you say, or I'll blow a hole through you…"

Riley obviously didn't seem too impressed by this and wasn't fooled by the ninja's comment. "No, you're not." he said, "Vincent's the creepy, caped guy right behind you."

Crescent looked a bit worried as he saw Vincent fingering his gun out of the corner of his eye. "Oh. In THAT case, I'm Cloud Strife!" he covered, "I don't have my GIGANTIC sword, but I'm trying to kill some silver-haired guy with a long sword…"

Comprehension suddenly dawned on Riley's face. "Oh, you've gotta be that Crescent guy Cid warned me about. I gotta thank him for warning me ahead of time."

Crescent seemed a bit ticked by this as he saw Cid with a spear standing in front of Pearl, who had her nunchuk out. His voice ringed with sarcasm…for once. "Well, thanks for tellin' him, grampy."

"For the last time, I AIN'T YOUR GRANDPA!" Cid shouted, almost spitting out his toothpick.

Sakuzy decided to leave the subject at this and ran over to Pearl. "Hey, Maya. Have the other hosts been here?" he asked, worry in his voice.

Pearl put down her nunchuk and laughed, shakily. A bad imitation of the one Sakuzy knew, but still similar to it. She then regained herself and answered, "Yes. I had to help Cid fight them off, too. Amethyst…I mean Adrian, wasn't too pleased with it."

"I can believe it." Joyex said, butting in.

Sora then realized WHO was with Pearl. "Cid? How come I didn't see YOU in the battle?" he asked.

"I was mainly protectin' our base from the hosts." he answered, "Fortunately, they didn't know about THIS place. Anyway, another reason was because I…"

Cid was cut off by Petross before he could finish. The large man was now at a keyboard and a computer screen displaying Onyx's signal. "We'll have to find that Stealth Union if we want Radiant Garden to survive."

"Onyx."

Petross turned on Ryan's word and cocked an eyebrow. "What?" the medical officer asked.

Ryan knew that now would be a good time to tell everyone what he heard between Onyx and Diamond. "Ya see, I saw this HUGE Crystalli with that 'Stealth Union' as you call him." Ryan explained, "The other Crystalli called it 'Onyx' and seemed to be its…leader."

Donald looked through Sakuzy's field guide to Crystalli, then looked up to ask Ryan a question. "What did this Onyx guy look like?"

Ryan racked his thoughts for the best way to describe the thing. "Well, um…it's…did you ever see the Transformers movie?" he asked.

Donald shook his head. "No. Why?"

"Never mind." Ryan said, "Anyway, he had a pilot helmet-like head, a triangular body, and clawed hands and feet."

Donald flipped through the book before screaming and throwing it on the ground. "IT'S NOT IN THE GUIDE!" he squawked.

Sakuzy looked very worried as he suddenly became interested in a video screen that showed its streamlined form. "Then, it's probably a sentient Crystalli." Sakuzy turned to Joyex, his voice in a whisper, "I don't think we've encountered anything like it."

Joyex seemed to think a while, then agreed. "You're right. It was always the mindless Soldiers and/or the ones controlled by the Hosts."

Scott started pacing on how a Crystalli could be fully sentient. Sure, there were the hosts, but they were still human despite the fact that a Crystalli had attached itself to them and corrupted them. Ryan started to grow sick of Scott's pacing and spoke up. "Scott, if you're gonna pace, do it in ONE direction!" he said, frustratedly, "Call me when you get to Twilight Town, okay?"

THIS was enough to earn Ryan a good blow on the head from J, sending him to the ground. J's voice then rang with what could only be satisfaction. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that."

Ryan sat up, looking dazed and confused. From his point of view, there were two other J's. "Which one of you said that?" he asked, dazedly. J simply kicked him, sending Ryan careening to the floor again. "Ow. I get it…"

----

Scott stopped pacing and slumped into a chair. "Strewth, this is a situation…" he sighed in defeat and frustration.

Blader went over to him, a stern look on his face. "Get your seat outta my chair."

Scott hastily got out as Blader took a seat on it. The master of technology took back his seat, not even bothering to take off his metal leg. When he was a good distance away, Scott spoke up again. "That thing can fly faster than Ryan and April put together." he told them, "Yes, I saw it, so neither them, me, or J could catch up to 'em. And I doubt any futuristic tech or them special Keyblades could 'elp us any." Scott suddenly realized that he had insulted one of the few weapons that could do some REAL damage to a Crystalli of that size and immediately added, "No offense, guys."

"None taken." Kairi assured him.

Cid put his face in his hand and sighed in exasperation, then burst out, "Will yeh let me finish?!" After the whole room around him shut their traps, he continued, "The other reason I was outta the battle was because I've been workin' on yer Gummi!"

Their jaws fell open. Cid led them to their Gummi Ship and their surprise increased even more. The Gummi Ship was larger now and more sleek. It also had a paint job and few cannons installed into it. "What did yeh think I was doin' while you were fightin'? Playin' Solitaire?" he asked.

There was silence before Crescent gave his usual stupid answer. "Yes."

Vincent was drumming his folded arms with his clawed left hand. "We had Cid give your Gummi Ship a few upgrades." he explained, "Now it has superior firepower and can catch up to Onyx, no problem."

J walked forward, then said, "I'll do it."

Sora was a bit dumbstruck. J was more of the type who'd slip away, judging by what Scott, Ryan, and April had to say about him. Besides, HE was the one who wanted to go. "Why?"

Sakuzy then spoke up in a tone so quiet that no one else could hear him. "Because, the Crystalli know that the easiest way to kill BOTH big threats…is to kill you." he explained.

Vincent apparently heard them, because he picked up where Sakuzy was going. "You'll live on if Sakuzy dies, Sora. But if YOU die…"

"Sakuzy goes POOF!" Crescent finished, almost in a shout.

Vincent, wanting to keep the whole thing down, took out Cerberus and shot Crescent in the leg, sending the ninja to the ground, writhing in pain. Sora grabbed J's shoulder before the shapeshifter could even move away. "No, J. I'll go." he said, striding towards the Gummi's bay, "I'll be careful of any Crystalli out there. But…if I don't come back…take care of Kairi."

J stared with wide-eyed disbelief. Sora was, willingly, going into harm's way and allowing J to take care of his girl…which he denied everything about that sentence.

"Just come back in one piece, so I can still live to tell about it." Sakuzy said, cautiously.

J's eyes returned to his hard glare as he said, "On your own head, be it."

As J walked off to join the Restoration Committee and the others, Donald and Goofy stepped forward and got onto the Gummi Ship…

Outside, Onyx stopped dropping bombs and shifted to his original form. "Time to go into airspace…" he said. He then reverted to his jet mode, then took off into the sky with a single boost from his thrusters.

----

Back below, something on Blader's radar went off. "You guys had better hurry up!" the computer master shouted, "Onyx is enterin' airspace!"

Vincent turned to Sora. "You'll have to get in there, Sora."

Goofy and Donald saluted. "We're goin' with Sora whether he wants to or not." Goofy explained.

"We've done the impossible together BEFORE and we'll do it again!" Donald said with a confident nod.

Sora smiled at his two friends. "Thanks, guys."

"Just be sure to come back in one piece, mates." Scott advised.

Sora laughed, nervously, because the Australian anatomy-changer had touched a vital point. "We'll do our best." he assured him.

Sora walked into the Gummi Ship and revved up the engine. With a BANG, the craft took off into space. All this time, Kairi simply watched them go, standing so still, you'd swear she was frozen in time. "Good luck, Sora…"

Finally, Kairi recollected herself and went off after the others to the main base.

----

Airspace…

Sora sat in the pilot's chair of the Gummi Ship; Cid wasn't kidding when he said this thing was FAST. Beside him, Donald was monitoring the radar while Goofy was working the cannons. Cid must've known what he was doing when he built the cannons so that Goofy would understand them. "C'mon, Onyx," Sora said, his eyes darting everywhere for their target, "We know you're here…"

A minute or two passed until Donald broke the silence with his nasally squawk. "Onyx comin' within radar range!"

Sora pressed a button and a monitor showed the all-too-familiar shape of something resembling a black F-22. Onyx was in his jet mode, but when he was in range, he simply flew right past the Gummi and didn't even bother attacking. "Uh, why did that Crystalli thing ignore us?" Goofy asked, peering into the room.

Sora could only shrug as he answered, "Probably wasn't expecting anyone."

Sora turned to Goofy and nodded. The dog captain saluted and jerked his yoke to aim the ship's cannons right at Onyx's back. "Bombs away!" Goofy called as he pressed a button. A burst of white-hot energy erupted from the cannons' barrels with an explosion that was audible underneath the metal shell of the Gummi. The blasts hit the black Crystalli right in the back and it fumbled, as though encountered with air turbulence.

Onyx could not believe what just happened. An aircraft had the guts to shoot him? He'd make them pay... "Miserable maggots…" he snarled.

Onyx shifted from jet to Crystalli in a matter of seconds. His arm shifted into a firearm of sorts, then Onyx turned to face the Gummi Ship. He aimed his firearm at them and opened fire. Several bullets made from the same material as his skin barraged the Gummi Ship, creating several sizeable holes in its shell.

----

Inside the Gummi Ship, the whole craft bucked and all three passengers struggled to keep their footing. Sora had one idea left: one that would help them out NOW. He jerked the yoke of the ship sideways and the craft broke into a barrel roll. Donald and Goofy didn't approve of it too much, judging by their panicked cries, but the roll saved them from getting too badly damaged.

"Don't do that again!" Donald squabbled as the ship stopped spinning.

Sora turned to Donald and asked, "Would you rather get shot down?"

By this time, Onyx decided to avoid shooting at them with simple bullets. He shifted back into jet mode and hit the brakes. In the blink of an eye, the Crystalli had shot right behind the Gummi Ship. "What the?!" Sora exclaimed.

The Gummi Ship now had a bit of trouble…Onyx was now hot on their tail and firing the same bullets he had been firing before. It didn't work, because Sora kept swerving away from its firing range. However, no matter how hard the Keyblade Master steered away from Onyx, the Crystalli traced him as though it was dragged by a tow cable.

"This guy won't take a hint!" Donald said, grouchily.

Goofy remained at the cannons, aiming them as best he could at Onyx. Suddenly, the royal knight's eyes turned the size of saucers as he cried, "Incoming enemy missiles!"

Sora checked the monitor just as Donald confirmed it on his radar. However, Sora noticed that the missiles had locked onto each of the Gummi's wings. The idea sprang to Sora's mind in an instant. "Everybody hold on!"

Donald didn't even have time to say a word when Sora went into a sharp barrel roll AGAIN. As he spun, the missiles traced his wings until the point came where they met. Both missiles exploded in a burst of superheated gas on contact with each other.

Onyx sailed right through the explosion to find that its opponents were nowhere to be seen. However, it was suddenly shot by a burst of plasma and swerved to the side. Sora, however, had learned from last time and traced Onyx's every move in a twist of events. Sora stayed on him a while, then noticed a big red button. "If I know my movies…(1)" he said, scrunching his eyes shut.

Sora, without any regards as to what the button might be, slammed his hand down on the button. In an instant, the cannon blasts changed from simple lasers to something more similar to the sabot rounds fired by the Cerberus Keyblade. The rounds hit Onyx in the back and exploded like miniature bombs, causing the Crystalli to drop several feet. Onyx regained his composure, then changed back and zoomed backward, right past the Gummi.

"Uh-oh!" Goofy screamed.

Onyx, however, activated a booster engine of sorts on his back and managed to keep level with the Gummi. He took his three-clawed hand and gave the Gummi a good WHACK. The ship bucked at the sudden force and a cannon fell away into the world's atmosphere. Onyx soared right underneath the Gummi Ship and was about to send the cannon on the other wing flying away when the ship turned suddenly, whacking the Crystalli with its other wing.

Onyx shook the cobwebs out of his head, then asked, impatiently, "Where are you, Lord Diamond?" He zoomed forward, then turned in midair to fire missiles at the Gummi, intent on ridding himself of this pest.

Inside the Gummi, Goofy decided that NOW would be a good time to use the one-use-only button. "Activating defense system!" Goofy pressed the button and an electric shield shimmered to life around the damaged Gummi Ship. The missiles exploded, harmlessly, on the shield and there wasn't a scratch on the Gummi. (Well, there already were, but that's beside the point.)

"Alright, let's hit him again!" Sora said, earning a salute from the knight. Goofy opened fire and sabot rounds fired from the cannons at Onyx. The Crystalli made to escape, but he didn't shift into his jet mode in time.

The sabot rounds barraged Onyx square in the chest with the force of a machine gun. Once, twice, thrice they hit, the black Crystalli growling in pain. On the last sabot round, Onyx's chest exploded and he fell back to the world below, keeping perfectly still. At least in his last effort, he had kept them distracted from his master…

----

"We did it!" Sora cheered. Donald, and Goofy whooped in celebration of their accomplishment. At last, the Crystalli were out of the park.

Donald ran over to the communication system and pressed the recording button to tell the others of the news. "Calling Restoration Committee..." he quacked.

Radiant Garden…

The rest of the group was listening to Donald's transmission. _Onyx was successfully destroyed! _the duck reported.

Upon hearing THOSE words, some members of the Restoration Committee were overjoyed. Yuffie and Blader actually looped arms and did a square dance of sorts. Joyex and Sakuzy did some sort of complex high-five while Leon could only grin. Kairi sighed in relief. She was afraid Sora would get killed up there.

"They did it!" Riku cheered.

"And not a single…" Vincent spoke too soon—Donald continued speaking, but his voice sounded garbled…well, more garbled than usual.

_We'll be... _A static buzz cut off the rest of the speech and got worse and worse between each pause._ then. Be…tell Cresce…that if he…_

The line suddenly went dead in a sea of static and Vincent was the first to realize that something was wrong here. "I think that something's interfering with the signal! Someone, activate the radar!" he ordered, urgently.

Without any hesitation, Riley ran over to a computer screen and hit a button. Blader seemed pretty ticked and tapped his remaining foot. "He must've been here for a while to know which button's which…" Blader grunted.

A radar flashed onto the screen; it looked similar to the radar used on submarines or other military vehicles. Vincent typed a few keys with his claw-less hand and the radar changed frequency to scan airspace. There was a Gummi Ship-shaped blot, which was obviously Sora's ship. The Mako victim sighed, but his content was short-lived from one sentence from the magic expert.

"Vincent, I'm getting another reading here…" Luneth reported, uneasily.

Vincent turned to see what Luneth was pointing at, then saw a jagged blot going straight for the ship. Realizing that Sora was in danger, Vincent shouted into the speaker. "SORA!" he said, quickly, "YOU HAVE TO GET BACK DOWN HERE, NOW!"

"Alright, Vincent, we'll…" There was suddenly an inhuman scream and someone said something that sounded like 'checkmate'. There was then an explosion and the communicator went dead in a wave of static.

Riley Poole

A computer whiz who helped find a treasure that rewrote national history...twice. He's not much of a fighter, but his knowledge on historical facts and witty nature prove a powerful asset. Most people consider him a wimp, though. He first appeared in _National Treasure_ 2004.

_In my experience with movies, the red button always means something big._

_Riley's my favorite character on National Treasure…he's funny._

Oh no…Things are looking downright grim, now…

_The next chapter is one the fans who read the old fic never…really cared for. Just the heads-up._


	155. Aftermath

Chapter 155: Aftermath

Everyone stared at the dead communicator, which was giving off a continuous static crackle, as though expecting Sora's voice to come out okay. Had they heard what they really heard? If Crescent ever looked serious, THIS was the first time anyone had ever seen him that way.

Kairi's next word was no more than a quiet whisper. "Sora?"

At the entrance of this little hideout, Pearl glanced sideways. "Oh no…" she said, fearfully, "They're going to blame me for this…" Pearl snuck out the massive, iron door without a sound. Most likely, she was going back to the only other protection she knew.

Blader sat in his chair again, not even bothering to take off his metal leg, and wheeled himself over to the dashboard. However, no matter what keys he typed, nothing happened: just static. "Oh, c'mon, c'mon!" he murmured, then got up and slammed both of his fists onto the keyboard. The static cleared up in an instant.

"Whoa, that was a nifty trick." Riley said, impressed.

Blader looked at his hands, then replied, in a bragging tone, "Ol' family touch." Blader pressed a button and all that appeared were multiple blank screens. The computer master grunted in frustration and growled, "C'mon, there's gotta be ONE satellite that the Crystalli didn't…"

A screen flickered to life just in front of Petross' screen. "There is." answered the large doctor.

Everyone raced over to look at the picture on the screen. The image was blurry, but it was EASY to make out a pair of explosions. One was orange, like the common one usually was, but the other was greenish-blue. Blader squinted at it, then typed rapidly on the keyboard. "Increase sharpness…" he said to himself as he did his tricks, "As well as tone and a bit of zoom…"

The picture altered itself, then shifted to the right of the bluish-green explosion. THERE, a distance away from the explosion, was a familiar shape to Ryan. "HEY! That's the Crystalli that was with Onyx!" Ryan said in sudden realization, "It's Diamond!" Ryan pointed up at the image; he knew that jagged, armor-like skin and those blood-red eyes anywhere.

Cid typed something in on his keyboard and addressed the computer immediately. "Tron! I need a status report!" he said, urgency easily sounding in his voice.

There was a pause before a male voice rang from the computer. "Both bases of the Restoration Committee are unharmed." Tron reported, "All members are accounted for."

Blader slammed his palm into his forehead, nearly slamming his fingers on his helmet. "Oh, SLAG the home base. Where's SORA?!" he asked, getting to the point.

Tron paused, scanning the data, then answered, in a tone surprisingly solemn for a computer, "I'm afraid that units Sora, Donald, and Goofy have been…terminated."

----

Unknown world…

All Crystalli hosts laughed in pure malice at a replay of an explosion. "Ooh!" Emerald said, eagerly, "Play it again!"

For once, Amethyst actually heeded Emerald's suggestion with a smile. "I have to agree with you on that. I enjoy watching it…"

Amethyst waved his hand and a crystal displayed Sora's Gummi Ship shooting down Onyx. The images played as though they came from a television screen with sound effects to boot.

_As Sora's Gummi Ship headed back for Radiant Garden, the giant Crystalli known as Diamond, eyed the ship. His red eyes glowed brighter than usual…he was jamming his communications so that backup couldn't arrive. Then, with a mass of shifting parts, his arms merged together to form a laser cannon: the same one he used on Destiny Island. Diamond's crystal mouth curved into an evil smile and he emitted one word…_

_"Checkmate!"_

_With that one word, Diamond opened fire. A burst of blue plasma erupted from the cannon's barrel and soared through airspace until it hit the Gummi Ship's main thruster. The Gummi spun out of control, its main engines on fire, then exploded a few seconds afterward._

The Crystalli roared with laughter, even the stern Aquamarine and Turquoise. Suddenly, the ground around them quaked and every host whirled around in surprise to see Diamond, the so-called "Living Crystal", standing at his full height of thirty-five feet. In an instant, Emerald began bowing to Diamond like a man worshiping a giant idol. He was clearly being overly dramatic. "All hail Diamond!" he began to chant.

Diamond didn't think too highly of this, because he simply flicked Emerald away with his enlarged middle finger, sending his underling flying with a shriek. He then turned and addressed the other Crystalli hosts. "You've failed me, Sapphire." Diamond said, his low, growling voice echoing off the walls, "I told you I wanted any opposition DEAD. Yet you spared SEVERAL lives!"

Sapphire, for the first time since who-knows-when, actually backed away in fear. Diamond was THAT terrifying to him. "My lord, I follow the way of the warrior-" Sapphire explained, but NOT to Diamond's preference.

Diamond suddenly pressed his blade-like fingertips onto various places on Sapphire's body. The pressure was so strong, even the slightest increase of strength would impale Sapphire in many places. "The way of the warrior means NOTHING to me, Sapphire. Understand?"

Sapphire could only nod as Diamond released him. The leader of the Crystalli glowered at all in his presence, then clenched his clawed hand. "You are one member short. Where is Pearl?"

Topaz was about to say that she wasn't present, but a familiar voice seemed to correct him. "I'm here."

Diamond turned to see Pearl (a.k.a. "Maya") standing right behind him. Her expression was once again blank and she had absolutely no light in her gray eyes. Amethyst cocked an eyebrow as he asked, "Finally decided to show up, did you?"

Pearl walked toward Diamond, her expression still unreadable. "I'm sorry for my absence, my lord." she apologized, blankly, "I wasn't myself."

"Not yourself?" Aquamarine snorted in disbelief, then got so close to Pearl that she could have kissed him. However, Aquamarine didn't suggest it one bit with his angered scowl. "You actually let yourself get captured by the enemy!" he pointed out.

Diamond had apparently had enough of this and slammed his crystal fist onto a nearby pillar, nearly smashing it to pieces and silencing all those around him. "Silence!" he roared, "We can argue amongst ourselves later." Diamond slowly regained himself as he began to examine his hand as though it was some kind of exotic predator. "While the organics mourn the loss of their two best warriors, we must strike! Gather your troops and prepare for attack! THIS IS THE FINAL BATTLE!"

All Crystalli hosts unsheathed their weapons, then marched off to find the Crystalli they controlled.

----

Radiant Garden…

Upon hearing the word "Terminated", J slumped into a chair and began wringing his fingers through his mess of black hair, showing a horizontal, white scar over his left eyebrow. No one bothered to ask about it or even look at it. Sora was…

"NO!!!" Kairi couldn't contain herself anymore. She threw herself into Riku's arms and began to cry as hard as she dared. The wielder of Darkness stroked her back and closed his eyes as Kairi buried her face into his chest, letting her tears run freely. _It was just a few hours ago that he promised he wouldn't leave me…But the Crystalli had to come and take him away!_

Scott took off his hat and put it over his heart like a soldier respecting the dead. As soon as he had gotten out of that stance, April hugged him, crying silent tears. Even Ryan, who was usually bustling with activity, was quiet and solemn at this time.

"I'm sorry." Vincent said, solemnly, "No one could've survived that explosion."

J wasn't listening to this. Seeing as he said, in depression, "I told him I should've been the one on that ship."

Someone placed a hand on J's shoulder. He looked up to see Aerith, who was looking a bit sad herself, but her voice remained strong. "Sora knew what he had to do." she said, "And he saved us all doing so."

Petross then put in a problem to her optimism. "But why didn't things go as planned?" he asked, almost angrily.

Blader wheeled around in his chair, stood up, and walked over. "Good question." he said, sarcastically.

Leon stood next to Blader, fingering the Gunblade on his belt. "And we know JUST who to ask." he added.

Blader whipped his blade-edged shield off his back at the exact same time Leon drew his Gunblade. They wheeled around to the entrance where Pearl was a second ago to meet…nothing.

"SLAG!" Blader grunted in anger.

"Looks like Pearl made a run for it." Leon said with a scowl.

Crescent popped up and scratched his spiky, white hair. "Oh yeah, while you guys were doin' the whole mourning deal, Little Miss Clam Ball said something was HER fault and then made for the door." he explained.

Vincent froze in place and turned, slowly, to Crescent. He was, apparently, trying to keep his cool, despite Crescent's EXTREMELY stupid action. "And you didn't tell us earlier because…?!" he asked.

Crescent shrugged. "I was waiting for orders." Vincent made for his gun, but Aerith had beat him there. She stormed over to Crescent and slapped him across the face. That was new, especially considering that she was usually the one who was kind to Crescent. The ninja massaged his face, wincing slightly. "Okay, I THINK I deserved that." he admitted.

Vincent decided there and then to abandon the subject and pulled out Cerberus. He loaded it with enough bullets to last an hour of shooting, then said, "Squall and I will hunt her down."

Leon muttered something under his breath, directed at Vincent. "Leon…"

Cid turned in his seat and noticed something as he turned to the two leaders. "Hold yer horses, guys!" he ordered, "I think we've got bigger problems…"

The whole group turned to where Cid was pointing and saw something that shocked them all. "O-kay, that's freaky…" Riley said, wide-eyed.

Why he said that was obvious. Sakuzy's fingers, at the first knuckle, had vanished and still seemed to be fading. He looked at it in a manner similar to Jack Sparrow when Sora saw him as a living skeleton and said something that surprised everyone: "Well, THAT'S interesting…"

Joyex could barely hold down his surprise and slight fury. "So, you're saying that YOU, fading from existence itself, is INTERESTING?!"

Sakuzy put down what, a few minutes ago, used to be a perfect and unblemished hand (or…at least that's what he said), and began talking like it was any other day. "Yes. Sure, I may be vanishing from the fabric of history, via my family tree being chopped down before I was even born, but at least we have a way to fix it."

Sudden comprehension then came onto Joyex's face as he said, "Hey, that's RIGHT! We still have…" Sakuzy gave Joyex a flat glare. "Hey, it wasn't MY fault that a bird…"

"Pooped on the time machine, thus quashing the last hope we had of returning to our timeline." Sakuzy finished for him, "PLUS, I'm saving the other one we were given to give me a return trip."

Joyex slapped himself in the forehead as he remarked, "Well, excuse ME, Rodney Skinner (1)!"

Sudden realization dawned on Sakuzy as he turned to his Nobody friend. "If you remember Ludwig von Drake from Disney Castle, you'll remember that he has a time machine."

This fact hit everyone like a ton of bricks. Why hadn't they seen it sooner?

_Enter flashback…_

_The entire group had just gotten out of Destiny Waste. Ludwig von Drake, Merlin, and King Mickey himself had been there to greet them._

_"EXCELLENT WORK!" Ludwig congratulated, "Now, I have to get to work in my top-secret laboratory. I'm working on a time machine so that the doors won't be needed."_

_End flashback…_

There was a stunned silence, before Riku asked, "How do YOU know this?"

Sakuzy shrugged, then answered, "Well, sometimes I pay attention to things that most people think irrelevant." Sakuzy simply made a fist and slammed it into what was left of his right hand. "So, if we could just get back to Disney Castle…wait. Our Gummi was blown into space dust."

Sakuzy was right. The Gummi Ship that Diamond had blown to smithereens was their Gummi Ship, but modified. Scott soon held out a finger as he made a counter-offer. "Actually, mate, OUR Gummi Ship may have been blown to bits, but remember the Gummi that Ryan and I used to get outta Camp Greenlake?" he asked.

Sakuzy's eyes suddenly turned the size of saucers. "You're saying that we should use that Gummi you used to get back to Disney Castle!" he said, catching on.

Blader ran over with his shield and spoke in a somewhat-apologetic tone. "Hey, Phil from the Future, I hate to ruin this moment of triumph, but…"

Riku slapped himself. Whenever Blader pointed something out with his shield out, something was wrong. "There's gonna be ANOTHER Crystalli attack?" he asked, guessing.

When Blader nodded, he pointed at the airspace radar screen; it looked like the screen had green measles. The entire Restoration committee walked towards the computer and each one had a different response…

Yuffie and Aerith simply stared with their mouths hanging open. Cid's toothpick fell out of his mouth while Leon's Gunblade clattered to the ground. Crescent stared wide-eyed at the screen. "Whoa…another acid flashback." he said in shock, "Man, I sure would hate to be doing computer stuff now."

Yuffie was so shocked by the size of the invasion that she didn't even retaliate to Crescent's comment. Luneth stared at the screen and took a step back. "Oh no…" he said, fearfully.

"Kingdom Hearts save us all if we can survive THIS onslaught." Petross said, his tone dead-serious.

Vincent's response was to simply glower at the screen like it was his worst enemy. "This squadron is larger than any other we've seen before." he said in total awe.

J's expression looked harder than it usually did. "Either this is some sort of malfunction or Vincent's right."

Scott tossed Kairi some sort of key. She was caught by surprise, so she fumbled with it before catching it. She looked at Scott, who explained, "For our Gummi Ship."

Kairi suddenly spoke for the first time. During the whole experience, she hadn't said a word save a few sobs. "You're not coming with us?"

J adjusted his sunglasses and Scott tipped his hat over his eyes. "Sorry, but no." the Aussie answered.

"If I'm going down with these things, I'm going to go down fighting." J said, his fists clenched.

Ryan looked nervously at J, fright on his face as he asked, "Do I get a choice on whether to go or not?" J glared at the hyper freak, who sighed and got a flat look on his face. "I thought not…"

April walked over to Scott and grabbed his arm. "Scott, I'm staying with you."

Scott tried to get his arm loose, but April still held on with an iron grip. It was times like this that Scott wished her grip wasn't so strong… "THIS could end with our deaths, sheila. I DON'T want you to get hurt!"

"I don't care!" April said with ferocity to make him back off, "I LOVE YOU!"

Scott simply looked down and gave a calm reply. "I know."

Vincent reached underneath his mantle and whipped out a foreign-looking machine gun and said, "The Crystalli will soon taste the power of Griffin." He took a cartridge of bullets and loaded them into the new weapon, then pointed out, "We're in for a long fight. The nearest hangar with a Gummi in it is ten miles from here. Just keep moving."

Weapons flashed into the hands of everyone from Keyblades to spears. The only ones without weapons were Luneth and Aerith, but that changed in an instant. Luneth's hands began to glow with some unknown energy as magic pulsed through his veins. Then, to everyone's great surprise, Aerith put her hands together as though praying, then spread them apart to reveal a long, wooden staff. She clasped it in her hands, then planted a tip of the staff onto the ground. "I don't like fighting, but I will if I have to." she said, her green eyes turning icy cold.

"On your toes, everyone…" Leon said, cautiously.

The entire group slowly climbed out of the manhole entrance and, after a quick check to make sure nothing was there, ran through the city like a flock of birds from a predator.

----

After about five minutes of trekking through the city, things got suspicious about the lack of Crystalli activity. Not one had shown itself or even made a noise. "It's quiet…" Vincent said, glancing back and forth, his gun at the ready.

Fortunately for Vincent, J completed his sentence. He had the same feeling, too. "Yeah…TOO quiet."

"I'll scout ahead and check for an ambush." April took off into the air to get a bird's-eye view of the path ahead. As she did so, Riku watched from below.

"Our lives are, basically, in her hands." he said, slowly stalking along.

Vincent was now gripping the handle of Griffin so hard that his knuckles were white. None of them had ever felt like this; the feeling that they were being watched and that anyone could end up dead at any second.

They slunk through Radiant Garden until, suddenly, a shot rang through the air shortly followed by a scream from above…a female scream.

"APRIL!" Scott whirled around to see that April was no longer in the air, then took off like a bullet.

"Scott! WAIT!" Vincent said, chasing after him.

J gritted his teeth in pure frustration. "Great…"

The entire group now had no choice but to follow the Australian anatomy-changer. Riku paused for a second, then looked up at the sky. It started out small, but increased over time: it was raining. It seemed that the heavens were mourning Sora as well…

The wielder of darkness hesitated, but followed nonetheless. "I've got a bad feeling about this…" Riku whispered to himself.

When they caught up to the Aussie, he was looking down at a dead body—the body of April Goodeve. There was a clean burn wound that went right into her stomach and exited her back. Her eyes were open, but they could see nothing. Sapphire walked forward through the oncoming downpour and chuckled slightly. "A naïve attempt, I must say." he said with a malicious smile, "And I should tell you that she screamed good before she died."

Scott's expression would have impressed J as he turned to Sapphire with angry tears in his eyes. "THAT TEARS IT! You're gonna PAY!" he snarled. Scott turned to the others with a feral look in his eye, then ordered, "Go. He's for ME."

No one had any objections, wanting only to get out of Radiant Garden alive. They ran past Sapphire, who didn't object whatsoever, but he did scoff at the Aussie as he took out his fan-blades. "Please, Mr. Highflier." the cerulean Crystalli said, proudly, "We BOTH know you can't win."

Scott looked at his hand, which he balled into a fist. "I'm only supposed to keep you occupied…" Out of Scott's wrist sprung a long, bony, lethal-looking spike as he added, "But, if I'm to kill ya, who am I to complain?!"

Both stepped forward and engaged in combat like a pair of unchained tigers.

----

Back with the rest, Sakuzy checked up on his hands to find that they had already vanished all the way to his wrists. "Hurry up!" he said, urgently, "We don't have much time!"

Kairi, on the other hand, couldn't stop herself from thinking these words…_Four people…gone…_

Vincent froze in his tracks, then turned around sharply and aimed his Cerberus at something just behind Ryan. Ryan ducked under the barrel's direction just as Vincent pulled the trigger. Three bullets flew through the air and hit something invisible, which fell to the ground. The falling rain had hit the thing's solid form, making it more visible. After a waver of color, the thing turned visible—a Crystalli Sniper.

"A SCOUT!" Vincent had no sooner said that when the area around them was thick with Crystalli of all shapes and sizes. There was a sharp exhale of air and as everyone turned, Luneth fell to the ground with a Neo Soldier's electric staff embedded in his back. It then crossed Sakuzy's mind that they could all die here.

"It's a trap!" Sakuzy shouted in slight anguish that they had been suckered.

With a loud battle cry, Cid had charged forward and impaled the attacking Neo Soldier in the chest with his spear. The Neo Soldier fell to the ground, but THAT seemed to be the signal to attack for the other Crystalli. A Brawler charged forward and threw out its massive fist only to meet the massive palm of Petross. Yet, just as he slammed the Brawler's face in, a burst of pink energy struck him full in the face. As Petross fell to the ground, both Sakuzy and Joyex recognized the stooped posture and almost-circular shape of these Crystalli.

"Rollers!" Joyex said, alerting others to their presence.

"Those are the ones Maya used to control…" Sakuzy said, wide-eyed with shock.

Blader blocked a shot from one of the Rollers and cursed something at the same time. "That traitor!"

Vincent kept dodging and firing bullets from his Griffin, Riku shot Dark Firagas, Kairi light beams, and Joyex thrashing around his chain. Around them, Aerith was fighting with skill that surprised all of them, using only the wooden staff in her hands. Leon was holding off a Paladin, though it looked like he had a lot of difficulty with it. Crescent was going toe-to-toe with a Ninja, despite his wounds…which were healing as quick as a flash.

Suddenly, just as all the Crystalli had advanced on them, a white shield surrounded the group and the Crystalli hit it like bugs on a windshield. Aerith had put up the shield and was doing her best to keep it up.

"We have to keep moving." Leon said over the ruckus, "If we fall here, there's no hope!"

"The Crystalli here are more numerous than last time. We'll never hold!" Aerith reported.

Cid spat out his toothpick and glanced over at Aerith. "Shaddup and make it hold!" he spat, "Sora didn't get himself blown up just so we could get killed by these hunks of space rock!"

Suddenly, Aerith's shield gave out. When J got a look around them, there was the unmistakable chatter of Crystalli Parasites. The little bug-like Crystalli had sucked the shield dry. "Hate those things!" he cursed at the sight of them.

With that, the battle was on again. However, now that Parasites had arrived, things were only going to get more difficult. The more energy they sucked out, the bigger they got and the good guys' chances of coming out alive shrunk.

Leon kept at least two Neo Soldiers at bay until a Mariner caught him from behind. It clamped its jaws down on his shoulder and dug its shark-like teeth into him long enough for the two Neo-Soldiers to shock him to death with their staffs.

Blader blocked any form of firearm with his shield, bringing its blade-like edges slicing right through any Crystalli he could catch. However, he was caught completely off-guard when a Crystalli Beast pounced on him from behind and dug its knife-like claws into his back, piercing his spinal chord.

Aerith saw many of her own teammates with heavy injuries and had just delivered a powerful blow to the head of a Ninja with her staff. She made to go and help the wounded, but then came to a sudden stop. She looked down to see the tip of a crystal sword exiting her stomach. She coughed up blood, then fell to the floor with a Paladin behind her with a blood-stained sword.

Yuffie punched and kicked her way through all kinds of Crystalli. The turning point came when she threw her shuriken to destroy an enlarged Crystalli Parasite. However, she soon wished she hadn't thrown it, because a Dasher was gliding towards her…right underneath her shuriken. It was so low to the ground that its arms almost scraped the ground. Yuffie simply stared in shock as the Dasher sped over to her, then slammed its three sharp claws into her midsection. Yuffie stared as both blood and wind exited her mouth, then it ended when her shuriken struck her in the chest. She was dead before she even hit the ground.

Cid's spear had become an iron-colored blur as it spun through several Crystalli. No one had ever seen him like this, as he was more often a grouchy Gummi salesman. The sight came to an end with surprising suddenness when a Crystalli Fossil leapt onto him and disemboweled him like a hungry lion.

Crescent was actually doing a good job against his Crystalli. Neo Soldiers and Ninjas never stood a chance, seeing as they couldn't keep him down no matter how much blood they shed. He had just taken out five of each when a Brawler came from nowhere and smashed Crescent in the back with its fist. Crescent flew into a building, where the Brawler continued to beat down on him, intent on breaking every bone in his body. It only stopped when a black T-rex clamped its jaws down on it and bit the Crystalli in half.

It was lucky that Vincent was one of the survivors, because his machine gun, Griffin, could take out several Crystalli in a short span of time. The only trouble was with Brawlers, but one hole was enough to destroy one from the inside out with a spell from either Riku or Kairi's Keyblades.

When the path was clear enough to continue, the whole group's number was reduced to just six—Riku, Kairi, Joyex, Sakuzy, Vincent, and J. Kairi looked down at the body of Ryan Syrus. The boy had been shot down by either a Sniper or a Hawk, yet wore a hyped grin on his face, which she remembered from the battles he was in. Maybe he thought death was fun, too.

J seized Kairi around the shoulders and began to pull her away, despite her attempt to try and save those she could. "Come on!" he strained, trying to keep her under control, "There's nothing we can do now!"

Kairi struggled some, but eventually succumbed, stopped trying to resist, and followed. She did NOT want to become another victim of the Crystalli like so many others.

Back in the bloodbath, Crescent slid all his bones back into place and pulled himself out of the crater that the Brawler created. "Ow." he groaned, "That REALLY…" Crescent's jaw fell open as he saw Blader and Yuffie's bodies. He then took a tone which would make anyone wonder whether to laugh or take him seriously. He ran off into the battlefield with a snarl on his face as he said, "That's it. They've tipped the scales!"

----

The end came with great suddenness for Scott. The Australian was thrown to the ground and landed on his back, gasping from exhaustion and covered in blood. Towering over him was Sapphire, who also had gaping wounds that spilled blue blood all over the place. Sapphire's wounds healed over, however, and the Crystalli looked like he hadn't even gone into battle, save some stains on his robes. The only way that this Crystalli could have wounds was if he was toying with the Aussie, and he had.

Scott barely managed to heave himself up on a leg and coughed up even more blood, staining the ground red. Sapphire rolled his eyes in disbelief as he said, "Give it a rest, Mr. Highflier. You're only fighting a losing battle."

Scott's immediate response was to spit onto Sapphire's face. The blue Crystalli paused for a while, his expression unreadable, then he brought his foot whirling into Scott's face and sent the Aussie skidding to the ground again. He lay there on his back and slowly turned to look at April's face for the last time. He smiled, then looked into the cold eyes of Sapphire. "THESE events are dust in the wind…" he said, weak, yet strong at the same time.

Sapphire looked more ready to breathe fire than Mushu as he whipped out one fan-blade. "SHUT UP!" he roared.

Sapphire took one of his fan blades and gently brought its tip touching Scott's neck, the Aussie feeling its cold, steel-like edge against his neck. Scott clasped April's dead hand and smiled as the deathblow approached. "I'll be there, soon…" Sapphire raised his weapon, then brought down his fan and ended the Aussie's life.

----

We rejoin the survivors, who had just reached the hangar. At least every few seconds, Vincent turned to fire a barrage of bullets at any Crystalli that were trying to pursue him. The savagery of the battle, combined with the cold, gloomy downpour, was beginning to take its toll on everyone as they barely entered the hangar. Sakuzy looked at himself and saw that his hands were already gone with his forearms slowly fading. They crossed the threshold and slammed the huge, iron doors behind them.

"Don't really have a hand in this, huh, Sakuzy?" Joyex asked.

Sakuzy glowered at his friend, then said, "Sure, I'm fading from the known history and YOU'RE making jokes."

Riku turned on the Nobody and agreed. "Sakuzy's right, Joyex. THIS is serious."

Joyex shrugged apologetically, then said, "Just trying to lighten the mood a bit."

Vincent glowered at the Nobody. "Joyex, we're all that's left. Everyone else is DEAD." he pointed out, sternly, "AND if you say anything stupid…" He pulled out Cerberus and put its barrels right between Joyex's eyes.

The Nobody crossed his eyes to get a look at the gun, then slowly backed away. "You do this ALL the time with Crescent, don't ya?" he asked after he was a good distance from the gun.

Vincent put his three-barreled gun back in its holster and answered, "If you only knew…"

There was a flash of purple light and the familiar form of Amethyst appeared. He smirked as his scepter flashed into his hands and advanced on them. "And where are YOU going?" he asked, smugly.

Amethyst continued his advance on them, but suddenly staggered back, because J had just punched him in the face with his gloved hand. J readied himself as Amethyst recovered and spat purple blood out of his mouth. "If you want them, you'll have to go through ME!" J challenged. He turned to the rest and said, "I'll hold him off! DON'T SCREW UP! We'll all die otherwise!"

Vincent drew his Griffin and held it out as the rest got into the single Gummi Ship in it. He went into the ship as J turned to the purple Crystalli. "You'll really die for a lost cause, freak?" Amethyst asked, gripping his scepter tightly.

J retorted with his own snap-back. "I'd die, but NOT for a lost cause. I'll die to give everyone a chance to defeat YOU."

Kairi obviously didn't want to see the shapeshifting anti-hero die…or at least leave him to die, seeing as she struggled against both Vincent and Joyex trying to get outside. "J! NO!" she cried, "If you do this, you'll DIE! Just like…"

J looked over his shoulder so that he met Kairi's eyes with his scarlet ones. "You think I'm not upset by Scott's sacrifice?!" he asked, "He's the one who brought us TOGETHER and kept us that way! THIS is the best way I can think of to avenge him!" J turned to face Amethyst, then said, without even looking back, "Now, GO! Your lives are more important than mine!"

It took the combined effort of Joyex and Riku to convince her, but Kairi finally boarded the Gummi Ship. As it took off for its destination, J turned to the skies and whispered to someone no one else could see, but only he could hear. "Please be with me…"

A warm, female voice seemed to whisper in J's ear. He forgot how much he loved the sound of that voice; the same voice he heard at Disney Castle. _You're ready, J. Now, go…_

J lurched forward and when his convulsions ceased, he had turned into a large cat almost as tall as Amethyst himself. It looked like a lion, only minus the mane with a bit less tail and upper fangs the size of T-rex teeth: a saber-tooth cat. _Now…DIE! _he roared.

J sprang forward with a roar, his mouth wide open to meet Amethyst's weapon. His jaws latched onto the scepter's middle so that his fangs kept Amethyst from pulling it backward. He continued his struggle, even when he spotted a jagged jet-shaped figure pass over the two of them at high speed.

----

Space…

Kairi was slumped over in a chair, trying to summon up tears, but she had none; she had cried them all out in the short span of a few minutes. Everyone she cared about was being torn away from her, one by one. Sora, who she loved more than anyone she ever met. April, who had cared for her in a way similar to an older sister. Scott, who was a laid-back brother figure. Ryan, who made her laugh even in the darkest of times. Now J, who had taught her VERY important things that no one else could teach.

How could this happen? Just after she made up with Sora, he was wiped from existence. She still couldn't get over the fact that they were all gone—Scott, April, Ryan, Blader, Petross, EVERYONE.

"Why…?" she sobbed.

Vincent placed his clawed hand on her shoulder. Kairi looked up, but didn't meet Vincent eye-to-eye, looking only at his black-clad chest. "They all died for a reason—to buy us enough time to get to Disney Castle." Vincent answered, "If someone can fix it, then Sora will be alive along with everyone else."

They heard a crackling noise and saw Joyex cracking his knuckles. Surprisingly, his tone wasn't his usual joking tone, but dead serious. "If I see so much as ONE Crystalli host, I'm gonna take the shard in their body and…" No one really heard Joyex's rant, seeing as it mostly grunting, snarling, and meaningless commercial breaks. "So, remember, Lowe's has Low prices every day." the Nobody finished.

Vincent looked up and loaded Cerberus as he aimed it at the Nobody. Joyex held his hands up and began inching away. "I'm walking away. I'm SLOWLY walking away…"

The Gummi Ship suddenly bucked forward just as Vincent began putting his gun away. After recollecting themselves, the whole crew bolted over to the pilot's chair to see various familiar aerial Crystalli. "Great! Hawks!" the sniper cursed. Vincent sat in the pilot's chair, took the yoke in his claw-less hand, and began jerking it in a desperate attempt to regain control. "I wish Cid and Blader weren't dead right now." he grunted as he tried to steer away from the Crystalli, "This is THEIR area of expertise, not mine."

"Would it be distracting if I said anything stupid?"

Everyone jolted as Crescent had seemingly appeared out of nowhere again and was now standing RIGHT behind Riku. "CRESCENT?!" Riku asked in surprise, "What're YOU doing here?!"

Crescent hopped onto a chair and made himself comfortable, not minding the fact that Vincent was trying to keep them out of death's cold embrace. "Well, ya see, I CAN'T DIE, remember? Any NON-no-way-no-how-survive blow that comes on me, like getting shot by multiple bullets, head sliced off, stabbed, or getting every bone in my body broken just won't work on me!" he explained.

Vincent had finally had enough and whirled around with a fierce gleam in his eyes. "Crescent, do us all a favor and SHUT UP!" he barked.

Crescent stood there, his purple eyes wide open as though someone had just slapped him across the face. He scrunched up his face as though trying to remember something very distant, and it traced in his voice. "Shutting up…NOW!" Crescent released his tight expression, then looked around, and shook his head as he said, "Nope. Not workin'."

Vincent growled, but it wasn't directed at Crescent, strangely enough. "Shoot! This Gummi doesn't have any weapons!"

"YAY!" Crescent cheered. There was an awkward silence as he suddenly "thought" about his previous remark. "Oh, wait. Is that a BAD thing?" By now, Sakuzy oh-so wanted to punch Crescent in the face, but he remembered that he had no hands. His arms had vanished all the way to his shoulder joint. so he settled on roundhouse-kicking the ninja. Crescent lay on the ground, then propped himself up on his elbows. "Are you related to Chuck Norris?" he asked, dazedly.

Back with the dogfight, there wasn't much Vincent could do except dodge and evade enemy fire. No matter what move he pulled, the Hawks seemed to be one step ahead of them, as though he were dragging them all by a few tow cables. "At this rate, we'll be dead five times over before we reach Disney Castle…" Vincent said with a scowl.

Joyex quickly slid under the control panel and removed a metal plate from its underside. Riku knew that Joyex was a real grease monkey, but what Joyex was doing was a mystery, even to him. "Okay…let's see what happens when I unite THIS wire…" Joyex held out a yellow wire at that part of the question, then added, "With THIS wire…"

Joyex held out a red wire. He touched their copper workings, which sparked once, but when he did it repeatedly, something happened MUCH to their relief.

An electric-blue field surrounded the entire Gummi Ship and the Hawks' plasma bursts bounced off, harmlessly. Joyex slid out from under the control panel and smiled at Vincent. "Alright, the shield generator should work long enough to get rid of these things." he told him.

Vincent pondered this, then got what Joyex meant. The Hawks were still RIGHT behind the Gummi Ship. So, when Vincent hit the ship's brakes, the Hawks flew RIGHT into the still-active shield and exploded like bombs against the field's annihilating energy.

Joyex got a good look at the exploding Hawks, then raised his arms and cried, "WOO-HOO!!"

For the first time since…ever, Joyex and Crescent actually high-fived. Vincent, however, addressed them without even turning around. "Don't get your hopes high…"

Joyex looked at a viewing screen, then his jaw dropped. MORE Crystalli Hawks were coming into view; HUNDREDS, possibly even THOUSANDS, of them.

"Oh, I've wasted my life…" Crescent said, wide-eyed.

"THIS isn't gonna be easy." Riku said, possibly referring to trying to ram them with the shields.

Vincent then took notice of a button encased in glass and slammed his gold-clawed hand into the glass, shattering it. Kairi got out of her saddened state of mind and asked, "What's that?"

"Nothing. Just hold on." Vincent slammed his right, claw-less hand into the button and the ship burst into maximum overdrive. Within seconds, anyone not secured in their seat was scattered on the floor, and the Hawks were left eating space dust. That did not mean, however, that the Crystalli had lost their trail…

----

Disney Castle…

The remnants of the old group got a VERY rough landing outside Disney Castle. By "rough", that meant crashing headlong into the front lawn of the castle. The door sprang open and everyone hopped out. Riku was helping Kairi out of the wreckage, since she hadn't secured herself in time. "Ow…You okay?"

Kairi didn't answer, but slowly nodded. The rage of this bloody battle still took its toll on her. Joyex, however, directed his rage at Vincent. "Warn me next time you do that!"

Vincent didn't answer, but stared solemnly at the gigantic door of Disney Castle. It was completely smashed with a gaping hole right down its center. With panicked looks, the Keybladers dashed through the hole with Vincent and Joyex hot on their tails.

As Riku and Kairi entered the main hall, they saw Mickey fighting off Crystalli with his golden Keyblade. The Crystalli were mainly made up of the dinosaur-like Fossils, which snapped at Mickey with their sharp teeth only to get their jaws broken by a single swing from his Keyblade.

"Fossils." Sakuzy said, "Topaz must be here."

"MICKEY!" Riku called. He put his hand forward, then shot a Dark Firaga and blasted a Fossil that was about to ambush the King. Mickey turned around just in time to see it fall to the ground with a black burn mark on its back.

"Nice shootin', Riku." Mickey complimented, but then noticed something was wrong. He counted their numbers and scratched his head just behind his ears. "Wait, why are there so few of you?" he asked, concern in his voice, "Where are Sora and the others?"

Vincent started walking forward, but managed to say one simple word to the mouse king. "Gone."

Mickey had a look of shock, but it quickly turned to anger. "I take it that the Crystalli had a hand in it?" he asked, seriously.

Joyex made a slashing motion across his throat, but it didn't matter. Sakuzy still sighed as he said, "Don't talk about hands…or arms for that matter."

Sakuzy commented on this, seeing as his shoulders were beginning to disappear, as were part of his feet. Mickey stared solemnly, then closed his eyes in sorrow. "Kinda confirms that Sora's…"

"DON'T say it!" Kairi's outburst was enough to make Mickey stop in mid-sentence and take a step back.

Joyex ran over to Mickey, cleaving an oncoming Fossil in half. It fell to the ground, its upper body separated from its lower body. "Mickey, we don't have much time." he said, getting to the point as fast as he could, "We're gonna need Ludwig's time machine to fix this before it begins!"

Mickey gave Joyex a questioning look as he asked, "Are you sure about that? His machine hasn't been tested…"

"MICKEY!" the whole group said altogether.

Mickey surrendered as he said, "Alright! On it!"

Vincent checked Griffin and frowned. "DANG! All out of bullets and I only have Cerberus with me now…" Vincent sheathed Griffin and took out Cerberus. He wasn't really complaining about his weapon, but he did wish that his machine gun didn't run out of ammo. "I'll cover you…so will Crescent."

Crescent folded his arms across his chest and could only pout. "Oh sure!" he said in the "oh puh-leeze" tone, "Suddenly, I'M the expendable one!"

Vincent gave Crescent a flat look in disbelief. "You can't die, idiot. Remember?!"

Crescent took a step back, then said, "I'm not stupid, I'm crazy! There's a difference—how they're spelled for one thing!" After a quick reminder about the seriousness of the situation, Crescent finally obliged.

----

The entire group of warriors snuck through Disney Castle like rats in a maze, finally entering the throne room. "Okay, Ludwig's laboratory should be in the hall of the Cornerstone…" Mickey said as they peered out from behind separate pillars.

Kairi remembered seeing the entrance to Ludwig's lab…neon signs weren't exactly hard to miss. But they had no sooner opened the entrance to the Hall of the Cornerstone when, suddenly, a battalion of Crystalli Snipers and Rollers pointed their weapons at them. The Snipers aimed their rifles at them while Rollers activated their shields and pointed their blasters at them.

"Leave them to me." Vincent told them. He jumped into the air and turned into a living, red streak, then took off and began shooting the Crystalli down. Crescent pulled out his shuriken and threw them at the crystalline aliens before they even had a chance to open fire. The shuriken flew through the air, lodging themselves in the Crystalli's armor. Riku and Kairi had no problem at all, seeing as they could deflect the blasts with their Keyblades. The fighting had lit a fire in both of them; an encouragement to keep them going no matter what happened.

The easy stuff ended when someone appeared in a flash of yellow light. The Crystalli Host smiled as he brought out a familiar broadsword and slashed four times. Crescent paused for a while, then his head, arms, and upper body fell to the ground in separate pieces. His severed head took in its surroundings, then cursed. "Oh, (censored)."

Riku and Kairi turned at a laugh to come face-to-face with Topaz, his crystal eye gleaming in the castle's lit halls. "And where do we think we're going?" he asked, as though speaking to a naughty child.

"To stop this. What do you think?" Joyex asked with a shrug.

Topaz glared at the Nobody and had just summoned the urge to swing when Vincent fell to the ground, gracefully landing on his feet. The dark gunman turned to look at them, then ordered, "Go! I'll hold him off."

Mickey led the way down the stairs, leaving Vincent to deal with Topaz. The yellow-clad Crystalli smirked as he raised his broadsword and said, "THIS should be quick…"

Topaz charged with a roar and swung only to miss Vincent by a mile. He was more than surprised to see the dark sniper standing on the flat side of his blade with his gun still in his hand. Vincent opened fire, bullets pelting Topaz in the chest, delivering injury to organs such as the heart, lung, and intestines. Blood poured from Topaz's body like liquid gold, but the wounds simply healed over in seconds and Topaz brought his sword out from underneath Vincent's feet, sending him flipping backward.

Topaz laughed at Vincent's attempts, then asked, "A gun against a Crystalli?" Topaz fingered his sword as he aimed it carefully and said, "I'm afraid that won't work!"

Vincent landed on the ground and rolled back to his feet to aim Cerberus at Topaz and pull the trigger…half a second too slow. Topaz had followed him and drove his sword into Vincent's gut, rupturing internal organs, and penetrating right out his back. Vincent slumped as he began losing strength and began to violently cough up blood. "No…" he said, weakly, "Not again…(2)"

Vincent was dying, but still had enough time to do ONE last thing. He seized Topaz's hand with his own clawed one to keep Topaz from moving. Topaz tried to jerk away from Vincent, but the sniper was stronger than he looked, even in his dying state. As Topaz watched, Vincent pointed his three-barreled gun at his crystal eye and Topaz could only watch in terror.

"I'll die…but not before I can take YOU with me." Vincent choked. He put Cerberus so close to Topaz's eye that the barrel actually touched it, then pulled the trigger.

----

Back with the rest, Sakuzy was feeling EXTREMELY helpless now. He was beginning to bear resemblance to a drawing someone had half-erased. He had lost both arms and half of his legs, not to mention his neck had begun to fade. They entered the Hall of the Cornerstone to see that it was jam-packed with Crystalli of all shapes and sizes from the tiny Parasites to the massive Brawlers.

"Stay BACK, you monsters!" someone threatened, in an all-too-familiar German accent, "Stay BACK! I have a Ludwig Laser and I'm NOT afraid to use it!"

As the group watched, they saw that the duck doctor was using a large bazooka of sorts. Ludwig pointed the bazooka, which was easily bigger than he was, and fired a blast of red energy at the nearest Brawler coming for him. The red energy blew a hole right through the Brawler and it fell to the ground in pieces.

Riku and the others ran over to Ludwig and Joyex addressed him first. "Hey, nutty professor!" he called.

Ludwig whirled around and pointed his bazooka at the group. "Stick 'em up!" he barked. The entire group flinched, but then Ludwig recognized them and smiled apologetically. "Oh, it's you. Sorry."

As the Crystalli continued to keep coming, Sakuzy managed to get the professor's attention. "Ludwig, we need to get to your lab NOW!" he said, urgently.

Ludwig continued blasting the Crystalli with the Ludwig Laser, all the while speaking over his shoulder. "Okay, if you say so. Follow me!" The duck doc led the way through the Hall of the Cornerstone, clearing a path through the Crystalli, which still continued their assault on them.

All this time, Riku had to lead Kairi by the hand through the whole onslaught. She stumbled suddenly, but Riku heaved her back to her feet and continued following Ludwig. There, just a small distance from them, was Ludwig's top-secret laboratory. The neon sign was unmistakable. As soon as they cleared the threshold, they closed the iron door and barricaded it with a lab table.

Ludwig's lab wasn't too different from Merlin's study. It had books, test tubes, and beakers amidst their several lab tables. The only thing that made it different from Merlin's study was the fact that there were a few machines and spare parts scattered around.

"Wow." Sakuzy said, amazed at the sight, "I never thought you'd keep all THIS stuff down here, doc."

Ludwig clasped the sides of his coat, proudly as he boasted, "I am a genius. What would you expect?"

Riku heard a cough from behind him and turned to see Kairi clutching her chest. As she looked up to face him, Riku saw that there was a small hole surrounded by burned flesh just above her heart. She stumbled forward, and almost fell if Riku didn't catch her. "No…NO!" Riku said, feeling as though someone had stabbed him through the heart with an icy-cold knife.

Riku got to his knees and gently lowered Kairi to the ground, turning her on her back. She was struggling to breathe, but found enough strength to talk. "Riku…"

Riku stared back at Kairi, his heart aching more than it ever had in a long time. "Kairi…c'mon! Don't die…" he begged, "You have to stay with us!"

Kairi coughed what would have been a slight chuckle. "You have to go." she said, weakly, "At least I'll be with Sora again…" Kairi smiled, then closed her eyes and breathed her last.

This time, Riku couldn't suppress a tear from sliding down his cheek and it took every ounce of willpower he had to keep himself from sobbing. He had just lost his best friends in a matter of hours and now he was all that was left. After suppressing his sadness, a small smile crossed his face as he looked at Kairi's face. It looked like she was sleeping and having a pleasant dream.

"Kairi," he said, as though she could still hear him, "If things don't work, say 'hi' to Sora for me."

Sakuzy looked down at himself to see that he was now no more than a floating torso and turned to Ludwig. "Ludwig, we're gonna need your time machine! A lot of people have already DIED to get us here!" he said, getting to the point.

Ludwig scratched his chin in a questioning manner. "Are you sure?" he asked in a warning voice, "It hasn't been tested…" The look Sakuzy gave Ludwig was MORE than enough to change the doctor's mind for him. "THIS WAY!"

Sakuzy turned his attention to Riku, who was still kneeling at what was once one of his best friends. "On your feet, Riku." he said, solemnly, "We have to get going…"

Riku stood up, but hadn't even summoned the urge to run when there was a loud BANG. The door almost flew open, but the barricade was just enough to hold it in place. Through the crack, Mickey could see that there was an army of Crystalli pounding against the door. "Don't let 'em through!" the king shouted.

Mickey quickly went over to another heavy lab table and barricaded it against the door. Riku came in to help and put a piece of heavy machinery against it as well. He turned to Joyex and Ludwig and ordered, "Go! We'll hold them off!" Joyex, Ludwig, and what was left of Sakuzy fled to the back of Ludwig's room. As Riku and Mickey continued pushing against the barricade, Riku turned to the King. "In case this doesn't work, I'm really glad to have been your friend, your majesty."

Mickey could only turn to Riku and smile as the barricade began to slowly give away.

----

The three survivors of the Crystalli onslaught searched through Ludwig's lab. The duck scientist led them to the back and pointed at a large, circular device. It looked like a thick, metal arc the size of a Gummi Ship with blinking lights all around it. "This is it. The device should take you out of one point of time and space to ANY…"

Joyex interrupted the doctor before he could continue. "Sakuzy would be a hindrance back in that time. Besides, I can avoid being seen if I really wanted to. Hence back with the stooges in Timeless River." he pointed out.

Ludwig tapped Joyex on the shoulder. "Now, remember what I said, friend?" he asked, "This device hasn't been tested! Something could go wrong and you could end time as we know it…"

Joyex simply looked back at Ludwig with a look that said, "it's a risk I'll willingly take". Ludwig nodded in surrender, then pressed a button on a remote control that he stashed in his lab coat. The device hummed to life and a gateway of white light shimmered into the hole of the device. Joyex took a deep breath and stepped through it, the light shimmering as he crossed the threshold. _For the future…_

Meanwhile, Riku and Mickey were still trying to keep the door shut when a Crystal arm reached through a gap only to be severed by Mickey's Keyblade.

"What should happen now?" Riku asked as the doors started to slide open.

"Well, if Joyex did change the past, the timeline WE occupy at the current moment should be disappearing right about-" Mickey never finished his sentence, seeing as a ray of light spread out from the time machine and engulfed them.

----

Radiant Garden…

Diamond, the ruler of all Crystalli, towered over the black tyrannosaur that he easily dwarfed. Behind the dinosaur was Amethyst, who had probably been crushed by its massive foot. Diamond had his foot on the midsection of the dinosaur, which was about the size of a dog compared to him, and turned its head in his hand. The dinosaur was forced to look at Diamond's blood-red eyes as it tried to thrash free of his foot.

"Disgusting creature…" Diamond growled in utter dislike. He then inserted the middle finger of each hand into the dinosaur's mouth and began to pry it open. The dinosaur tried to resist, but Diamond was too strong and could pry open the powerful jaws with ease. With a sickening CRUNCH, the jaws broke open and the T-rex screamed in total agony. Despite this, the thing it thought was different from what it emitted.

_Maria…_

Diamond took the T-rex's head in his hands again and gave it a sharp twist, breaking its neck. As the T-rex slumped to the ground, Diamond took his foot off it and the dinosaur began to change. When the transformation finished, J lay where the Tyrannosaurus used to be, retaining the same injuries it had.

Diamond emitted a cackle loud enough to hear a mile away as he roared to the heavens. "You are powerless against…" What J was powerless against, no one ever found out. A wave of white light engulfed all of Radiant Garden and its fallen warriors as time itself turned backward.

----

Meanwhile, in space, Kang and Kodos were observing the whole bloody battle. Kodos suddenly noticed white light headed right towards them at tremendous velocity. "What the heck is that?" he asked.

Kang went over and observed it. He put a tentacle to his helmet, as though scratching his head. "Probably some timeline-changing ray of light."

Kodos turned to his shipmate as he asked, "Should we try to avoid it?"

Kang rolled his eye in disbelief. "No, you'd have to a be a complete idiot to try tha-" The flying saucer was absorbed into the light and time itself…reset.

Diamond

THIS is the real leader of the Crystalli, NOT Chrysallis. The self-proclaimed "Living Crystal" is a warmongering, bloodthirsty animal who has brought more than one world to their doom. He possesses great power and an immense hate for organic beings for some reason. He was the main cause of Sora's death, but it looks like things will change.

_Rodney Skinner is a character from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (good movie, man). The invisible man who stole the original's work and made himself invisible. Joyex was commenting on Sakuzy vanishing._

_Vincent already died once. He was brought back from the dead with an immunity to aging._

_At least SOMEONE made it back to the past. It tore me apart to kill off all the characters that were trying to fight these things. Let's see how this turns out…_


	156. Joyex Earns His Wings

_No updates tommorow, because tomorrow's Christmas! By the way, this is the beginning of the final arc in Prince of Heart--Diamond Arc as D-Dude calls it, but Save the Universe as Blastbone calls it._

Chapter 156: Joyex Earns His Wings

Gummi Ship…

Joyex appeared out of the infinite gap between time and space into the Gummi Ship's interior and inspected himself. "Well, every part of my body is exactly where it should be," he said to himself in relief, "Though I'm not sure about…the lower area. Still…"

Joyex heard Vincent showing Sora the basic work of the Gummi Ship along with Donald and Goofy. He couldn't afford to be seen, so he darted into the bathroom. Vincent left the Gummi Ship just as the toilet flushed. Joyex looked down at his foot and saw a long piece of toilet paper stuck to the heel of his boot. "Oh, RATS! Why does that ALWAYS…"

Joyex had just tried getting the toilet paper off when the ship bucked, causing him to fall over. During this whole time, Sora, Donald, and Goofy didn't notice him knocking over objects, falling over, and swearing at the top of his lungs. "…(censored) with a big, lousy (censored) Wait…"

Joyex found that the reason no one noticed him AND the ship bucking was because Onyx was attacking the ship. He calmly plucked off the lavatory paper and threw it behind him. _Ugh. I'm gonna need a bath after this._

Radiant Garden…

In the Gummi Hangar, Sakuzy suddenly noticed that someone else was missing from their number. "Hey…where's Joyex?" he asked.

Riku and Kairi looked around. Sure enough, Joyex was gone and they hadn't even noticed until Sakuzy brought it up.

----

Joyex continued hiding in the bathroom, but was quite surprised when the entire room turned itself upside-down and continued spinning. He tumbled through the air, landing on both the ceiling AND the floor. When the Gummi Ship righted itself, Joyex fell on the floor with a thud. "Ow." he grunted, "I hope I never go through THAT again…"

Joyex had no sooner said that when the ship swerved, knocking him into the bathtub. To make matters worse, shampoo containers fell on his head and leaked their contents onto him…including Kairi's strawberry-scented shampoo. Joyex heaved himself out of the bathtub, covered in the various shampoos and sighed to himself as he tried in vain to get the stuff off him. "I'm gonna smell like a flower for days…" he muttered.

Joyex was about to return to his hiding place when the ship rolled AGAIN. He crashed on the walls, the ceiling, and the toilet all in the same few seconds that the ship rolled. When he finally landed on the floor, he thought he had a bruise on every bone in his body. "I thought I said I didn't WANT to go through that again!" he shouted out loud.

Joyex had no sooner gotten back to his feet when the ship bucked again and his head plunged into the toilet bowl. He got his head out, his hair soaked in water that he didn't know where it had been. "Oh, things just keep getting BETTER." he muttered, sarcastically.

A few minutes passed when a resounding explosion sounded outside and cheers came from the pilot's chair. Joyex could now hear Donald speaking into the communicator. "Calling Restoration Committee: Onyx was successfully destroyed!" the duck reported, "We'll land in a minute, so you can expect to meet us then. Be sure to tell Crescent that if he says ANYTHING stupid, we'll be on him."

After a pause, Vincent's voice suddenly came through the communicator in a VERY urgent tone. _"SORA! YOU HAVE TO GET BACK DOWN HERE, NOW!"_

Sora took his turn on the comm link as he said, "Alright, Vincent, we'll…"

Something outside emitted a deafening roar in a manner similar to laughing and said one word: "CHECKMATE!"

"NOW!" Joyex, without any regard of subtlety whatsoever, bolted over and shoved Sora out of the pilot's chair in an instant. Sora picked himself up off the floor and stared in surprise.

"Joyex?" the Keyblade Master asked in surprise, "What're…"

Joyex cut Sora off as he said, "I'll explain later! Now I've gotta get us back to Radiant Garden or we're ALL dead!" Acting on instinct, Joyex slapped the yoke on the control panel and the Gummi Ship swerved to the left…one second too late. The blast hit the ship's wing and slowly, but surely, it plummeted to the site of the Great Maw. "Well, it's not as serious as it looks." the Nobody pointed out, "He just clipped our wing."

Donald's reply was as sarcastic as J would have done it. "VERY comforting."

Joyex struggled with the ship's yoke as he quickly said, "QUIET, Donald! This part is very difficult and requires IMMENSE concentration!" Joyex seized the yoke and began to steer them, with EXTREME difficulty, back to Radiant Garden's surface.

"Where are we gonna land?" Sora asked over the roaring Gummi.

Joyex's answer was surprisingly simple…only two words. "We won't."

Donald and Goofy were shocked beyond their wit. "But, uh, how are we gonna get to the ground?" the knight asked.

"If we try to land correctly, we'll get blown to Kingdom Come." Joyex explained, "We'll have to crash."

There was suddenly a very violent jerk and the bottom half of the ship was torn away to crash elsewhere on the world. Donald quacked in surprise while Joyex said, "No worries! We're still flying HALF a ship!"

Goofy's eyes widened beyond measure as he screamed, "WE'RE GOIN' DOWN!"

Joyex looked where he was going and saw he was going to land in the deepest trench in Radiant Garden. "Oh. Guess the only way out is to jump." he said, changing his plans.

Joyex grabbed the duck and dog by their collars and ran for it, followed by Sora. Joyex opened up the emergency exit to see that the ground was getting closer with each passing second. "ABANDON SHIP!" Joyex said, then repeated, "ABANDON SHIP!"

Something in Sora's mind clicked as he held up a hand and said, "Wait!" Sora quickly darted back to the interior of the ship and came back pushing something into one of his many pockets.

Joyex rolled his eyes. "Sure, we're plummeting to what could be our deaths and YOU'RE going around grabbing stuff." he said, sarcastically.

Sora made sure that the thing he got was hidden well in his pocket, then snapped back at Joyex. "THIS is special, Joyex!" he said, referring to the object in his pocket.

Joyex waited until they were nearing the land, until they reached a certain place at the Great Maw's deepest trench. It was the great canyon that held the battle of a thousand Heartless. Joyex spun his chain over his head and threw it at the canyon wall with all his strength, where it lodged itself deep into the rock.

Joyex jumped in success as he said, "PERFECT! Now, I just have to pull us to…" The blade's chain slipped right through Joyex's fingers, which snapped down on thin air. "Safety…" he finished, uneasily, "GREAT. We're dead now." Joyex paused, but then shook his head very violently, as though trying to shake a painful memory. "No…NO! I won't give up! I won't let Sora die here!" he told himself.

Suddenly, a tingly sensation flowed through Joyex's hand and, in a burst of glitter, something appeared in Joyex's hand. Sora recognized it from when he drove with Joyex to form Loyalty Drive—the Chain Thrasher Keyblade. Joyex stared for a while, then leapt for joy inside. "YES!" he cheered, "My somebody's Keyblade!"

Sora could only smile at Joyex as he said, "Looks like your determination to keep us alive earned you your…"

"Save it till we survive, Sora." Joyex interrupted, "NOW we can get outta here!" Joyex grabbed Donald and Goofy by their collars while keeping a strong hold on his Chain Thrasher. "Grab a hold!"

Sora wrapped his arms around Joyex's neck as Joyex pointed the Chain Thrasher at the wall. With a "BANG", the blade shot out, taking with it, a long chain. The blade extended for several yards and buried itself in the canyon wall. "Now what?" asked Sora.

"Hold on and try not to scream!" Joyex said, almost excitedly.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy braced themselves as Joyex pressed the other button. In an instant, the chain in the blade retracted and they all zipped away from the falling Gummi Ship. Donald and Goofy screamed their lungs out as they swung on the chain, knowing if they let go, a two thousand-foot drop was waiting for them.

Donald and Goofy were out of harm's way, Sora didn't get harmed, but Joyex landed face-first into the canyon wall. Joyex hung by the handle of his blade, smacked up against the wall, as the Gummi Ship fell further to the canyon and eventually exploded. "Ow…" Joyex groaned, "THAT hurt…"

The timeline where virtually everyone was dead completely vanished from existence. As far as time itself knew, the whole incident never happened.

_Well, at least THAT ugly incident was fixed up. I have a strict policy on NOT killing off comic relief characters._

_So, I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Kwazy Kwanza, a tip-top Tet, and a solemn, dignified Rhamadan. Holiday suggestion: Read the North Pole arc._


	157. Quartz

Chapter 157: Quartz

Back at the Restoration Committee's home base, Ryan looked at the computer screen as the communication line died out. "What the heck just happened?" he asked, completely shocked.

Crescent zipped over and scratched his head. "I don't know." he answered, "Maybe someone created a new timeline or somethin'…" Everyone stared at Crescent, who looked around at his staring audience before he shrugged and asked, "What? I didn't hear YOU come up with anything better."

Vincent sighed, dismissing Crescent. "We'll just pretend like you never said a thing."

Blader typed a few keys on the computer only to find that the static didn't clear up. He banged his fists on the keyboard and the communications cleared back up. As Blader got a status report on Radiant Garden, everyone waited patiently…

"So, is Sora alright?" Scott asked, quietly.

Blader whirled in his chair and took it over to his satellite camera. "One way to find out." he answered.

Blader changed the satellite picture to the space front and a slide show of sorts appeared on the ship. It showed Sora's Gummi getting blasted, but the ship looked like it had tried to evade. The wing got blown to pieces, but the whole craft remained intact. It then plummeted through the world's atmosphere, tearing in half in the process, but the front half was still flying fine. It then crashed into the deepest part of the Great Maw in a burst of superheated gas.

Back with the Restoration Committee, everyone stared at the slideshow until it ended.

"Are they…" Kairi asked, shakily.

Blader chuckled nervously, then scratched the back of his head, nervously. "Hehehe…Well, there's a SLIM chance that they coulda survived that." he said, trying to boost their confidence.

Petross placed a hand on his chin, solemnly. "Thank Kingdom Hearts that their ship didn't blow up in airspace." he said, "THEN, there'd be no chance of survival."

Kairi felt that small bit of hope rush through her body, but then something confirmed it. Sakuzy looked at himself and he still looked solid as ever. "Hey…Sora's not dead!" he told them, "I'd be fading from the fabric of existence itself if he was. He's alive!"

Kairi's heart threatened to leap out of her chest as she stood suddenly. "He is?"

Kairi ALMOST went running out the door when a beeping noise seemed to catch everyone's attention. Blader whirled in his chair to check out the radar and gasped. In a jiffy, he reattached his bionic leg and picked up his lucky shield. "You might want to hold that thought, Juliet." he said in a halting voice, "Looks like we're gonna have a JUMBO-sized Crystalli on our hands!"

Blader shifted the satellite imagery to an oncoming object. Leon and Kairi both gasped in surprise while Crescent actually said, "Gasp!" THAT remark was so ridiculous that Yuffie brought her foot slamming into the one place on Crescent's body where the sun didn't shine. The ninja's eyes widened in both pain and surprise as he clutched his manly area. When he spoke, his voice was in a slightly higher pitch and sounded pained. "You can't…manufacture LOVE!"

For that remark, Yuffie kicked him in the same place again. THIS time, Crescent fell to the floor, writhing in pain.

Riku then decided that now seemed to be the right time to bring up an important issue. "So, we're stuck here without a Gummi Ship. But, didn't Sakuzy say that Scott and Ryan had a Gummi Ship?"

Some positive attitudes poured from everyone until Scott stomped on THAT idea immediately. "Sorry, mate. There's only enough room for four or five people." he said, shaking his head, "Besides, I sold it to the Used Gummi Hangar. This was BEFORE ya came to take us off."

The group turned to Cid, who shook his head and continued chewing on his toothpick. "Don't look at me." he told them, "I may be a Gummi engineer, but it'd take me MONTHS to make a Gummi big enough for ELEVEN people!"

Leon's eyes darted around and noticed something everyone else didn't. "Where's Pearl?" he asked, suspiciously.

Sakuzy's response was expected for everyone. "That's Maya."

After a quick head count, it was apparent that Pearl was no longer in the vicinity. "CRUD!" cursed Leon.

"Looks like Little Ms. Clam Ball took it on the lam!" Blader said, grouchily, "And Joyex disappearing was bad enough already…"

Sakuzy sighed before slumping down onto his chair. That was the second time that the Crystalli had taken Maya away from him. J stood up, then spoke. "What are we waiting for?" he asked, referring to everyone, "We can't just stay here. Let's take out that Crystalli and find Sora while we're at it."

Back in the Great Maw, Joyex still dangled by his Keyblade on the canyon wall. He was struggling to keep his grip, but had one idea. "Donald?" he strained, "Goofy?" Both looked up at him, curiously. "Think you can climb up by yourself?" he asked, putting in as much strain as he could, "I don't think I can take much more of this…"

An idea came to Goofy's mind as he said, "Sure thing, Joyex. Grab hold of me, Donald…"

Donald grabbed Goofy around the chest and looked up above, then down below at the canyon's bottom. "PLEASE tell me you have something planned, Goofy." he squeaked.

Goofy took his shield in his hand and as soon as he did, Joyex let go of his collar. They fell momentarily, causing Donald to scream in fright until Goofy used his shield as a pickaxe of sorts. The shield stuck in the rock and the knight stopped falling with a FREAKED duck on his back.

"Uh, gee, Donald. You weren't SCARED, were ya?" asked Goofy. Donald was a bit too petrified to answer, because his eyes were wide with fright and his teeth were chattering like miniature jackhammers. "Don't worry, Donald, I got this whole thing under control." Goofy assured him, then used his free hand to get a good grip on the canyon wall while the one with his shield used it as a bit of leverage to climb.

Joyex wanted to climb the wall, but the area he was on was much less jagged than Goofy's part. Joyex's voice was still a bit strained from Sora's weight on his shoulders. "Sora?"

"Yeah?" Sora asked, doing his best NOT to look down.

Joyex held out his free hand, as though expecting him to put something in it. "Can I borrow your Keyblade?" he asked. In a flurry of lights, Sora's Ultima Weapon appeared in his left hand. He put it in Joyex's free hand and the Nobody used it as a pickaxe. Joyex slowly, but surely, made his way up, using each Keyblade to gain more ground.

"YOU…NEED TO SHED…A FEW…POUNDS!!!" he strained as he climbed up the mountain. It was bad enough to try and climb up by himself, but now he was carrying someone on his back that threatened to drag him down.

Sora gave Joyex a playful slap on the back. He knew if he hit too hard, that it wouldn't help a lot. "Hey, I happen to be well-built. I'm not THAT heavy!" he defended.

Joyex ignored Sora as he continued to heave him up. Donald and Goofy made it to the top first with Joyex and Sora not too far behind. Joyex heaved himself onto the cliff's edge, then dispelled his Chain Thrasher Keyblade. Sora got off Joyex and the Nobody rolled onto his back, gasping for breath. "At least…we made it…" he panted.

Sora was on his knees, trying to recover from what happened in the last few minutes. Donald and Goofy weren't too far from them and were also trying to get a good breather. Sora looked over at Joyex and scolded, "Joyex, that was the CRAZIEST thing you have ever done…"

Joyex weakly lifted his arm with his index finger up. "Well, sanity's never been my strong point..." he pointed out.

Joyex turned to face Sora, still gasping for breath. However, Sora actually smiled instead of scolding him like he had before as he said, "But it was so crazy that it saved us all. For that, I owe you my life."

Sora stood over Joyex and held out his gloved hand. Joyex smiled as he took it and stood up, albeit shakily.

Suddenly, something caught Donald and Goofy's eye. "WHOA!" Goofy shouted in surprise, "Somethin's a-comin'!"

Both Sora and Joyex looked over to see Goofy pointing at the sky. As they followed the dog-man's finger, they saw a huge comet of sorts streak through the sky like a fighter plane. It soared right over their heads and crashed into the ground just a mile or two from where they stood. "What was THAT?" Donald asked in surprise.

"One way to find out!" Sora responded. Without any further regard for danger, he, Donald, and Goofy took off running, and left Joyex in the dust.

The Keyblade-wielding Nobody tried to follow, but stumbled to the ground with a CRASH. He heaved himself up and began staggering off to follow them, gasping for breath.

"Feeling light-headed…good thing. No more heavy head to carry…" Joyex stumbled again and landed in the dirt with another THUD. "Oh, don't mind me." Joyex gasped, "I'll just lay here, more tired than a sixteen-wheel truck." After asking himself "what am I doing?", Joyex heaved himself back to his feet for the second time and began staggering after them. "I'll just try and keep up as best as I can before trying to sleep…"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy stopped once they saw a huge, smoking crater. This HAD to be the crash site, because a milky-white meteorite was nestled in its center. Its color rang a bell from a dream Sora had when his group was in Radiator Springs. "Is that…a Crystalli?" he asked.

Donald and Goofy simply stared at it, speechless. It was at THAT time that Joyex finally caught up to them, gasping for breath. Sora now realized that he had left the poor guy behind and he didn't even know it. "I rescue you…from a damaged spacecraft…" he gasped, "And I heave you up…a canyon wall. The LEAST you could do…was…WAIT."

Sora could only sheepishly smile and scratch his head in embarrassment. "Uh, hehehe…Sorry." he apologized.

Meanwhile, in the Restoration Committee East Side's base, Blader strapped his shield to his arm. "Whatever's out there, I'd better check it out." he said, ready for action.

The brains of the Committee was about to walk out the door when Riku stopped him. "Don't do it. I'll go."

Before anyone else could say a thing, Kairi was up on her feet, looking more determined than anyone else in the immediate room. "I'm going, too! If Sora's alright…"

No one could remember the last time Kairi had sounded this strong. Sakuzy put a hand on Kairi's shoulder to calm her, his voice steady. "Don't worry. If he was dead, I wouldn't be standing here." Sakuzy assured her, soothingly, but then stopped to think. "Well, he's not dead, but he might not be in perfect condition." he corrected, "PLUS, I want to see if Joyex is with him. He just…disappeared for a sec."

J, Scott, April, and Ryan walked forward. "As far as we know, Sora's business is our business as well." J pointed out.

"So, ya bludgers better count US in, too!" Scott said, not allowing anyone to speak

"And, on that note, I'm OFF!"

Ryan turned to the place of the meteor impact and took off at speeds to amaze the eye. Riku, Kairi, and Sakuzy followed on foot, sprinting as fast as they could. J convulsed until he had taken the form of a racehorse, then beckoned to Scott. The Aussie hopped onto the black horse's back and J took off without another word. April kept an eye on both of them as she flew like a falcon. As they departed, the Restoration Committee watched them as they almost went out of sight.

"Good luck to them." Petross said, sternly.

"They're gonna need it…" Vincent said with a nod.

Sora and the others were still trying to find out what this thing was. If it was a Crystalli, it certainly didn't look like any they had ever seen, because of the substance and color. Still, it looked like it was made from separate parts like some sort of machine, but it hadn't even moved yet.

"Sora!"

Sora quickly turned to the direction of the voice and saw Kairi in the distance, followed by Riku and Sakuzy. He waved both his arms high in the air, as though signaling an aircraft, and they immediately took notice of him.

Upon seeing his signal, Kairi ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She stumbled once or twice, but maintained her balance the rest of the way, nonetheless. When she was in range, she threw herself in his arms and held him tightly. She did NOT want to let him go. The scene at the World That Never Was came to the Keyblade Master's mind. But unlike then, he didn't hesitate in returning the hug and held her as tightly as she did to him.

When Kairi spoke, it was with tears that were a mixture of fear and joy. "Oh, Sora…thank goodness you're okay!" she sobbed.

Sora softly shushed her as he stroked her hair, trying to calm her. "Shh…It's okay, Kairi." he said, softly, "It's okay. I'm here."

When the superhumans arrived on the scene, each one had their own reaction. April sniffed as she brushed a tear from her eye and Scott pulled her close to his side in a one-armed hug. Ryan held out the camera, sorely tempted, but J slapped the youngest member's hand before snatching the camera.

"They're having a special moment." J said, fiercely, "DON'T ruin it, pest."

Ryan folded his arms as though pouting and he grumbled under his breath. "First just Ryan, then Syrus, and NOW it's just…pest. What next?"

Sakuzy had gotten over to Joyex just as the Nobody had finally caught his breath. "Joyex…"

Joyex looked up, his hands on his knees, and chuckled. "Uh…Hey, Sakuzy." he said, uneasily.

"Care to explain where you disappeared to?" Sakuzy asked.

Joyex was about to explain when he was cut off by Riku. The Prince of Darkness was looking at the meteor. "What IS this thing?" he asked.

Sakuzy saw the object in the crater and looked just as confused as Riku. "I don't really know. But I know what it could be…"

Sakuzy had no sooner said that when suddenly, the meteor began to change in the usual Crystalli way: parts shifted to make way for others to change into a new form. Eventually, a thirty-five-foot humanoid form took shape. Unlike Diamond and the other Crystalli, it looked a little more hand-carved and was armor-plated. On the side of its head was a weird pair of antennae that looked like upward pointing ears. Unlike Diamond, its digits didn't look like claws and were pretty much the same size and shape. All in all, it looked like a certain Autobot leader mixed with a crystallized alien in a watch (2) but pure white. A visor on its face retracted to show a more human-like face than Diamond or Onyx's and it had blue eyes rather than red like almost every other Crystalli.

The giant crouched down and looked Sora right in the eye. It was so close that the Keyblade Master could see the parts of it that made its own facial features move. Its face was a good bit larger than Sora with both of its eyes as large as Sora's clenched fist. It then spoke in a low, gruff, and wise voice; male, judging by its tone. "Are you Sora, the legendary Keyblade Master?" it asked.

There was a stunned silence as they took in the thing's words. "It knows your name…" Kairi said, stunned.

Sora only had one answer for this behemoth, which bore resemblance to one of the struggling giants in a Mendez painting. Slowly, he nodded, then answered the thing. "Yes."

The Crystalli nodded, then gave them all a proper introduction. "My name is Quartz." it introduced, "I am a crystalline, silicon-based organism from the Crystal Empire. But, you can call me a…"

Sakuzy then gave his usual warning of his long-hated enemies. "Crystalli!" he growled.

Sakuzy summoned his Keyblade and walked up to Quartz with pure hate on his face. Quartz seemed a bit surprised by this, especially when Sakuzy pointed his Keyblade at the Crystalli like an accusing finger. "You don't seem afraid." the giant Crystalli pointed out, "Are you not surprised to see me?" Sakuzy simply growled at Quartz's response, causing the massive being to sigh as he shook his head. "Sheath your weapon. I mean you no harm."

Sakuzy scoffed, then countered, "Please. If I had a nickel for every time I heard THAT one…"

Quartz's expression was easily identified as one of slight anger as he said, "If I meant you any harm, I would have done it already." he slowly stood, then said, "Besides, if I was trying to harm you, would I be able to hold THIS in my chest?"

Quartz pulled two pieces of his chest open and, to everyone's astonishment, in his chest was a familiar crystal heart, only it was colorless like a diamond. "A Pure Heart?!" Sora asked in surprise, "You're its guardian?"

Quartz returned his chest plates together and the Pure Heart's glow faded as his body blocked it out. "Precisely." he answered, "Only a being of purest heart can vow to protect it."

April turned to the giant, now a little more calm around him at the fact that he was one of the good guys. "Why are you here?" she asked.

Quartz opened his mouth to speak, but Joyex cut him off. "Are you here looking for the Allspark, trying to find it before Megatron? (1)" the Nobody asked.

Quartz gave Joyex a hard enough look to send the Nobody inching away, then got to business. "I am here to help destroy Diamond." he answered.

Ryan immediately responded to THAT name. "Diamond?" he asked, "That guy I saw with Onyx? What's he got to do with this?"

_Enter flashback…_

_At the prologue, the background changed to an unusual world. There were spires of crystal, but there were trees and animals amongst them as well._

"My world was once an equal balance between organic and inorganic life forms…"

_A Crystalli of sorts was sitting down, peacefully and held out a finger to a deer, which sniffed the digit. The Crystalli was obviously smiling at the peace it and the deer shared._

"Becoming peaceful and just…until we were betrayed by my own brother—Diamond."

_The deer ran away as several crystals erupted from the ground, destroying the trees and scattering birds. The jagged, seemingly-armored form of Diamond appeared from a crack in the world's surface. The Crystalli that had touched the deer started and ran away, but not fast enough. Diamond's hands fused together into the cannon and, in a burst of blue plasma, he blew the other Crystalli to pieces._

"All who defied him were destroyed and he began to develop a deep hatred for organic life. Then, he decided that all organic beings were scum that didn't deserve life and began to wipe them out one-by-one."

_Diamond ground his crystal teeth as he spotted the panicked deer trying to make a run for it. He leapt clean into the air and brought his massive foot down on the deer, crushing it like a cockroach and shattering the ground around him._

"I managed to take the Pure Heart out of Diamond's reach and escaped to the stars, searching for our only hope. While searching for it, Diamond sent several armies in an attempt to find any Pure Heart. One of his breeders landed in Destiny Waste eons ago."

_The scene changed to that of the Nesting Grounds of Destiny Waste where the meteor, no bigger than a softball, landed with a small "crash". Some dinosaurs heard the explosion, but dismissed it and continued with their business of grazing._

"Destiny Waste?" Sora asked in surprise, "But that became my home!"

"Exactly." Quartz said in approval, "It was an event that intertwined our fates."

_Millions of years later, a withering old man was sitting by the beach when something washed ashore…namely the meteor._

"Eons after it landed, a man found this meteor and became infused with it—creating the being called Chrysallis. During this time, he received a lust for power. He then conquered the islands of the future and followed Sakuzy to the past. That is, until he was erased from time itself."

_End flashback…_

Sora didn't even bother to ask how Quartz knew this. Instead, he decided to try and stack the facts he had learned thus far. "So, let me get this straight…You want to prevent Diamond from getting that Pure Heart in your chest?"

Quartz nodded, but added to Sora's sentence AND corrected it at the same time. "Or ANY Pure Heart." he filled in, "If Diamond manages to get even ONE of the Pure Hearts, he will use its power to infest its homeworld with Crystalli and create utter chaos. All organic life in that world will be exterminated to make way for inorganic beings such as myself."

Riku scratched his chin, then asked, "What do you mean 'chaos'?"

Quartz's face was very solemn now. He had been hoping to avoid this question, obviously. "There is a delicate balance in the universe that can be seen in many things." the Crystalli explained, "Fire and Water, Earth and Sky, Light and Darkness, and Organic and Inorganic. When Diamond took the Crystal Empire, he saw organic beings as imperfect and began to wipe them from the planet. However, he failed to realize that if he did this, he would destroy the very balance he sought to create."

Sakuzy seemed to think this over before turning back to Quartz. "If he succeeds and destroys all organic life, he'll destroy the whole universe? As far as I'M concerned…" Sakuzy grinned as he gave a thumbs' up, then said, "Any enemy of Diamond is a friend of mine."

Quartz's massive head nodded as he smiled and returned to his full height. "That is something I am glad to hear."

Sakuzy held out the Crystalli Radar and pressed a few buttons. "I had Blader make a few adjustments to the radar." he explained, "NOW it can see which Pure Heart is closest. Apparently, it's in a world called Midgar."

J stared at Sakuzy, his gaze able to pierce Sakuzy's soul, even behind his traditional sunglasses. "ONE problem, Sakuzy." he pointed out, "Diamond blew up our ONLY ship. Remember?!"

Quartz had obviously overheard their conversation, because he decided to butt in on the two of them. "I have traveled the cosmos. You do not think that I can do this?"

Quartz got on his hands and knees, and, after a complex transformation with shifting parts, transformed into a milky-white Gummi Ship. It was a near-exact replica of the one Sora used to take down Onyx in airspace.

J stared as he said, "Well, I've been wrong before…"

Donald and Goofy stood there, amazed at what Quartz just did. Donald's word was long and drawn out in amazement. "Wow…"

Goofy inspected the new Gummi Ship and tapped on its surface with his knuckle. He was MORE than surprised to hear Quartz's voice coming from the craft. "You're going to have to not do that."

Goofy jumped back in surprise, then asked, "Sorry, Quartz. But, uh, how didja transform into that?"

Quartz answered as though it was the simplest thing in the world. "I scanned your spacecraft before it crashed."

"I would guess…" Sora said, not quite sure how to respond, "ALL ABOARD!"

The entire group of heroes piled into Quartz's interior to see that the Crystalli had actually done a decent job when it came to inner workings. Every room was where it should have been from the kitchen to the bedrooms.

"Cool…" Sora said, taking in the ship's interior, "He even got MY room right."

Suddenly, the holographic head of Quartz appeared on the communicator. "I scanned your ship down to the last detail." he filled in, "Except the paint job. That's involuntary."

Vincent and Leon watched from a distance as the white Gummi Ship took off. "Well, it's nice to know that at least ONE Crystalli is on our side." the latter said, somewhat relieved.

Vincent didn't appear to have heard Leon, because his mind was on something else. "Sakuzy said the next world was Midgar." he said, letting his mind wander, "That's my home…as well as Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, and Blader's. If Crystalli are there, I'm gonna need their help."

Leon thought this over, but surrendered to it eventually. "Fine." he huffed, "They can go with you."

Vincent walked off, but paused after a few steps. He then addressed Leon without even looking back. "Tell Petross he's in charge until I return, Squall."

Leon scowled at Vincent's back. "That's LEON!"

Quartz

Turns out that not ALL Crystalli are bad. This is one of the good guys with a few past issues with Diamond, who is his supposed brother. This Crystalli tried to make balance of his world known as Crystal Empire and fled with the Pure Heart in his chest. He allowed Sora and co. to use his body as a free Gummi Ship. He is very wise and powerful, willing to use the help of others to free the universe of Diamond's wrath.

_(1) Diamond and Quartz are based of Megatron and Optimus Prime. And Joyex's voice is Shia LaBeouf, Sam Witwicky in the movie. Egad. A pattern…_

_(2) Optimus Prime from Transformers and Diamondhead from Ben 10._


	158. A Team Effort

Chapter 158: A Team Effort

Midgar...

_A greenish blue form of water streamed across to form the word "Midgar". The words simmered like liquid gold, then dissolved into sparkles of pure white light._

Sora and co. got out of Quartz, who took off into space. What they saw was amazing; a vast city with people bustling about and vehicles driving around the vicinity. "Wow…" Kairi said, amazed at the vast city, "Look at this place!"

As the group wandered the streets of this city, they had to admire the structure of skyscrapers and the pure vastness of the place. It was true; Kairi had never seen a city. Sure, she was at the World That Never Was, but she had been in a prison cell at the home base of Organization XIII.

"Didn't Blader say that this was his homeworld?" Sora asked, just to straighten things out.

"I think so." Riku answered.

Suddenly, an all-too-familiar voice spoke from behind them. "I'm pretty sure he did!"

Everyone, except J, jumped and wheeled around to see the all-too-familiar face of Crescent. He was standing right behind them and they didn't even notice. "CRESCENT?! How'd you get on OUR Gummi Ship without US knowing?!" Sora asked in shock.

Crescent raised a finger and looked ready to answer, but froze before "thinking". He scratched his chin, then admitted, "Y'know, that's a VERY good question…but, as far as I know, I have THREE options." He raised a finger on each option. "One: I got in through your back door again. Two: I thought it'd be a KICK to see where Yuffie came from. And three: I mistook your Gummi for the bathroom."

J would have slapped himself in the face, but simply gritted his teeth and rolled his scarlet eyes. "How stupid can you get?" he asked with a heaved sigh.

Crescent seemed offended by this and turned to J, his arms folded. "I'm not stupid! I'm CRAZY! There's a difference—how they're spelled for one thing! One is S-T-U-P-I-D, the other is C-R-A-Z-Y."

There was an exasperated sigh not too far from them that was all-too-familiar. "Just when ya think he's gone."

The whole group turned to see a team that comprised of Blader, Vincent, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid. "Guys? I thought you guys were supposed to be back in Radiant Garden." Sora said, confused.

Crescent zipped over to Yuffie and slung an arm over her shoulder. THIS got a few weird looks from Aerith and Yuffie herself. "Ah, don't mind her." Crescent said, his voice oddly silky, "She just couldn't resist my animal magnetism."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "You wish."

Yuffie sharply brought her fist right into the crazed ninja's face. He staggered sideways a bit, dazed by the impact, and allowing Yuffie to escape his touch. Even his speech sounded dazed. "Yes, I do."

Crescent then fell to the ground at Vincent's feet and Sora decided to end the subject that they were currently on immediately. "So…Why'd you come here?" he asked.

"We checked this world with an enhanced version of Sakuzy's radar." Vincent responded, "It can tell us where Crystalli are. And apparently there are not only three hosts and a small army, but also a different reading. It's not far from here…"

J remembered the tremendous Crystalli Leviathan that they had to fight at Atlantica. It was something he would rather avoid doing next time. Aerith, on the other hand, simply carried on where Vincent left off. "So, with the Crystalli at hand, we decided to come. This world is a second home to me, Yuffie, and Cid."

"We can't do this alone, so we'll split into teams to try and find some…old friends of ours." Vincent said, then got to splitting them into teams. "I'll take J, Riku, and Crescent to go to the Seventh Heaven. Aerith, you take Kairi, Donald, and Goofy and go to your old church. Blader, take Sora and go to Healin. Yuffie, you go with Ryan, Scott, and April to Cosmo Canyon. And Cid, you take Sakuzy and Joyex to try and find that ship you're always complaining about."

Cid clapped both Sakuzy and Joyex on the shoulder and grinned. "Ho, boy. Can't wait to fly her again!" he said, eagerly, "Better than the ship we used to get here, that's fer sure."

Sora didn't like the idea of splitting up from Kairi again, but if Vincent had a plan and it involved splitting them up, he did it. The dark sniper knew what he was doing without a doubt. "Alright, Vincent. Let's go, Blader." he said with a nod.

"You got it, kid." Blader turned to a two-man bike that he brought along with him and sat in the driver's chair. Sora got in the spare seat and put on a helmet he found in there.

Blader lowered his mask, then revved up the bike and took off. Aerith took Kairi, Donald, and Goofy to the outskirts of the city, not in a particular hurry, while Yuffie sprinted off toward the further parts of Midgar.

Vincent, instinctively, seized Crescent by the collar before the ninja could even take off after her. "You're coming with me, Crescent." he reminded.

Crescent snapped his fingers, then shook his head as he reluctantly followed Vincent and his group into the city's interior. Cid, Sakuzy, and Joyex followed, but they soon had to go their separate ways.

"My hangar's around this area. I just hope the Heartless didn't touch it…" Cid grumbled as he led Sakuzy and Joyex off to another part of the city, adjacent from Vincent and the rest. They had work to do…

Meanwhile, on the far borders of Midgar, Cloud went over to a Buster Blade embedded in the ground of a cliff that overlooked the city. Cloud closed his eyes. He sensed HIM here again. _I figured as much…_

Kefka had vanished a while ago, so he couldn't find out where the One-Winged Angel was, but he didn't need the clown's advice anymore. All he needed was one of his old friends and he'd get this over with. He got onto an updated version of Fenrir that Blader made after the last one exploded and rode off.

_Well, THIS world won't be over in a hurry either…_


	159. Resistance Reunion

Chapter 159: Resistance Reunion

Healin…

Blader drove Sora on his motorcycle into a semi-forest of sorts. They came to a cliff structure of sorts that had several structures built into its walls: houses of sorts. "So, who're we trying to find again?" Sora asked, his voice slightly muffled through his helmet.

Blader glanced at Sora without moving his head, then asked, "You hear of Tifa Lockhart?"

Sora thought it over, then his mind clicked. "Yeah, she was trying to find Cloud back when Radiant Garden was Hollow Bastion." Sora couldn't forget HER even if he tried. He never knew another woman who could shake a wall just by punching it.

"We're tryin' to find HER and maybe two other people…one of which I happen to hate more than Crescent." Blader informed. Sora cocked an eyebrow. Someone Blader hated MORE than Crescent? Who'd do THAT? "Well, Tifa Chan just MIGHT be in one of those buildings…"

Blader parked his bike in front of a building and stepped off. As Sora got off the spare seat, he noticed that the gas pedal was on the left side of the bike. The reason was obvious; Blader's bionic leg couldn't move at the ankle…not voluntarily, anyway.

Blader went to a building and opened the door to walk in. Sora had to summon his Keyblade to block a blow from a red-haired man in a suit. The man's hair was spiky and tied back in a ponytail, like Joyex's, only a little longer and he also had a pair of thin, purple streaks under his eyes: tattoos of some kind. Also, his suit looked…a bit untidy: his coat was unbuttoned, his shirt wasn't tucked in, his collar was pulled up, and he had a pair of goggles on his forehead, like a headband.

The thing Sora blocked was some sort of small club, like the nightstick of a policeman. The man got a good look at Sora and looked a bit crestfallen as he lowered his weapon and put it in a pocket of sorts. "Ah, you're not Cloud. You're just some kid." he groaned, disdainfully.

Sora cocked an eyebrow. This guy's voice sounded…unusually familiar, like it belonged to an old friend of his (1).

Everyone turned at the sound of approaching footsteps and another man walked in. He had on a pair of sunglasses, tanned skin, a shaved head, and a thin beard-mustache combo (not to mention a few piercings in each ear). Unlike the previous guy, his suit was a bit more tidy. The jacket was buttoned up, his shirt was tucked in underneath, he had a tie, and his collar was straight. He also wore black leather gloves.

The redhead smiled, then sheathed his club as he said, "Yeah, Rude, lookin' sharp!"

Sora looked between the two of them, then turned to Blader. "Who're these guys?" he asked.

Blader kicked his metal leg back and leaned up against the doorway. He pointed to each of them and gave out their respective names. "The sharp-lookin' guy's Rude. The NOT-so-sharp-lookin' guy's Reno. They're Turks."

"Turks?"

Blader looked at Sora and sighed. What was he thinking? The kid had never heard of Turks before. "Vincent used to be part of that group…before he died, anyway."

Sora was startled at this piece of information. "Vincent died?" he asked in a confused tone, "But what's he doing walking and talking among the living?"

Blader held up his hands to calm Sora and tried to explain as best he could. "Well, he DID, but a substance called Mako brought him back from the dead with immortality to age."

That answered ONE of Sora's questions, but raised another lightning-fast. "How old IS Vincent, anyway?"

Reno decided to answer that question just as Blader held up a finger and opened his mouth. "He's been twenty-seven for the last thirty years." he said, cutting off Blader. Reno turned and saw Blader, after the brains of the Restoration Committee rolled his eyes. A smile crossed the redhead's face as he pointed at him, trying to remember. "Hey, I know you…Didn't I used to beat you up for your lunch money?"

Blader stiffened up, then shot off the doorway and answered through gritted teeth. "Yes…"

Reno now seemed to remember who this was. "Oh, right…You're Blader." he said, a cocky grin crossing his face, "As well as taking your lunch money, I also seem to remember jamming your head in the toilet and tying you to the flagpole."

Blader was flabbergasted and pointed an accusing finger at Reno, all the while wearing an expression of PURE dislike. "Wait, that was YOU?!" he asked, very disgruntled.

Reno also seemed ticked at Blader. "I was the bully, you were the nerd." he pointed out, "That's the way things work at schools."

Blader scoffed. "Yeah right." he said, sarcastically, "For your information, I've gotten a little more pumped since our last meeting."

"Geek!"

"Slob!"

Both Reno and Blader turned on their heels and refused to look at each other, like friends giving each other the cold shoulder. Rude and Sora sighed; both of them were making fools of themselves.

"Old school rivalries never end, do they?" Rude asked. His voice was unusually strict and gruff.

There was another knock at a side door that caught Rude's attention. No one answered it for a while, so the knocking happened again. Then the knocking got so annoying that Reno spoke up again. "Rude, go get it."

Rude sighed, then walked over to the door on the other side of the building. Suddenly, something struck Sora: something that Reno had said earlier. "Wait, how do you know Cloud?" he asked.

Reno turned to Sora, then screwed up his face to try and explain. "Ooh, how to put this?" he asked, then continued. "We're…acquaintances, shall we say?"

Blader shook his head in disbelief. "Last I checked, the Turks and Cloud the Barbarian got off on the wrong foot. But that doesn't explain why you were wanting to mug 'im."

Reno stifled a laugh, then answered, "Ah, it's in our nature to test Cloud. Y'know, make sure he isn't getting rusty."

Blader was about to speak up when they heard something from Rude on the farther side of the building. From his tone, it obviously wasn't what they were expecting. "Hey, what're you…"

There was a loud impact and Rude flew clear to the other side of the room. He landed on his back and actually skidded across the floor like a skipping stone before smashing, headfirst, into the wall. Reno looked at his partner, who was now massaging his face, then sighed and said his next sentence without even turning to see who it was. "Hey, Tifa."

Sora and Blader turned as Tifa entered the room. It was Tifa alright, Sora knew those black tights anywhere. Rude staggered up, groaning in both pain and some embarrassment, whereas Tifa smiled as she saw Sora and Blader and went to greet them. "Hey, I remember you. You're that kid at Ansem's lab." she said, then asked, "How about a proper introduction?"

Tifa held out her gloved hand and Sora took it. Her grip was firm, despite her look. "Tifa Lockheart."

"I'm Sora. And this is…"

Apparently, Sora didn't need to introduce Blader, because Tifa went and shook his hand, too. "Hey, Blader. It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Blader was pretty glad to see Tifa again. And it was then that Sora realized that Tifa was a good six inches taller than the shield-wielder. "Yeah. So, uh, how're things goin', Tifa Chan?"

Tifa was, apparently, used to Blader's nicknames, seeing as she answered in a tone that didn't have any form of offense in it. "Can't complain." she said with a shrug.

Reno rolled his eyes and decided to explain to Sora. "They go way back. While I stole Blader's lunch money, she usually got it back." Reno massaged his jaw to kind of emphasize the point, then asked the one question they were hoping for. "So, what'd you come crawlin' to us for?"

Meanwhile…

The Seventh Heaven…

Vincent, J, Riku, and Crescent were strolling through Midgar until Vincent led them to a building that was labeled "The Seventh Heaven".

"This should be it…" Vincent said, stepping over the threshold.

Vincent led them through the door as a small bell announced their arrival. The Seventh Heaven, it turned out, was a bar with EXACTLY the right atmosphere. It was dark, dank, and had an odd feeling to it, like someone had been here recently and smoked a few cigars.

"So, who is this friend of yours?" Riku asked, out of simple curiosity.

"The original leader of a group called AVALANCHE." Vincent answered, "They're disbanded now, but I believe who we're looking for could give us a hand with the Crystalli."

The walked to the bar table and Crescent both did and said something completely stupid. He rubbed his finger down the table and inspected it. "Boy, THIS place sure needs some dusting."

Crescent had no sooner said that when J elbowed him in the stomach and backhanded him for emphasis, sending the ninja with a mouth to the ground. "Moron…" the shapeshifter grumbled.

Telltale footfalls signaled that someone was coming down the stairs. Vincent didn't show ANY form of emotion when this person came down, save two words. "Hey, Barrett."

The group turned to the stairway to see the person that Vincent called "Barrett". Barrett was a large man who had dark skin, like Petross, only he had a thin layer of hair and a thin mustache-beard combo. He wore a silver, sleeveless jacket with a mesh shirt underneath, and military cargo pants. In place of his right hand was a bulky-looking mechanical hand. He clearly looked cheered to see Vincent though.

"Hey, Vincent!" Barrett's voice was deep, gruff, but somewhat likeable at the same time. "I ain't seen you since who-knows-when. So what's happenin'?"

"Not much."

Barrett noticed the others and a smile crossed his face. "Well, I don't remember those guys. Care for a little who's-who?"

Riku shook Barrett's metal hand, the large man's grip as hard as the metal it was made of. "I'm Riku."

Barrett made to shake J's hand, but after J spoke, he decided not to. "Call me J." the anti-hero greeted, darkly, "And I don't shake."

Apparently, there was no introduction needed between Crescent and Barrett. "Hey, uh, Barrett?" the ninja asked, grabbing his attention, "What happened to your COOL gun arm?"

Barrett held up his metal hand and grinned, showing a toothy smile. "I traded it out…" he answered, "For something BETTER!" Barrett's metal hand shifted parts, eerily similar to some Crystalli, until it formed a high-tech gun. It had a plasma cannon of sorts in the middle, but four other machine gun barrels surrounded it. "I'd show ya what it can do, but Tifa would have one heck of a fit if I destroyed her bar." he explained.

Crescent looked at the gun, eyes wide like a child approached with a cool toy. "COOL! How can I get one of those?" he asked in awe.

Barrett's gun transformed back into a hand and he gave Crescent a bit of a scolding look. "You'd have to get a hand chopped off for one thing." Barrett gestured to his metal hand for emphasis.

Crescent paused, then shook his head as he said, "Tempting...but I think I'll pass. I like my hands the way they are."

Vincent looked around, noticing the place was a bit…empty. "Isn't there a girl living here?" he asked.

Upon hearing THAT sentence, Barrett's expression went dead-serious. "You mean Marlene? I don't know where she got to." he answered, "Tifa said she had business to attend to, so she left me in charge of the bar. This morning, Marlene was gone." Barrett eyed Vincent, warily, then asked, "That's not the reason you came by, is it?"

A Church on the outskirts…

Aerith pushed open the doors to a massive church. It was your average, ancient church with large, wooden pews and decorative pillars, but there was also a nice flowerbed right in the middle of it. Donald and Goofy took in the building's appearance. "I kinda like this place…" the duck mage said, intrigued.

Kairi admitted that the place did have a certain charm to it. It was like the feeling she got when she was at Kauai. "Me too." she agreed.

Aerith turned to them and explained, "This is where I first met Cloud."

"Really?" Goofy asked.

Aerith nodded, her warm smile on her face. "It's actually kind of funny." she said, stifling a laugh, "He just…fell from nowhere and landed on THAT flowerbed." Aerith pointed over the flowerbed and it was enough to earn a snicker from Donald and Goofy.

Kairi suddenly heard the pitter-patter of little feet. She turned to the source and summoned Flowering Strength as a precaution. The noise had stopped, so she called out to whatever made the noise. "Who's there?"

Aerith turned and Kairi pointed to the spot with her Keyblade. Aerith eyed the spot, then spoke in a quiet, somewhat-suspicious tone, "I think it could be someone we're looking for…"

The noise sounded again and Kairi slowly stalked toward the place it came from: not too far from one of the pews. She jabbed her Keyblade down behind a pew and prodded something…or someone. "OUCH!" it said, sharply.

Kairi reached down and grabbed the thing that spoke...it was strangely furry. The voice spoke again with a Scottish accent and sounded very frightened. "AAH! Please don't hurt me!" it begged.

Kairi pulled back her hand to reveal that she had grabbed a kitty of sorts by the scruff of its neck. It wasn't even a meter high and was black and white with a gold crown and scarlet cape. It also wore a pair of cute, brown boots and its eyes were closed in the cute, Japanese style. Aerith knew the thing, because she went over to it and addressed it, happily.

"Cait Sith!"

The cat-thing, or Cait Sith as Aerith called it, turned to her and seemed to stare in surprise. Its eyes remained closed, though, yet it could obviously see her. "Aerith!" it said, cheerfully, its hands clasped in joy, "Oh, I'm so glad to see ya back, lassie!" Cait Sith turned back to Kairi, who was still holding him by the back of his neck. "And who are you, fair lass?" it asked.

"I'm Kairi and these are Donald and Goofy." she answered, still keeping a firm hold on Cait Sith.

"And could you PLEASE cut the Scottish talk?" Donald asked, grouchily.

Cait Sith put his gloved hands on his furry hips as he said, "Not in this lifetime. Wish I could, but I can't. It's me instinct, lad."

Kairi turned to Aerith, positioning Cait Sith into a more comfortable position. When she did, her arms were wrapped around Cait Sith's middle with the kitty's arms resting on her own. "Who is this guy?" she asked, her face unable to hold back a smile.

Aerith went over to Cait Sith and scratched him behind one of his big, pointy ears. Cait Sith seemed to enjoy it, for he groaned in pleasure. "He's a robotic cat." she answered, "He's operated by an old friend of ours, but he doesn't come into the battlefield much, so he sends Cait here."

Aerith stopped scratching Cait Sith, who lowered his head in a gloomy sort of way. "I used to have a giant Moogle, but someone's gone and lost it." he answered, sadly.

Kairi then had to ask one question to the cat. "Do you want me to put you down now?"

Cait Sith looked up at her, then shook his head. "Nah." he answered, "I rather enjoy being cuddled, lass. I am a cat after all…" Cait Sith turned to Aerith, then asked, "Riddle me this, Aerith, why are ya here?"

Cosmo Canyon…

Ryan was zipping around the canyon, closely followed by Scott, April, and Yuffie. "Ryan, slow down!" Yuffie called over to him, "Not all of us can move at your speed, y'know!"

Ryan eventually screeched to a halt, then folded his arms and grumbled something. Possibly "I can't have fun", but no one really heard him…

Scott was observing the canyon walls. It sort of reminded him of a place he saw back at a world called Mugwomp…Ayer's Rock, he believed. "Crikey, these walls are impressive." he said, meaning what he said, "How old ARE these beauts?"

Yuffie shrugged, maintaining her youthful smile. "No one really knows. Pretty old, I'm guessin'."

April was hovering (literally) and looking a bit confused. "So, Yuffie, who is this person we're looking for again?"

Yuffie scratched her head and looked a bit nervous as she glanced to the side. "Uh...'Person' probably wouldn't be the best word for the guy we're looking for…" As she explained, Ryan was too curious about what she'd say to notice something watching him from around the corner. It was stalking so quietly that no one but Yuffie seemed to notice it. "And you'll be finding out right about...NOW!" she said, suddenly.

There was suddenly a roar and Ryan screamed as something large pounced on him. Whatever it was, it was about the size of a lion and fiery red. A scar crossed over its right eye and it had cuffs on its wrists and ankles. It had a tribal-looking headdress and wild hair on its head. The tip of its tail appeared to be on fire and it had a sharp-looking, black tattoo on its shoulder that looked like XIII.

Ryan was completely petrified as the beast glowered down at him. "PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!" he begged, "I...I DON'T TASTE GOOD!"

The thing cocked its head in curiosity as it stared at Ryan with its eye that wasn't scarred. Suddenly, it spoke in a young, yet wise voice…like a young adult. "Now, why would I eat you?" it asked.

The thing simply removed himself from Ryan, but Scott, Ryan, and April, who had never seen the creature before, looked pretty shocked at this. "Alright, was I the ONLY one who heard that?" Scott asked, dumbstruck.

"YOU TALK?!" Ryan asked, going bug-eyed, "BUT…ANIMALS DON'T TALK!"

The creature replied to their surprise with sheer calm. "I am no animal you know of. And we animals DO talk, but not often in your tongue."

"Hey, Red XIII!" The thing, Red XIII, turned to see Yuffie, then walked away from the three. The catlike creature had a warm smile on his face, but a curious one, too.

"Yuffie. It's nice to see you in these parts... But on what errand do you come to Cosmo Canyon?" he asked.

Cid's Hangar…

Meanwhile, in another part of Midgar, Cid opened the door to a hangar. It certainly wasn't the cleanest place with several items scattered across the floor. On the far right of the room was a pair of huge, metal gates. "A'ight, I just need the keys and we'll be outta here." Cid said, clapping some dust free from his hands.

Sakuzy looked around, then asked, "Well, where are they?"

Cid gestured to a metal door behind him and answered, "Somewhere in the closet."

Sakuzy darted to a closet and flung its doors open. It was certainly a mess and he began throwing things out as he said their respectful names. "Let's see…lawn gnome, Yu-Gi-Oh DVD, mailbox, punctured football, joy buzzer, five-year-old tickets to a Rascal Flatts concert, unloaded missile launcher, melted ice sculpture, Award for Being the Worst Influence on Children, Naruto T-shirt…are these the keys?"

Sakuzy held out a pair of what looked like car keys and Cid snatched them before he could even say another word. "Yup, these are them." the grouchy pilot said, then turned over to the metal gates and said, "Joyex, clean up this mess."

Joyex turned to the pile of unusable trash and said only ONE word. He wasn't asking it to anyone, he was asking himself… "Why?"

Joyex summoned his Keyblade, tied it around the various things and heaved them into the closet, where most of them broke. Cid didn't notice as he pressed a button on what looked like a car alarm. The gates slowly opened and something HUGE came into view. Sakuzy and Joyex's eyes widened beyond their normal limit.

"Cool…"

Meanwhile, in yet another part of the world (last time I say that in this chapter, I swear), Amethyst, Topaz, and Pearl were watching the city. "So, THIS is the world Diamond wanted the Pure Heart of?" Topaz asked, gently stroking his thin beard.

"Not to mention that so-called Lifestream." Amethyst pointed out with a mirthless grin, "I'd enjoy a chance to study it…"

Topaz rolled his single, yellow eye at Amethyst's still-strong want to learn new things. Then his eye went to Pearl, who wasn't really listening to either of them, but staring into space with a glazed look in the eye. "You've been awful quiet since you got back, Pearl." the yellow-clad Crystalli pointed out.

Pearl snapped back to reality on that statement, then shook her head. Topaz's expression hardened as he rounded on her as he asked, showing no form of compassion whatsoever, "Oh, is the little girl sad because of what she did?"

Pearl was now so angered by this that she was tempted to actually fight Topaz. However, she knew that was the wrong idea, seeing as Topaz was easily twice as heavy and twice as strong as she was. Topaz seemed to not notice her expression and continued. "Even if you stayed, they would hate you because they defended you and lost Sora because of it. (2)" Topaz took a step back, then clasped his hands behind his back. "Accept it. The Crystalli are all you have left."

Pearl turned away from Topaz and muttered, "Leave me alone."

Amethyst smirked at his so-called "sister's" pain. "Don't cry, Pearl." he taunted.

Pearl suddenly brought her fist into Amethyst's face and sent the purple-clad Crystalli tumbling to the ground. While Amethyst was on the ground, Pearl kicked him in the ribs, causing him to double over. She almost did it a second time, but a shocking pain ran through her head and she was yanked backward.

Topaz had seized Pearl by her silver hair and pulled her back away from Amethyst. He lifted Pearl into the air, maximizing the pain in her scalp, and brought her to his face, a single, yellow eye meeting dull gray ones. His voice was quiet, but VERY serious so that she could barely look him in the eye. "You are a bold one, but should you pull a stunt like that again, I will make sure you wish you'd never been born."

To make sure that Pearl had gotten the message, Topaz threw her to the ground where she went skidding. Amethyst wiped purple blood from his mouth and grinned maliciously at her. "As long as you have Crystalli in your blood, you will do as Lord Diamond says. Am I clear?"

Pearl could only scowl at him, then nod slowly. Topaz looked over at the city of Midgar, then nodded in determination as he ordered, "We have work to do. Move out."

Reno

A member of a group of people called Turks and an acquaintance of Cloud's, though they never got off on the right foot. He is cocky, a bit of a slob, and somewhat short-tempered. He also claims to have bullied Blader in High School, often being caught by Tifa. He first appeared in _Final Fantasy VII_ 1997

Rude

A member of a group of people called Turks and a teammate of Reno. Unlike Reno, Rude is a bit more serious and dutiful than his colleague and a bit more…sharp, shall we say. He first appeared in _Final Fantasy VII _1997

Barrett

The leader of the now-disbanded AVALANCHE group that went against the Turks and a man called Rufus Shinra. Barrett lost a hand in battle and replaced it with a high-tech machine gun. He is a brave warrior, but can be a nice guy when he wants to. He claims that his daughter, Marlene, has gone missing. He first appeared in _Final Fantasy VII _1997

Cait Sith

A robotic cat made by someone named Reeve Tuesti, yet seems to have a mind of his own. Cait Sith is a little eccentric, talking with a strong, Scottish accent. He's also very used to being cuddled. He first appeared in _Final Fantasy VII _1997

(1) In Advent Children and Before Crisis, Reno is voiced by Quinton Flynn. A.K.A Axel in Kingdom Hearts II.

(2) They don't know that Sora's alive, therefore, they're not looking for him. This could be both a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.


	160. Gathering of Warriors

Chapter 160: Gathering of Warriors

Cosmo Canyon…

Red XIII's expression was stern, yet calm as he turned to the city after Yuffie explained. "So that's what's going on...We need to get back to Midgar." the fiery cat-creature said, solemnly, then turned and gestured to them. "Follow me. I know a shortcut."

Red XIII then took off at tremendous speeds, comparable to a cheetah. Ryan looked pretty ticked by this as he said, "NO ONE beats Ryan Syrus in a track run!" Ryan, being the competitive boy he was, took off after Red XIII at his usual speeds. He quickly caught up with Red and pointed out, "I'll admit you're pretty fast for a kitty-cat." Red XIII gave him a casual glance to show him that he was listening, but no more than that. "But, when it comes to the track, I'm king o' the jungle!" the boy boasted.

Red XIII then noticed something that Ryan was pretty much oblivious to. "Mr. Syrus, you may want to watch where you're going..." he warned.

Ryan didn't heed Red's warning, instead asking, "Why?"

Ryan's question was answered when he ran, headlong, into a large canyon wall. Red XIII, in quite a stunning performance, jumped clean over Ryan and commented at the same time. "That's why."

Ryan fell flat onto his back with a very dazed look on his face. Scott heaved up Ryan onto his feet as Yuffie zipped past with ninja-like speed, followed by April in the air, then proceeded to brush him clean. "Watch where yer goin', little mate."

Ryan grouchily said, "Sure, and I'm guessing it never happened to YOU!"

Scott grinned at his little, hyperactive friend. "Well, yer right. It NEVER 'appened to me."

Scott darted after his colleagues, then proceeded clambered up the walls like monkey, but he wasn't scaling them—just finding the right footholds. Ryan grumbled as he tried climbing, failed, fell down five feet, growled and cursed at the top of his lungs, then simply decided to fly up. Red XIII simply looked at him and shook his spiky-furred head. "Amateur."

The catlike beast jumped past the crags until he reached a high cliff that looked upon the city. Yuffie and the others weren't too far behind and were quick to catch up. April stared out at the city and she was amazed at the sight. "Wow. Never got to see the city like this." she said to herself.

Red XIII nodded, then jumped down the cliff, landing agilely on a rock that jutted out from the side. Yuffie wasn't too far behind, almost matching him in agility. Ryan and April took a different approach, however, flying downward with April carrying Scott. When they reached the ground, everyone headed for the outskirts of Midgar's main city. They ran until they reached the church, but Red stopped early on, causing everyone to nearly trip over him. Red XIII motioned with his head and everyone followed the beckon. There, entering the church, were some Crystalli Fossils.

"They're here…" Yuffie said, disdainfully, at the sight of the creatures.

There was a scream in the church, soon followed by sounds of a scuffle. THAT seemed to be the limit, because Red XIII charged for the doors. When they crossed the threshold, they saw Aerith and Kairi battling the Fossils. Kairi was swinging wildly at a pair of Fossils with her Keyblade while Aerith was thwarting them with swift swings of her staff. A Fossil had locked its jaws onto her staff and was trying to jerk it out of her hands, yet she refused to move from that spot.

Everyone ducked when a Fossil flew through the air and landed on the ground outside them with a CRASH. As they looked to see what had thrown it, they were QUITE surprised to see Cait Sith dusting off his hands. However, he looked overjoyed to see Red XIII and Yuffie. "Red XIII! Yuffie! Oh, am I glad to see YOU at this time!" he said with relief.

There was another snarl as the Fossils began to close in on both Aerith and Kairi. Without any warning, Cait Sith hopped onto Red XIII's back, earning him an odd look from Yuffie. "What happened to your Moogle?"

Cait Sith could only shrug as he answered, "I don't really know. It just…disappeared."

"We can discuss this matter later." Red XIII pointed out, "Right now, we have work to do."

Red XIII ran off so suddenly that Cait Sith was almost thrown off if he didn't grab the beast's tail. Cait Sith got back on Red XIII's back and steadied himself on him. "I miss my Moogle already…"

As XIII and Cait Sith went off into battle, Ryan scoffed and began charging up a sun blast. "NOW, watch the little guy bowl a big one!" he said in a mock-announcer kind of voice, then tossed the sun ball, which was the size of your average bowling ball, at a Fossil and sent the dinosaurian Crystalli directly into a pillar.

The solar energy destroyed the Fossil, but alerted the others to their presence. The Fossils took quick notice of the intruders and roared at them, their teeth bared. Scott's voice rang with sarcasm when he spoke. "Way to go, mate…"

The Fossils charged, but luckily, there were only about five or six now. If there were a few more, then it'd be trouble. Scott stopped in front of one as they began to circle each other, then the Fossil pounced like a raptor, its feet facing forward and its arms outstretched. Amazingly, Scott caught it out of the air and the two wrestled around on the ground. The Fossil snapped at Scott with its powerful jaws, narrowly missing his head and raked him with its long claws. That is, until Scott stuck a bony wrist-spike up under its arm. The creature shrieked in pain and Scott kicked it off, then stuck the spike in its face, killing it instantly.

April flew up to the tallest point of the church and a Fossil, amazingly, leapt from pillar to pillar to try and catch her. The Fossil used its strong claws to latch onto the rock, then, when April couldn't fly any further, the Fossil jumped, its teeth at the ready. However, she pulled her leg up and the jaws snapped onto thin air. The Fossil, having gone WAY too far up, lost its balance and fell to its death.

However, it turned out that ANOTHER Fossil had the same idea and this one wouldn't miss her. April screamed as it jumped, but death never came. Yuffie's huge shuriken spun through the air and decapitated the oncoming creature. However, just as the Shuriken made its return trip, yet ANOTHER Fossil was on its way toward her. It jumped, but Red XIII pounced at it and they collided in the air. When they landed on the floor, Cait Sith rolled off Red's back and the cat-creature and dinosaurian continued to fight like savage tigers with tooth and nail. They continued to fight with primal fury until Kairi brought her flowery Keyblade down on the Fossil's head.

Red XIII got up and shook the cobwebs from his head. Then he looked up at Aerith, a look of pleasure on his face. "Aerith. It has been a while, hasn't it?" he asked.

Aerith nodded as she answered, "Yes, it has, Nanaki."

Ryan looked confused at this as he looked around for another person. "Who's Nanaki?" he asked.

Aerith pointed at the beast before her as she answered, "Red XIII. It's his REAL name."

Scott glanced between the woman and cat thing, then asked, "Have you two met before?"

Red XIII nodded. "Yes, but it was, uh, not the most agreeable circumstance." he said, uneasily.

Kairi came out with Donald, Goofy, and Cait Sith, who hopped out to go to Scott. "Aye, it wasn't." the cat answered, shaking his head, "They were tryin' to crossbreed 'em." There was a stunned silence and the robotic cat continued, wanting to change the subject. "Well, who're you fine lot?" he asked.

"Scott Highflier. Anatomy changin' super 'uman at yer service." the Aussie answered, "The girl's April Goodeve and the hyper freak's Ryan Syrus."

Ryan wasn't listening to ANY of this, seeing as he was talking to Red XIII. "So, what EXACTLY are you?" he asked.

Red XIII thought for a while before answering. "An informed question, but difficult to answer. I am what you see."

Ryan, obviously, wasn't happy with this answer and his voice rang with sarcasm as he said, "Thanks for clearing THAT up."

"You're welcome." Red XIII responded.

Ryan simply stared at Red and said, "Sarcasm, XIII. Sarcasm."

Red XIII growled at this and Ryan dashed away, not exactly wanting to get too close. Scott turned to Aerith and Yuffie. "Well, Sheilas, we've gotten these members, what now?"

There was a small blare across the room and Yuffie picked up a com-link and listened. After a while, she deactivated it and said, "It's Vincent. He wants us to head to Midgar. He's already told Blader and Cid, so, let's get goin'!"

Before Yuffie could even cross the threshold, another voice called out to them. It was the voice of a young girl. "Aerith?"

Aerith turned to the source of the voice to see a girl peeking out from a pillar. The girl was wearing a white, sleeveless dress and had brown hair tied into a braid with a ribbon in it. She sort of looked like a miniature Aerith.

"Marlene!" Aerith got down on one knee and the girl ran over and hugged her in a tight embrace. It was odd, because no one had noticed her until all the Crystalli were destroyed.

Kairi slowly walked over behind Aerith and put on a kind smile. "Hello." she greeted. Marlene opened her eyes and looked at Kairi upon being addressed to see her holding out a welcoming hand. Marlene took it and they shook. "I'm Kairi." she said, kindly.

Marlene parted from Aerith and smiled up at Kairi. "I'm Marlene Wallace."

Red XIII walked over to Marlene with Cait Sith still on his back. Oddly enough, the little girl wasn't afraid of the catlike creature, whereas any other probably would have been petrified. "Why were you hiding?" he asked, "And where's your father?"

Marlene parted from Kairi and answered, "I came here to pick a few flowers, but then those monsters came and tried to eat me. I've been hiding here for days and they didn't find me."

"Well, yer father's probably back at the city, but I'd bet my inner mechanics that those beasts are there, too." Cait Sith said, fingering his furry chin...if he had one.

Aerith nodded as Red XIII lowered himself closer to the ground. Marlene climbed onto his back like she would a small horse and positioned herself just behind Cait Sith.

"If we're all ready, then let's go!" Aerith said with a nod. At that exact moment, Red XIII took off like a rocket with Cait Sith and Marlene on his back.

Sora returned to the square of Midgar. Earlier, Blader had gotten a message from Vincent saying that they should meet near a monument of some kind. Of course, it wasn't exactly hard to miss, seeing as it was something giant that resembled a meteor. Blader and Reno mainly avoided eye contact, but it didn't really bother Sora, Rude, and Tifa.

"What is that thing?" Sora asked, referring to the monument.

Reno answered, "A monument to the sacrifices, victories, and every other form of sappiness that took place during a certain battle."

Tifa, on seeing Sora's confused look, filled in for him. "A battle involving Sephiroth."

Sora shuddered. He had fought Sephiroth before…and he barely made it out, thanks to Cloud. He didn't really want to repeat the experience.

"Great! I always hated that silver-haired harbinger of death." Everyone whirled around in surprised to see a certain psychotic ninja behind them.

Sora groaned, then asked, "Is THIS going to be a regular thing with you?!"

Crescent blinked a few times, then answered simply, "Yes. Why?" Crescent then turned his attention to the new group and put on a mischievous look as he asked, "Reno, old buddy, where have YOU been hiding all these years?"

Reno rolled his eyes, fingering his weapon. It took every ounce of willpower to keep him from smacking the ninja across the face. "Some place FAR, FAR away from you." he answered.

Rude simply stared at this weirdo with one eyebrow raised and flexed his right hand. "Who's this idiot?" he asked.

Crescent made to introduce himself, but was interrupted by Sora. "Wait...If you're here, where's the rest of your group?"

Crescent rubbed his chin with his finger. "Hmm…I believe they're still at the Seventh Heaven."

Blader was CLEARLY outraged, judging by the way he said, "WHAT?! You ditched 'em?!"

Crescent shrugged, thinking the answer was obvious. "Ah, the bar was getting boring anyway. So I figured 'why not check out the lay of the land?'"

Blader beckoned to Tifa in a manner that seemed to say "sock it to 'im". Tifa, on the other hand, took a different approach. "Hey, Crescent." she gently greeted.

Crescent suddenly seemed to act like a normal person around her. He stopped his insane rambling and seemed to be in actual conversation with Tifa. "Oh, hey, Tifa." he greeted back with a wave.

"Things going well for you?" she asked, earning an awestruck look from Blader.

"Ah, things are doing just dandy." Crescent cupped one hand over his mouth and pointed at Blader, then warned, "Careful with this guy. He's a bit of a loony."

Blader could not BELIEVE what he had just seen and looked hotter than a steamed dumpling. "WHAT THE HECK?!"

Unbeknownst to the Key-wielder, a certain One-Winged Angel was observing them from a far-off building. Sephiroth scoffed. They were no threat to him and not worth his time. Then he turned his attention to another part of the city and noticed the three hosts trying to blend into the crowd. "So these are the Crystalli?" he asked, curiously, "Maybe I should have some fun with them…"

Sephiroth's single wing wrapped around him and he vanished in a flash of light and a burst of black feathers. Like all competition, it had to be eliminated before it got too serious.

Crystalli Homeworld...

In the all-too-familiar palace of Diamond, the Lord of all Crystalli strummed his blade-like fingers on a hunk of crystal easily almost half as tall as he was. He sensed a presence and turned to meet Sapphire marching towards him like a formal soldier.

"Lord Diamond," Sapphire said, "Amethyst, Topaz, and Pearl have made contact at Midgar. Shall we commence with the operation?"

Diamond's smile widened astonishingly as his red eyes showed obvious pleasure. "Send it in." he answered.

Outside, the leader of the Crystalli had no sooner said that when a large, crystal meteor tore itself free from the surface and rocketed out into space. It turned its angle and was soon headed for the world known as Midgar.

Marlene

A kind, little girl whose parents were killed during the reign of Shin-Ra and the wrath of Sephiroth. She was adopted by a Barrett and now lives at the Seventh Heaven with him and Tifa. She also lives with a boy named Denzel, but he doesn't appear to be around. She first appeared in _Final Fantasy VII _1997.


	161. Those Who Fight

Chapter 161: Those Who Fight

As Sora looked around the city, his eyes fell on a certain pink-robed Crystalli. Sora tapped Blader on the shoulder and pointed her out as he said, "Hey, Blader, look!"

The computer geek got a good look at her and fingered the shield on his back. He had good reason: Topaz and Amethyst were with her as well. "Oh, when I get her, I'm gonna give ol' Clam Gal a piece o' my mind!" Blader muttered, grudgingly. He almost walked forward when Sora seized him around the shoulder.

"You can't just kill her!" he said, defensively.

Blader seemed to disagree with Sora's statement as he countered, "Oh, I can if I try hard enough!"

Sora now looked Blader full in the eye with enough ferocity to actually surprise him. "LOOK! She may have run off on us, but Sakuzy LOVES her! If there's any way to save her, I'll take it, because both NEED OUR HELP! UNDERSTAND?!"

Everyone from Tifa to Crescent stared at Sora at his sudden outburst of sensitivity. Blader instantly saluted to Sora, though the name he said made it sound exaggerated. "Yes, Sergeant Spike!" Sora gave Blader a flat stare as Blader removed his salute. "Bit much?" the shield-bearer asked.

"Bit much." Tifa answered.

"Bite, munch!" Crescent said this because he was eating some cookies.

Reno, on seeing what Crescent was doing, rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Great. We're gonna go into battle and HE'S havin' a snack."

Crescent zipped over to Reno. "TWO things. ONE: We were out of ice cream. And TWO: I always eat sugary snacks before a certain life-and-death struggle."

Reno growled slightly, but passed off Crescent's stupid remark and followed Sora's actions. They had work to do.

Pearl simply followed Topaz and Amethyst without paying any mind to her surroundings when she heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching from behind them. She turned to see Sora, Blader, and three other people with them. Suddenly, a warm wave of relief went through her body as a pleasant thought went through her mind. _Sora's alive! Sakuzy DIDN'T fade! HE'S alive, too!_

Amethyst turned to see what Pearl was pausing for, causing Topaz to look in the same direction. The very sight of the Keyblade Master still alive was enough to make Topaz emit a very beastly growl.

"You again?!" Amethyst asked through clenched teeth.

"How many times does Lord Diamond have to kill you?!" Topaz asked furiously.

"Apparently one less than he needed to..." another voice responded.

It was at that moment that the three Crystalli noticed that the Keyblader had brought a few friends. Reno patted his weapon on his shoulder while Rude and Tifa simply glowered at them. If this was supposed to impress the Crystalli Hosts, it didn't show. Instead, Topaz chuckled as a cruel smile spread over his face. "Well, will you look at that…they TALK!" he said with mock amusement, "How about we see what else they can do? Yes…"

Reno and Rude scowled at them, then turned to Sora and Blader. "Go on and get the girl." Reno ordered, "We'll take care of these clowns."

At that moment, Reno began to pat his weapon onto the palm of his hand rather than his shoulder. Both Rude and Tifa popped their knuckles as they slowly advanced on the Crystalli Hosts. Amethyst's fists clenched, then he turned to Pearl with a stern look on his face. "How 'bout you get outta here? You don't want to end up captured again, do you?"

Pearl paused, then emitted words that betrayed her thoughts. "You're right, but it seems unfair that I'll be left out. So, I'll leave them something to play with…"

Pearl snapped her fingers and the all-too-familiar sound of several Rollers rang through the air. As they straightened to their spidery feet, Sora sped right past them, aiming to get at Pearl. Pearl saw this coming and quickly made her escape.

Meanwhile, Reno, Rude, and Tifa had confronted the remaining two Crystalli Hosts, though the crystal-infected warriors didn't seem too worried. They hadn't summoned their weapons, probably because they felt that they were no threat to them.

"Now, three against two hardly seems fair." Amethyst asked, "How about if I even the score a little?"

Amethyst snapped his fingers and three Crystalli Neo Soldiers sprang to life in front of Tifa, their staffs crackling with electricity. Tifa was mildly surprised, but beckoned for the Neo Soldiers to come for her. They did without any form of hesitation.

The lead Neo Soldier took a swing at Tifa with its staff and the martial-artist ducked under it. However, the staff had come so close to hitting her that she could feel the heat of its sparks. She then brought her fist right into the point of the Neo Soldier's chin, jerking its head upward. If that had been an ordinary human, the Neo Soldier would have broken its neck. But the Neo Soldier was FAR from human as it simply regained is composure and sparked her on the shoulder. Her fingertips sparked as she shook the jolt out of her arm and she had a bruise on her shoulder, but it didn't slow her down one bit.

The Neo Soldier took another swing, this time, aiming for Tifa's head, but she ducked under it again. As the Neo Soldier brought the other end of its staff to try and meet her, she moved back, then seized the staff in its middle. As the two struggled around with the weapon, Tifa suddenly brought her foot into the Crystalli's chest, putting a sizeable hole in it. As it fell to the ground like a man that had been shot, Tifa took the staff and smacked it across the "face" with it, sending it crashing on its side. One down, two to go…

Meanwhile, at the Roller barricade, Blader had taken quick notice of Sora chasing after Pearl on his own. "Hang on, kid. I'm comin'…" Blader was about to race after him, past the Rollers, when a burst of fire flew virtually from nowhere and burned the ground right where Blader was about to put his foot. "HEY!"

Blader looked to where the fire had come from and his hazel eyes widened in fright. There, just a few meters away from him was the One-Winged Angel: Sephiroth. Said angel took one look at the Crystalli and frowned. "Disgusting creatures…"

Sephiroth took his twelve-foot blade and moved it three times as the Rollers took notice of him and aimed their cannons at him. With just three movements, one Roller's upper body fell to the ground, another fell into two equal halves as its left and right sides fell to the ground, and the last one was impaled on Sephiroth's Masamune.

Blader looked at the Crystalli, then at Sephiroth, who was eyeing him with what could only be described as murder. "Oh no…"

Sephiroth took a swing at Blader from a good distance away, but the shield-bearer barely ducked under the swing, feeling the wind of its movement. Blader jumped into the air, dodging ANOTHER swing from the blade, and whipped out his shield in midair. He was thankful for his military training, otherwise he would have been DEAD by now. When Sephiroth swung his sword again, Blader blocked it with his shield and sparks flew off on impact.

"Hey…" Blader ducked behind his shield again as Sephiroth swung at him again, the impact of his blade creating more sparks against Blader's shield. "I thought Cloud took care of ya the LAST time you were at Radiant Garden!"

Sephiroth emitted a slight scoff at Blader's comment as an eerie smile crossed his face. "There's something you should know—I die hard."

On another part of the city, Crescent was watching television at a nearby electronics store, but suddenly placed his index finger on his temple. "Uh-oh! Blader the Geekazoid's in trouble!"

Crescent darted out of the store and started running towards the place where Blader was blocking the blows. In the process, he earned himself several odd glances from the townsfolk. "I'M COMING TO SAVE YA, BLADEY!" Crescent arrived and Sephiroth simply stared at him as the ninja fingered his sword. "Alright, bird-boy! Show me what ya got!"

With just one movement of his wrist, Sephiroth drove his Masamune into Crescent's stomach. Crescent screamed in pain, then glared at Sephiroth before pointing an accusing finger at him. "Of course ya realize, THIS means war!

When Sephiroth withdrew his sword, Crescent fell on his back. He was out, for the moment, anyway. Blader mentally slapped himself in the forehead. "Well, so much for HIS help!"

Blader returned to blocking each of Sephiroth's blows, but if anything, this task was beginning to get more difficult. Sephiroth just kept slashing away without even moving his feet, and each swing was starting to get faster and stronger. Suddenly, Sephiroth's blows subsided and Blader peeked out from his shield to see that he was…occupied. Cloud appeared out of nowhere and crossed blades with the One-Winged Angel. "Sephiroth…THIS time, we settle it!" Cloud said, his face as cold as ice.

"Really?" Sephiroth asked, stifling a laugh. Cloud jerked his head to Blader, who ran off to try and find Pearl. Sephiroth sneered. "I thought you would've died."

Cloud, in a twist of fate, returned Sephiroth's words to him. "Well, I guess I die HARD."

Crescent suddenly stood back up, his wound healed over, and spoke to Sephiroth. "Well, ya see, I die hard, TOO! Y'know, it's quite…" Sephiroth simply stabbed Crescent again before the ninja could even say another word. "OW! Ugh, I'm bad at this…" Crescent fell to the ground, out, yet again.

Meanwhile, Sora was catching up to Pearl, who had a head start. Fortunately, Sora was the better runner, so he would catch up to her in no time...or so he thought.

Suddenly, out of the world's atmosphere, a huge crystal meteor came out of the skies and began shifting as it fell. When the transformation was complete, the meteor was gone and a new being took its place. It was a huge, dragon-like creature with large wings and various horns. It had powerful arms and legs, a long, thick tail, and a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.

At that moment, Reno had charged in to try and attack Amethyst, but saw the new Crystalli and accidentally smacked Rude across the face with a back swing. The two, along with Blader and Crescent, who had now gotten up from being stabbed again, gaped at this oncoming behemoth. The dragon-like Crystalli landed on the ground and let loose an earsplitting ROAR that sent almost everyone into a panic.

"Wuh-oh!" Crescent said, quickly.

Blader's hazel eyes widened at the sight of the beast. "Oh no…"

"Uh…heh…hello." Reno said, uneasily.

"Oh, crud." Rude cursed.

The four ran away from the Crystalli Bahamut, which was its name. Reno wheeled around, but Rude saw what was coming and ducked under the club before following Reno. The four were running while the Bahamut was charging blue energy in its mouth.

"IS IT AFTER US?" Reno asked over the throng of screaming people.

Rude turned to his colleague, then answered, "I'm not lookin'!"

While they were running, Blader glanced at Reno and said, "Face it, Tattoo Face, we can't outrun this thing!"

Reno, oddly enough, joked while they ran for their lives. "We don't have to outrun IT, we have to outrun YOU!"

The Bahamut pumped its powerful wings, sending it several feet into the air, then unleashed a blast of blue plasma. The blast hit the ground, but the shock wave sent all four of them flying forward. The Bahamut darted through the air, grabbed Crescent in midair, and flew off.

"WHY ME?!" the ninja asked as the beast carried him away.

Amethyst and Topaz walked back to a recovering Reno and Rude with malicious grins. "Having fun yet?" Amethyst asked, tauntingly.

Reno clenched his teeth and his rod. "The time OF MY LIFE!"

Reno sprang, then swung his nightstick and Amethyst barely blocked, but had just done so when Reno's foot came up to meet him. Amethyst backed off from the oncoming kick and raised his hand to block Reno's rod. Rude, on the other hand, began trying to beat down Topaz. However, both were equally good when it came to hand-to-hand combat. However, Crystalli Hosts and Turks were concentrating so much on the fight that they didn't notice Blader escaping and running after Sora. Along the way, Blader stopped in front of Tifa. The martial-artist had several defeated Neo Soldiers twitching feebly at her feet.

"I believe you got some old friends at your bar. Go get 'em, will ya?" he asked, keeping things to-the-point.

Tifa barely had time to comprehend what Blader said when he dashed off after Sora. The Crystalli Bahamut saw Sora chasing after Pearl and snarled as it perceived a threat to one of its masters.

Meanwhile, Reno and Amethyst fought to standstill near a building. Reno swung his rod at Amethyst twice only to see the Crystalli block the first swing and duck under the second. Reno made to sweep-kick the purple Crystalli Host, but his foot hit nothing. One second later, Amethyst was on top of a building. Reno growled in slight frustration at the Crystalli. "When are ya gonna stop tryin' to get this Pure Heart and call it a day?!" the Turk asked, furiously.

"As soon as YOU tuck in your shirt, slob." Amethyst answered, putting as much contempt as he could in it.

Reno snarled, then clambered up the building like a squirrel and continued his struggle.

The fight between Rude and Topaz was, so far, turning in the yellow Crystalli's favor. Topaz had Rude in a test of strength, their hands locked together, but Topaz was beginning to bend Rude backward…painfully, too.

"Why…do you need…the heart?!" Rude strained as he pushed against Topaz.

Topaz didn't answer, maintaining his smile at Rude's suffering. Instead, he spoke of something different. "You look like a bodyguard. Tell me, are you REALLY loyal to the man you protect or do you do it simply for the suit?"

Rude suddenly brought his head smashing into Topaz's. The surprise from the sudden attack was enough for Rude to wrench his arm free and sock Topaz across the face. He kneed the Crystalli twice in the gut, then tried tossing Topaz behind his back, but the one-eyed Crystalli landed on his feet and reversed the toss, seemingly without effort.

Topaz turned to Rude and laughed at his misfortune as the Turk flew a few more feet, then came crashing to the ground. "When Diamond takes this Pure Heart, he'll make sure fools like YOU will be terminated."

Rude struggled back up…at the wrong time to do so. Up above, Reno had just tried to swipe Amethyst with his rod, but the purple Crystalli host summoned his scepter and blocked it. As Reno reeled back for another blow, Amethyst pointed the scepter forward and a burst of violet energy burst from the tip. The blast sent Reno flying over to a billboard sign with a CRASH and it fell…smashing down on Rude's head. "Son…of a…" Rude sputtered.

Rude staggered, then collapsed and Reno fell on top of him thanks to Amethyst's foot. Reno got up with a determined grunt, stepping on Rude's sunglasses by mistake. Rude gasped at it in surprise…he looked very different without his shades. Reno regained his composure and began dusting himself as Rude pulled out another pair of sunglasses.

"Diamond, Shmiamond." Reno spat, "Your little pet over there's a hunk of space rock…and I'd bet my Shin-Ra salary that your boss is, too."

Topaz and Amethyst were seriously offended by this, seeing as their voices were filled with rage as they spoke. "HOLD YOUR FILTHY, LITTLE TONGUE!" Topaz roared, his teeth clenched at the end of the sentence.

Amethyst pointed a finger at them, then growled, "We WON'T have you refer to Lord Diamond like that!"

Rude straightened his shades and his stance. "Our apologies."

Reno dusted himself off. "Your boss's cool…" he suddenly turned, then asked, "WHAT THE HECK AM I SAYING?!"

Reno jumped in midair and Amethyst jumped after him…half a second too slow. Reno's foot collided with Amethyst's jaw, sending him flying backward. At the same time, Rude charged forward and slammed his fist into Topaz's face, grounding the yellow Crystalli. Reno gave the thumbs' up while Rude dusted himself off. At least NOW, they had an edge.

Meanwhile, the Crystalli Bahamut flew with Crescent in its talons. It landed on the ground not too far from where it took off, pinning the ninja with its foot. "That all ya got, lizard rock?!" Crescent challenged. The "lizard rock" as Crescent called it, snarled and grabbed the ninja around the midsection, taking him to eye-level. "WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!" the nin with a mouth scolded.

Crescent whipped out his blade and slashed the Crystalli across the face. THAT obviously stung the Bahamut like a scorpion sting and it was enough for Crescent to wriggle free. As soon as he was out of the beast's hand, he began jumping around Bahamut, stabbing it multiple times.

"You want a piece of me?! YA WANNA PIECE?!" Crescent snapped. The Bahamut roared as it finally pinned down the crazed ninja under its hand and grabbed the midsection with his teeth. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked…"

The Crystalli jerked upward and with a "RIIP", it tore Crescent in half, separating the ninja's torso from its waist. It looked up, then noticed that Sora was dangerously close to catching up with Pearl. The Crystalli Bahamut tossed Crescent's halves and fired another burst of plasma at Sora. It didn't hit him, but hit the ground behind him instead, the blast front sending the Keyblader flying forward, along with Pearl and someone who had been following. Sora turned, but soon found that it wasn't Blader…

Crystalli Bahamut

A monstrous Crystalli that was sent to Midgar to try and find the Pure Heart. It not only has flight, size, strength, and a nasty set of jaws and claws, but can also fire energy blasts. Its ferocity showed when it tore Crescent in half, but it seems capable of all kinds of destruction with its bloodthirsty nature.


	162. Those Who Fight Further

Chapter 162: Those Who Fight Further

Blader finally caught up with Sora and saw someone collapsed next to him—Kairi. Sora got up and nudged Kairi, who moved on his touch. She was still alive, just stunned. How long had she been following him? This question was obliterated by Sora's rage that the Crystalli had done this to her. He snarled before running after the Bahamut with his Keyblade out. The dragon-like Crystalli leered down at Sora and opened its mouth, ready to eat him in one bite.

At that moment, Kairi shook the cobwebs out of her head and saw Sora headed for the monster just ahead. "Sora!" she called.

Sora barely stopped at the voice when someone seized his shoulder with a metallic hand. It was Barrett. "Get BACK, kid!"

Barrett's hand changed into his multi-barreled gun and he began pelting the Crystalli Bahamut with a barrage of bullets. The Bahamut held up its clawed hand to try and keep the bullets away, but only got a stinging hand as it screeched in irritation. There was another roar and a black T-Rex charged past Barrett. J had changed into a dinosaur again, seeing as he was up against a big opponent.

Barrett turned to Sora, still firing like crazy, then said, "Vincent told me everything! Go get that host, y'hear?!"

Blader got in close to get a good talk in with Barrett. "Well, if it ain't Mr. Lock 'n Load." he greeted, then asked, "WHY didn't I get into AVALANCHE again?"

Barrett was aiming his gun past Blader so that he would hit the Bahamut rather than blow up the computer expert. "Can we talk about this LATER?" he asked.

As Barrett brushed past Blader, two red streaks raced past him—one of which was Red XIII with Cait Sith on his back. Then, in a spectacular feat, Red XIII jumped onto the Bahamut, trying to get a good hold with his teeth and claws. Cait Sith screamed at the experience, "WE CANNOT HANDLE THIS!"

As the Bahamut tried to get Red XIII, which was a parasite to it, J reached up and clamped onto the Bahamut's foot with his T-rex teeth. The Bahamut roared in pain as it pumped its wings once, actually lifting both of them off the ground. J thrashed wildly with his muscular legs as they slowly left terra firma.

The other red streak flew up and turned out to be Ryan, who began blasting the Bahamut with his solar balls. These didn't appear to work a lot, having about as much effect as Barrett's bullets, and the Bahamut violently repelled him with a snap of its jaws. "MAN! First that Onyx guy and now THIS!" he cursed.

Ryan righted himself in midair and evaded the Bahamut's sharp claws when Scott flew out of the blue, April carrying him under the arms. With a strenuous heave, April tossed Scott onto the Bahamut. He grew fangs in his mouth and claws on his hands as he landed on the giant Crystalli after shouting, "G'DAY!"

Scott landed on the Bahamut's forearm and sunk his teeth into its crystal hide. THAT proved to be a mistake, because he almost broke his teeth. Then, with a sudden thrash, Red XIII and Scott were tossed off and faced with the Bahamut's massive jaws. Before the "jaws of death and destruction" could get at them or before anyone could respond, a burst of green energy erupted from the middle barrel of Barrett's gun arm. The blast hit the Bahamut smack dab in the face and sent it careening to the ground.

Barrett grinned as he aimed for another blast, but his gun obviously had to recharge, so he couldn't fire even when the Bahamut came for him this time. Suddenly, something spun through the air and struck the Bahamut in the foot from behind, causing it to take off even higher. At that time, J couldn't hold on anymore. He dropped and changed back to human form, but he couldn't turn into a flying creature in time. Fortunately, Red XIII and Cait Sith grabbed him out of the air and pulled him out of the fall.

"This way!" Cait Sith called, playfully.

"I've got you!" Red XIII said, though he had the hood of J's jacket in his mouth.

The spinning object went back to its source and Yuffie fell right in front of Sora, catching her shuriken in the process. "Yuffie!"

Yuffie turned and smiled. "Hey, Sora." she chirped, "Just in the nick of time, huh?" Yuffie looked at both halves of Crescent with some form of remorse. Crescent's tongue was hanging out while his legs were a bit bent outta shape. "Crescent?! I wish we'd been closer…"

Crescent's upper half, not surprisingly, propped itself up by the elbows and his tongue slid back into his mouth. "I may be bifurcated, but I still have feelings." he pointed out, "And by the way, I am touched. Now, could you put me back together, hon?"

Yuffie stared, wide-eyed at Crescent as though asking "How long have you been doing that?", then scowled and walked away, being VERY sure to step on Crescent's face. "OW! Alright, I'll come up with better names…" he called. Yuffie either didn't hear him or want to talk any further, because she had headed off for the Bahamut. Crescent turned to Blader, who had just arrived on the battlefront. "Could you put me back together?"

Blader sighed as he reattached the lower half of Crescent's body to his upper half, which healed over. He hated this job...

Sephiroth and Cloud leapt from building to building, trying to get the better of each other. Each of their strikes were fast enough to blind the eye and the fact that they could defend themselves made it all the more impressive. However, after a while, Sephiroth grinned.

"What are YOU so happy for?" Cloud asked, frustratedly.

Sephiroth didn't directly answer Cloud's question, but calmly explained to him. "I'd like to stay and fight, Cloud, but it appears that you've got bigger problems to deal with."

Cloud, out of anger, tried to carve Sephiroth in half with his Buster Blade, but the space that Sephiroth had previously occupied was empty now. Sephiroth had jumped away, landing on the edge of a building a fair distance away. Crescent zipped over next to Cloud and waved to Sephiroth. "So long, Superman!" he called, "Your secret identity is safe with me! (1)" Sephiroth aimed his sword at Crescent and a fireball erupted from its tip and rocketed at the ninja. Crescent burst into flame as the One-Winged Angel vanished in a vortex of darkness. "A parting gift…how thoughtful."

Crescent screamed, then started running in circles, screaming uncontrollably, and making the flames larger. Cloud was looking at Crescent with a cocked eyebrow. "Who is this guy?" he asked.

Meanwhile, six or seven Crystalli Fossils surrounded Sora, Kairi, and Blader. They all looked ready to pounce (one actually did) when Cid came out of the blue with his spear. He slammed it into one, bringing it to the ground, then swung it in a wide circle to get three others. Cid spun his spear around with surprising skill, then popped its tip into the ground. He threw out his toothpick and pointed up to a giant silver ship that was now in the air above the battle. "She's a beauty—my Shera, latest model. I'll give ya the grand tour afterward!"

Cid ran off after the Bahamut, leaving three Crystalli Fossils, which snarled like raptors as they closed in on them. Sora, Kairi, and Blader hadn't even moved when Sakuzy fell from the air and slammed his Eagle Feather into one's head and spun it around in his form of Aeroga, blowing it away.

"Hi, bye!" Sakuzy said, quickly. Yet as he said this, a chain burst through the sky and buried itself through a Fossil's chest. Joyex landed on his feet and swung the Fossil around, releasing it just as the chain retracted. Result: the force of the swing sent the Fossil flying away and shattering on impact with the ground.

"Just get Pearl already!" Joyex said, gesturing in the direction he saw her go.

Joyex dashed away as Vincent walked forward and the latter asked, "Where can I get a phone?"

Sora didn't answer as he, Kairi, and Blader ran after Pearl. He wondered where Riku was, but knew he had other things to do. Eventually, Sora caught up with Pearl and summoned the Ultima Weapon.

"Pearl!" Sora called, catching her attention.

Pearl froze and slowly turned to see the three that had pursued her for some time. "Sora?" she asked, "You survived?"

"No tone of surprise." Sora pointed out, "You saw it coming."

Blader reached into a pocket on his belt and pulled out three metal disks. With just a flick of his wrist, he threw one just behind Pearl and the others behind them. The devices hummed to life before projecting a field of blue energy with a fifty-foot radius. "Sorry, Little Ms. Clam Ball, but this shield not only prevents your fellow crackpots from helpin' ya, it keeps ya from teleportin' outta here!" Blader pointed out, folding his arms across his chest.

"So, come on." Sora said, gently, "Let's just beat that Crystalli, get you back to Radiant Garden, and we can try to help you."

Sora let the Ultima Weapon hang by his side as he reached out with his other hand as though expecting Pearl to take it. He was more than surprised, however, to see Pearl's eyebrows scrunched down in anger. Next thing Sora knew, he was on the ground with a throbbing pain on the side of his face. She had punched him.

"Hey! What was that for?!" he asked, grouchily, as he got back up, "I just want to help!"

In a flash of pink light, Pearl summoned her three-piece, blade-edged nunchuk. She spun its sword-like edges and swung at the fallen Keyblader only to meet the ground. Blader had seized Sora, then rolled him away, both getting to their feet in seconds.

"Pearl! What the heck are you doing?!" he asked in shock.

Blader turned to Sora and smacked his shoulder with his free hand. "I'd guess she's TRYING TO KILL US!" he said, pointing out the obvious, "Why she's doin' it, I have yet to find out…"

Sora gritted his teeth in pure frustration and pointed his Keyblade at Pearl like an accusing finger. "Why?" he asked, his voice as cold as ice, "Why did you go back to the Crystalli!?"

Pearl readied her nunchuk and answered in a quiet, cruel voice. "The Crystalli are all I have left." she answered, "Even if I stayed, you would have driven me off!"

Blader pressed a button in his shield's interior and the rotary blades activated, spinning while emitting a high-pitched whine. "Alright, Missy, if you won't listen to words, how 'bout we talk with our weapons?" he challenged.

Sora glanced back and saw that Kairi was just outside the field, barely holding off Rollers. But no matter how many shots she deflected, the Rollers' shields deflected each and every shot. "KAIRI!"

Blader pulled Sora back to focus, then directed it to Pearl. "Don't worry 'bout her." he said, "We got a few more people who can help her…"

Kairi REALLY wanted to help Sora, but right now, she was caught between a rock and a hard place. Or, in this case, she was caught between an electric field and laser-firing, virtually indestructible Rollers. "For some reason, I REALLY want to be in that force field…" she muttered to herself.

Suddenly, as the blasts kept coming and coming, one came at her that she couldn't block in time. She saw it, but there was nothing she could do about it. The blow didn't come, however, and she saw a white shield in front of her. She looked to her right to see Aerith with the white shield up; the same one she used in an erased timeline when they all nearly perished. "Thanks!" she said over the commotion of blasts.

"Don't thank me now…" Aerith strained, "I can't hold it for long…"

It was true. The Rollers continued to bombard the shield of light energy, each blast taking a small amount of Aerith's strength away. Inside the shield, Aerith looked like she was trying to hold up a very heavy weight. Just as the shield faded, something rushed through the air and carved right through the Roller, shield and all. As the other two turned to face their attacker, Aerith knew who it was.

"Cloud!"

Cloud's focus remained on the Rollers as he brandished his buster blade at them. His blade had sliced right through the Roller's shield, which could deflect magic spells, energy bursts, and even Keyblades. Yet the sword didn't even have a scratch on it. The Rollers opened fire, but Cloud deflected them with the side of his blade with amazing speed and strength. He addressed both Kairi and Aerith as he reflected the blasts, slowly making his way toward his enemies. "Find Tifa and those superhumans. If we're going to take down that monster, we'll need to make sure that the ground troops don't distract us."

Aerith nodded and ran off to find Tifa and the Turks. Kairi went with her, seeing as Riku was with the Turks now.

Sora barely blocked a blow from Pearl. The situation wasn't exactly in their favor, seeing as Pearl's nunchuk was faster than Sora's Keyblade. And Blader couldn't exactly get close, as the nunchuk was MUCH longer than his shield. When Pearl swung her nunchuk at Blader, he rolled on the ground like a military man dodging oncoming bullets and rolled back on his feet to block another swing.

"Blader!"

"A'ight!" Sora and Blader charged from both sides and attacked. Pearl jumped to avoid them, but Blader held his shield up so that it was right underneath Pearl and Sora stepped on it. With a push from Blader, Sora sprung off the shield like it was a metal trampoline and brought his Keyblade slamming into Pearl's shoulder. She spun through the air and landed on her feet, but when she did, Blader was there to meet her. He had leapt, agilely, into the air and brought the rotary blades of his shield slicing into her thigh and her midsection.

Pink blood spilled onto the ground, yet the wounds healed over in a matter of seconds. Pearl wasn't moved by her injuries, or by their Limit Break, obviously. "When will you learn?" she asked, "It'll take more than sharp blades to take me down…"

Sora, out of irritation that she would say such a thing, fired a Firaga at her. The only thing that happened was that she wheeled around, absorbing the spell through the shard on her neck and fired it back as a bolt of pink energy. Sora swung his Keyblade at her face when she turned around and saw her nunchuk had blocked it. Blader leapt in to try and bring his metal leg slamming into her face, only to meet her left forearm. She had spun completely around, tossing Sora off-balance and catching Blader in midair. Blader had lost his balance at the wrong time and stumbled to the ground…right on top of Sora.

As Sora was on the ground, Blader at his side and dazed, Pearl pointed one blade of her nunchuk at his head. "First you want to help me, now you want to destroy me." she said, coldly, "You and your friends are just like anyone else I've ever…"

Pearl never finished her sentence, because Sora interrupted her. "What about Sakuzy?" he asked, angrily, "I'm pretty sure that he'd trade places with you! He was the one who spared you and now you choose to try and kill him?" Pearl paused, Sora's action puzzling her…just long enough for the Keyblade Master to put his hand on Blader's shoulder. "DRIVE!"

Blader had just snapped out of his dazed condition when he felt the sensation flow through his body. "WHAT THE?!" he asked in surprise.

Pearl shielded her eyes as Sora became engulfed in a flash of light. When it subsided, Sora's clothes were now purple and the patterns on his shorts were binary numbers (ones and zeroes). He now had Blader's helmet and as he summoned his Keyblade, a new one appeared in his hand. It looked metallic with dozens of blue and green ones and zeroes patterned into its blade. Its teeth were ones and zeroes in a key pattern and its keychain seemed to be a miniature version of Blader's shield.

Sora looked at himself, then at the Keyblade as the words _Web Wrecker _rang through his head. Sora inspected the new Keyblade, then readied himself and turned to face Pearl. "May we?" he challenged.

Pearl took her nunchuk and swung it into a battle position. Her silence was as good of a "yes" than anything she could have said.

Pearl charged forward and Sora rolled away just as the nunchuk's blades came for him. As Sora got to his feet, his new helmet flipped down over his face and a scanner activated on the inside. It actually scanned Pearl as she swung and attempted to decapitate Sora, yet the Keyblade master blocked it with Web Wrecker. Soon, the helmet stopped scanning and spoke in a male monotone, as most computers did. "FIGHTING STYLE REVEALED. MAIN ATTACK PATTERN—FRONTAL ASSAULT. WEAKNESS—LACKS MOBILITY AND WEAK AGAINST ATTACKS FROM THE REAR."

"Oh..." Sora said to himself with a nod, "NOW I get it…"

Sora parried both attacks from the nunchuk with Web Wrecker, then began to hack at Pearl's legs. The sudden attack caught her just below the knee and she dropped to the ground. Her wound healed, but by the time she got up again, Sora was right behind her. Pearl uneasily turned to block, but Sora now had her right where he wanted her. As she turned to face him, Sora would move a respectful distance around her, circling to get her from behind. Despite her best efforts, Pearl couldn't keep up with him. Sora's new drive obviously increased his speed and reflexes, even beyond her own.

"Now…let's see what this Keyblade can really do." Sora said, inspecting it quickly.

Suddenly, the Web Wrecker began to glow electric blue and Sora, acting on instinct, brought it slamming into the ground. On contact, a wave of blue energy flowed through the ground right towards Pearl. She jumped over it, but when she landed, the wave BOUNCED off the field surrounding them and caught her from behind. Pearl cried out, seeing as the wave missed the hunk of pearl in her neck. Sora was about to repeat the process when the drive suddenly came to an end.

Blader reappeared next to Sora in a flash of light and was currently trying to get steady. "Hey, what'd I miss?" he asked, dazedly.

Sora didn't exactly have time to answer, because Pearl swept the ground with her foot, tripping both of them. As Sora landed, he felt something hard in his pocket. He rolled to his feet to avoid a blade, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a charm that he didn't notice before—this one had four Keyblades on it in a star-shaped pattern. He asked himself a question as he was blocking blows from Pearl's oncoming nunchuk.

"How did THIS get into my…" Sora asked himself, but then had a sudden suspicion.

_Enter flashback…_

_Radiant Garden…_

_Aboard the falling Gummi Ship, Joyex grabbed a hold of Sora and slipped a charm into his pocket when he wasn't looking._

_End flashback…_

"Oh." he corrected, "It'll still help, though…" Sora held out the Keyblade Charm and called out, "Zane!"

A person with black, spiky hair that looked like a combo of Sora and Roxas' hair appeared in a flurry of darkmatter. He stood up to show a black tank-top with a hoodie that was unzipped slightly, a pair of belts that went into an 'X' formation with Heartless symbols on them and a black and red checkered wristband on each bicep. He also wore a pair of black shorts, shoes like Sora's, and a pair of black, fingerless gloves. (2)

"We're gonna have some fun!" Zane said with a malicious-looking grin.

Zane threw out his hands and summoned two Keyblades in each one—the Kingdom Key and the Ultima Weapon (KHI design, since Sora has the KHII designed Ultima Weapon…which I like better than the first design). Above his head appeared Oblivion and Oathkeeper, which were floating in midair like Xaldin's lances. Zane jumped into the air, landing right in front of Pearl, and began slashing wildly at Pearl with all four Keyblades. Despite the fact that Oblivion and Oathkeeper weren't in Zane's hands, they hacked as though an invisible man was wielding them.

Pearl blocked as best she could, but blocking FOUR Keyblades was almost impossible with her fighting style. She was made for blocking frontal attacks, but these Keyblades attacked her from behind and at the sides as well. Some of her attempts to parry ended in disaster as each Keyblade hit her at least once.

Zane grinned, then clenched his hand. Within seconds, Pearl was imprisoned in a dark sphere where she couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. Suddenly, the darkness cleared only for her to see Sora rushing to meet her with his Keyblade out. With one strike, Sora sent Pearl flying backwards where she collided with the energy field. Electricity coursed through her body until she bounced off it and landed on her back, out like a light.

In several flashes of light, Zane's Keyblades vanished and the dark Keyblader said, "Time for me to go…" Zane turned to walk away, then vanished in a burst of dark aura.

Sora gasped for breath. THAT had been a tiring battle, but he knew that the war was FAR from over. "Bet Sakuzy didn't have to go through THAT much…" he said between gasps.

Blader clapped dust off his hands, then laid them behind his head to lean back on them. "Well, a win's a win. Summon or no Summon." he told him.

Blader hoisted up Pearl and Sora couldn't help but grin. If Sakuzy saw this…

The Crystalli Bahamut roared again and Blader turned to Sora and nodded. The brains of the Restoration Committee East Side pressed a button and the shields deactivated. He hadn't even taken a step when a Curaga was cast and all their weariness vanished.

"Needed that, huh?" Sora turned to see Donald and Goofy just outside the area where he and Blader had battled Pearl.

"Gee, Sora, you sure handled that well…" Goofy complimented.

Sora nodded, then turned to see Riku, Reno, and Rude teaming up against Amethyst. Amazingly, the purple-clad Crystalli was fending all three of them off with his scepter.

Tifa would have helped, but she had her hands a bit full with two or three Neo Soldiers. She was doing a good job, though, fending them off even when the Crystalli had weapons. Suddenly, one jerked forward, because it had suddenly been kicked in the back of the head, and Tifa finished it off with a rock-hard fist to its chest. It was J who kicked it and soon, he and Tifa were back-to-back. They looked at each other, nodded, then set to work.

A Neo Soldier jabbed at J with its staff only to see that Tifa was now in his place. J had rolled over Tifa's back, allowing her to get a clear shot at it with her foot. The minute her foot came into contact with its right knee, the part below the knee broke off.

"MY TURN!" J jumped forward and thrust his fist into the Neo Soldier, sending it to the ground after quickly raising his fist. The Neo Soldier lay sprawled on the ground, but hadn't even tried getting up when J took its staff and jammed its still-sparking tip into its chest. The Crystalli jerked uncontrollably as electricity coursed through its body until its red visor flickered out, symbolizing that its life ran its course. As J released the staff, he and Tifa were once more forced back-to-back.

"Well, here we are again." Tifa pointed out, "Any ideas?"

"One."

The two of them looped arms, then Tifa lifted J clean off the ground and brought him spinning around with his foot out. That foot kicked several Neo Soldiers back, and when they recovered, it was J's turn to pull off a trick with Tifa. He landed on the ground and brought the two of them whirling around, bringing Tifa's foot into a Neo Soldier's neck, snapping the head right off its shoulders. Now blind and deaf, the Neo Soldier staggered around swinging its electrically-charged staff into anything it could, whether it was its target or not. To finish the combo, Tifa and J released each other, then punched the living daylight out of the last two Neo Soldiers.

When the battle was finished, J dusted himself off and picked up his sunglasses while Tifa said, "Nice moves."

J only turned to look at her, saying only one word. "Thanks."

J looked over in the distance and the huge Crystalli Bahamut was still in the air, being bombarded by the team that Cloud had given them. A fierce battle was still being held...

Meanwhile, Riku was fighting Amethyst and Topaz with Reno and Rude, but things were going the Crystalli's way. Topaz's broadsword had a longer reach and was far wider than Riku's Keyblade, making him able to strike from beyond the Way to Dawn's range. The added bonus to Topaz's weapon was that it could also be used as a shield against any projectiles. Fortunately, Riku was holding his own in this fight with his speed and agility. Riku then turned to Amethyst and saw Reno and Amethyst duking it out.

"Reno!"

"Cake." Reno held out his nightstick like a gun and pulled a trigger on its handle. Before Amethyst could even respond, a bolt of electrical energy sparked from the tip and fired at Amethyst, electrocuting and temporarily paralyzing him. Riku then planted his boot into the purple Crystalli's back and sent him forward.

Amethyst staggered a few steps, shook the cobwebs from his head, and held out his scepter. Purple bolts of energy erupted from the scepter's orb and fired at the three. While Riku blocked these blows with his Keyblade, Reno was moving like a tap dancer to avoid the bursts while Rude was dashing sideways to avoid getting hit. Riku turned to Rude.

"Rude!"

Rude nodded, then charged forward and slammed his fist into the side of Amethyst's face. The impact was so strong that Amethyst was sent crashing into a building wall. Amethyst snarled and sped toward Riku. Reno and Rude tried to get in the way, but with a single swing of his staff, he had repelled both of them, grabbed Riku by the neck, and tossed him aside.

Amethyst suddenly heard someone approaching and held out his staff to guard...BIG mistake. It was Cloud. With a swing from his sword, which was bigger than Topaz's, Amethyst's scepter was cleaved in half. "WHAT THE?!" Amethyst asked in disbelief. He stared at the remnants of his staff, then up at Cloud. The swordsman was looking at him with cold eyes like he was looking at Sephiroth. With another swing of the latter's buster blade, Amethyst went flying backward into a building wall. He crashed right through the wall and out the other side, and would have fallen several hundred feet to his death if he didn't vanish in a flash of purple light.

"No problem." Cloud said to himself. Cloud turned to Reno, Rude, and Riku (the Three R's), who were getting up from his previous encounter and jerked his head to Topaz. "He's all yours."

Reno turned to Topaz with a suave-looking smile on his face. Topaz was backed to the edge of the building and was just inches from falling. "Alright, cyclops, you've got THREE possible answers to the question of why we're fighting you RIGHT now." Reno told him, "One: we were doing the right thing. Two: we were sure that we could win. Or three: we were clueless."

Topaz scoffed as he readied his broadsword for any form of attack. "The answer is obvious. Number three." he said, proudly.

Reno imitated a buzzer, then said, "WRONG!"

Without warning, Rude ducked right under the broadsword and punched Topaz square in the jaw in a sharp uppercut. Topaz lost his balance and fell off the building with an anguished yell. Oddly enough, the two Turks stared down at him and called after him. "The answer is..." Reno said, gesturing to Rude.

"Because it's our job." Rude finished.

Topaz fell, but would NOT admit defeat so early in the game. He dug his blade into the side of the building and caught himself before he fell to his death. He slowly lowered himself to the ground and turned to see the rest (from Red XIII to Yuffie) were fighting the Bahamut and were looking like a swarm of insects.

"They're making our Bahamut look like a joke." growled Topaz, "It's probably because there's a healer around. If I can take this person out, they'd fall faster than autumn leaves. Yes..."

Unknowing to Topaz's survival, the rest were running in to battle the Bahamut, except Reno and Rude. They had left after shoving off Topaz. The Bahamut had taken off to a semi-demolished building, the structure's skeletal remains were clearly visible, but gave every warrior some footing to jump, run, and aim at the dragon-like Crystalli.

Barrett was firing away at the thing from afar with his gun arm until it clicked. THIS was a bad time to run out of bullets, though, because the Bahamut obviously noticed. It opened its mouth and a burst of blue energy erupted from its gaping maw. Barrett had to jump off his platform, grabbing another one in his real hand. As he hung there, the Bahamut came, preparing to snap him up, but suddenly, Red XIII jumped onto its face, digging his claws deep into the Crystalli's face.

Since Red XIII was too focused on the fight, Cait Sith spoke to Barrett, trying to keep a hold on the beast of the team. "Don't worry! Marlene's doin' alright!" he said in a half-scream.

There wasn't much more Cait Sith could say, because the Bahamut pumped its wings and took off a little higher. While the Bahamut was distracted, Barrett heaved himself back up onto the beam and reloaded his gun. This time, he loaded in more ammo to make sure what happened then wouldn't do so again soon.

Cid ran after the beast on another metal beam, then leapt into the air and buried the head of his spear into the Crystalli's horned head. The Bahamut roared in agony as it tried to thrash both Red XIII and Cid off. It managed to shake the catlike creature, but Cid's spear was in there, and deep, too. However, when Cid noticed that the beast was flying toward a narrow pass, he quickly made his exit. However, Cid had misjudged his jump, because there were no beams for him to grab. Fortunately, April was nearby. She followed Cid's fall, grabbed his spear, then pulled the fall into a curve upward. She let go to land Cid on a nearby beam.

"Not bad, kid." Cid called to her, "I may have to re-think my opinion on ya."

April didn't really have time to say anything, because the Bahamut lashed at her with its claws like she was a fly it longed to swat. But like a fly, April simply darted away, much to the Bahamut's annoyance.

Yuffie had gained so much speed that she could run straight up one of the metal beams. At the peak of her climb, she pushed off with her feet and threw her large shuriken at the Crystalli. The shuriken whirled through the air and caught the Bahamut across the face. It stung it like a bee, but when Yuffie caught her Shuriken, the Bahamut was there to meet her, ready to blow her to Kingdom Come. That is, until Crescent leapt out of the blue and dug his sword into its neck. The Bahamut lurched backward and the blast flew up into the sky instead of at Yuffie.

"And THAT'S for tearing me in half, lizard-rock!" Crescent growled. The "lizard-rock" bucked violently to shake Crescent off, but then Crescent did something both very funny and very stupid. He raised one hand into the air and imitated a cowboy riding a bucking bronco. "YEE-HAW! Ride 'em, cowbo-" Before Crescent could finish, the Bahamut bucked him off and he landed, cat-footed, next to Yuffie.

Before either of the two ninjas could say anything, the Bahamut flew off and Vincent followed it. The leader of the Restoration Committee landed on the topmost beam and began to fire away at the Crystalli in midair. The Bahamut made to grab Vincent, but he kept moving away to shoot again and again like an annoying mosquito. When Vincent fell, the Bahamut dove downward like a falcon and had seized something in its claws...Tifa. It landed on the ground, then prepared to devour Tifa like a piece of candy until several things pierced its right arm. J was a black T-rex and had seized the Crystalli's opposite arm in its jaws, causing the Crystalli to roar in pain.

At the same time, Blader landed on the Bahamut's left hand. "Here ya' go, Little Miss Punch 'n Kick..." Blader said, then activated his shield's rotary and brought it into the Bahamut's thumb. It screeched even louder as Blader eventually carved right through the digit. Thumb, Tifa, and Blader fell, landing on the ground with the Bahamut roaring in pain. Eventually, it shook the black T-rex off its arm and took to the wing again.

Blader turned to Tifa, then asked, "You want on the top?"

Tifa nodded, then seized Blader around his shield-less forearm as he brought the edges of his rotary into a beam. A slight press of the button sent Blader scaling the beam, using the blade as a sort of climbing mechanism.

Aerith didn't get too involved with the Bahamut, rather she stayed on the edge, healing those who were injured. Sakuzy and Joyex joined her for a healing--Joyex had a twisted ankle and Sakuzy a broken wrist. Aerith gathered as much energy as she could, then held out her hands. "Curaga!"

Green light surrounded the two and their injuries healed in the blink of an eye.

"Wow." Sakuzy said, twisting his hand to get a crick out of his wrist, "Thanks, Aerith!"

Joyex felt someone's presence and grinned as he turned and spotted Topaz. "Hey, Topaz!" he said, catching his attention. Joyex summoned his Keyblade and pointed it at Topaz like a fencing sword. "I got my Keyblade back!"

Joyex pressed a button on his handle and the blade, attached to a chain, shot at Topaz like a bullet. The Crystalli, however, made no attempt to move away as he said, "Clearly..." Topaz, with spectacular reflexes, dodged the oncoming blade and grabbed the Keyblade's chain in the middle. "Unfortunately, you HAVEN'T gotten your brains back."

Joyex gulped as Topaz jerked the chain toward him. It was part of Joyex's nature to always have a deathgrip on his Keyblade since he got it back and never let go, which Topaz exploited. The one-eyed Crystalli swung Joyex around in wide circles and tossed him into a nearby building. All Joyex had to say as he smashed into the structure was, "Ow! Oh, that hurt..."

Topaz quickly vanished and reappeared behind the rest. Sora and co. had just arrived on the frontline, but had certainly noticed Joyex getting smacked. As they went on the attack, Topaz repelled each of them in a different way. He backhanded Kairi, knocked Sora away with the flat side of his broadsword, grabbed Riku by the hair and tossed him away, and he vanished again. Aerith had seen it all until Topaz appeared behind her and made one single movement with his sword. Aerith emitted a small gasp as blood trickled from a wound on her back. She then slumped forward as Joyex rushed over.

"Oh my gosh!" the Nobody said, inspecting the wound, "Aerith...your back!" Joyex then turned and shouted, even though it was futile, "VINCENT!"

Zane

Otherwise known as Ven, he's Sora's Heartless and wields not one, not two, but FOUR Keyblades. Whenever Sora calls, he'll rush into battle to use a combination of his Keyblades and the power of darkness to overwhelm his enemies.

_(1) Crescent said that to Sephiroth because Sephiroth's voice actor, George Newbern, voiced Superman in the animated Justice League series._

_(2) I do NOT own Zane, Silent Keyblader does. He simply let me borrow him._

_I had Aerith die in HERE, because she died in Final Fantasy VII. It was Dimensiondude's idea, otherwise, I wouldn't do it. He said it was called "respecting the source material". Too bad, because Cloud and Aerith are one of my favorite couples in Kingdom Hearts (KH, NOT FF7. There, it's Cloud and Tifa)._

_Blader's Spring Shield, Zane's Dark Container, Reno's Electromag rod, and Rude's Duty Fist._

_That was Blader's Knowledge Drive. In this Drive, Sora's reflexes increase and he can scan the enemy for weaknesses. He also wields the Web Wrecker, which can emit blue shock waves of energy on impact with the ground._


	163. OneWinged Angel

Chapter 163: One-Winged Angel

Cloud arrived on the scene to see Joyex tending to a wounded Aerith and his eyes widened in shock. Topaz's sword was still out and bloodstained while Sakuzy simply stared at Aerith with empty eyes. "Aerith...NO!"

As Cloud rushed over to her, Topaz chuckled, then it turned to a low laugh. It was obvious that he didn't show ANY form of remorse in killing one of Cloud's oldest friends. "Why, Mr. Strife, it appears that I struck a nerve." he said, earning a glower from Cloud, "Not the first time I struck THAT one, isn't that right, Saku-"

Topaz didn't finish his sentence because Sakuzy's fist made contact with his face. The sudden impact and surprise that Sakuzy did it bowled Topaz right off his feet. Sakuzy didn't care if Topaz was almost twice his size or if he wasn't using his Eagle Feather. All that mattered was causing Topaz enough pain to make him pay.

"YOU MURDERER!" Sakuzy marched over to Topaz, heaved him back up into a sitting position, and punch him across the face again and again and again. "When I'm through with YOU, you'll wish you had killed ME when you had the CHANCE!"

Sakuzy had landed at least three punches throughout his sentence, but the next time he lifted Topaz up, the Crystalli caught his fist. "Quite the temper. But if I were you, I'd watch your mouth." he pointed out, coldly, "And be careful what you wish for..." Topaz slowly stood, then tossed Sakuzy to the ground with relative ease. He then took his broadsword and pointed it at Sakuzy's neck as he finished, "You just might get it!"

Topaz lifted his sword, but when he brought it down, there was a resounding CLANG. Cloud was in the way, blocking Topaz's blade. Both withdrew their blades and began to circle each other. "You're going to pay for what you've done..." Cloud said, coldly.

Topaz could only shake his head and chuckle. "Save your breath." he said, in a taunting manner, "I've heard that phrase so many times, it's meaningless to me."

Both Topaz and Cloud made to attack each other, but hadn't even taken a step forward when a dark aura appeared right in between them. In a burst of feathers and darkmatter, Sephiroth, the One-Winged Angel, reappeared. (Playing the One-Winged Angel from Advent Children is ESSENTIAL at this point.) He pointed his blade at the Crystalli like an accusing finger, its silver blade shining in the sunlight.

"You..." Sephiroth said, his voice filled to the brim with malice, "Back to the slime pit where you came from."

Topaz scoffed. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't take orders from YOU."

Sephiroth's expression was the same: malice. He simply met Topaz's yellow eye with his own aqua-green ones. "You tried to take my soon-to-be vessel, so now you must die. Besides, this is MY world and your kind isn't welcome."

Topaz looked at Sephiroth's blade and laughed at what he said. "I am your evolutionary superior. This HARDLY seems like a fair fight." he said, fingering his broadsword.

Sephiroth just kept his expression of sneering calm as he responded, "Good point. Maybe I should fight right-handed..."

Sephiroth tossed his twelve-foot sword from his left hand to his right hand and then beckoned for the Crystalli to come. Topaz charged with a battle cry and swung his broadsword with all his might. However, when he swung, Sephiroth brought Masamune up to block and deflected the blow with relative ease. Topaz stared for a while in total awe as he said, "That blow should have broken your sword in two!"

Sephiroth simply moved Topaz's blade away as though it was as light as a feather, then caught him across the forehead with his Masamune. "You were saying about you being my 'evolutionary superior'?" he asked.

Topaz growled in pure rage and, with a roar, he charged and it quickly turned into a sword fight with near-blinding speed. Topaz was moving like mad and hammering away at Sephiroth's sword, whereas Sephiroth kept his unusually-calm expression and blocked all the blows without even leaving the ground. Their expressions had definite differences--Sephiroth was apparently keeping his cool and his cold expression, whereas Topaz was quickly losing his. Topaz slammed his sword down on Sephiroth's blade with a vein throbbing in his temple and his eye screaming murder.

Sephiroth's mouth, on the other hand, simply twitched into a cruel smile. "Okay, 'evolutionary superior', I think I've had enough fun with you."

Sephiroth tossed his blade into the air and seized its hilt in his left hand again. And in just a few movements of his arm, Sephiroth repelled another attack, made several slashes across Topaz's chest, and stabbed him through the gut. Topaz's mouth gaped at Sephiroth's speed as the silver-haired man withdrew his blade, all twelve feet of it. The One-Winged Angel made very sure to withdraw it SLOWLY and PAINFULLY. He couldn't have been human...

"Disgusting creature...a lot like that ninja." Sephiroth said with a cruel smile.

Crescent apparently heard Sephiroth's comment and shouted from the building wreck, "I heard that!"

Yellow blood that resembled liquid gold was oozing from Topaz like water as he clutched his wounds, on his knees. Sephiroth smiled evilly as he placed the blade of Masamune on Topaz's shoulder. However, Topaz vanished in a yellow flash before Sephiroth could even summon the urge to swing.

When Sephiroth saw that his opponent was nowhere to be seen, he curtly said, "You sorry excuse for a human." Sephiroth turned to Cloud, who looked ready to kill him on the spot. "Farewell, Cloud. Looks like we'll have to battle some other time."

Sephiroth spread his arms like wings as he hovered into the air and vanished once again. Sora snarled at the Bahamut, which was the last Crystalli in this world. There was only ONE way to end this--to destroy the dragonoid Crystalli. Sora only saw ONE way to permanently defeat this thing--to do a Drive. He turned to Cloud and had an idea--even though he had never Driven with Cloud previously, he had Driven with Auron before, so there was nothing to worry about. Sora placed a hand on Cloud's shoulder.

"DRIVE!"

The two were merged in a bright light that left Sakuzy and Joyex momentary blinded. When the light vanished, Sora's clothes were black and the symbols on his shorts were the wolf symbol on Cloud's clothing. One of his sleeves was even longer than the other one and the collar of his jacket was slightly taller than his previous one. He summoned his Keyblade, which had changed to its bandaged form known as Fenrir, but was now larger, easily as long as he was tall.

At that time, the Bahamut began to fly higher and higher with energy gathering in its maw at a phenomenal rate. Judging by the rate, the blast it emitted would be enough to wipe out the city in one blow. Strangely, when Sora spoke, both he and Cloud spoke at the same time. "I'll take out the Bahamut!"

Sora began to walk off when Kairi couldn't restrain herself. "Wait!" Sora paused and turned his head to see Kairi behind him. "Come back in one piece, Sora. Promise?" she asked.

The part of the Drive that was Sora smiled at her. "Promise." he answered.

Sora ran over to the area directly under the Bahamut and jumped up to the lowest beam. Barrett was on a beam above and peered down at Sora, who was still in a Drive. "Gotten a new look, kid?" the black man asked.

Sora turned to Barrett and spoke from Cloud's memories. "Have you done a move called 'Climhazzard'?"

Barrett shrugged, then answered, "Couple times. Why?"

"I think it's going to be essential..." Sora answered quickly.

Sora jumped up and Barrett started the Climhazzard. He grabbed Sora's arm with his human arm and flung him upwards with an "Alley-oop!"

Sora flew up like a rocket only to have the Bahamut bat him down with a single stroke of its talon. Fortunately, Cid spun his spear at EXACTLY the right time to catch Sora so that he was standing on the spear's shaft. With a strained grunt, Cid catapulted him further up toward the Crystalli. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough and the Keyblade Master fell shortly after they passed the next beam. Blader positioned himself below Sora and placed his shield beneath him in the same way he did when they were fighting Pearl.

"Pearl's back on the Shera." said Blader, quickly, "Now, get goin', Kid!"

Blader sprung his shield upward like a spring and Sora flew further up until he was caught by Scott's arm. "You're goin' topside, mate!" the Aussie said with a heave.

Scott flung up Sora in a manner similar to Barrett with equal results. J, now back in his human form, grabbed his arm as he neared the next beam. "Go!"

J flung him upwards again and then he met Ryan and April, who placed their hands under each of Sora's feet and sprung him upwards. Goofy and Donald were there, too. Sora landed on Goofy's shield with a resonating "thunk".

"Up ya get!" shouted Goofy.

"Get 'im!" Donald then slammed his staff into Sora like a golf club and the Driving Keyblade Master went rocketing upwards yet again.

Red XIII and Cait Sith then grabbed Sora and Red XIII pushed him up with a combination of his paws and his mouth. "There ya go!" Cait Sith cheered.

Yuffie then grabbed Sora and flung him upwards by pushing him up by the feet. "Going up!"

Crescent grabbed Sora's arm with his usual grin and positioned himself underneath Sora. He placed the souls of his boots on Sora's and kicked him upwards. "I have nothing supportive to say!" the ninja said.

Sora was seized by Vincent's clawed arm, which grabbed his hand. "Fly."

Vincent threw him upwards, where he met Tifa. "No giving up!" she said quickly, then threw Sora up to the Bahamut, which was preparing the plasma blast that would probably wipe out the whole city.

Sora held out the Fenrir, ready to attack, but fell a bit short of a full attack. Someone then held out her hand from deep within the planet's life source--the Lifestream: someone with soft skin and a ribbon in her hair. "Ready?" she asked.

Sora, both his strength and Cloud's renewed, went rocketing towards the Bahamut just as it released its plasma blast. Sora flew right through the blast without a scratch and exploded out of the burst. Sora brought Fenrir right into the Crystalli's ugly mug, piercing its skull and then ran straight down its back, dragging the Fenrir Keyblade down its spine. As he dragged the blade, the Bahamut's crystal skin parted until he jumped off at the base of its tail. The Crystalli Bahamut went into spasms of pain, hovered in the air, then exploded into a million pieces. Sora glanced behind him as the sand-like remnants of the Bahamut began to slowly drift to the ground like snow.

"Yes...we did it..." Sora suddenly began falling to the ground, the entire day's exhaustion taking its toll.

The Drive with Cloud soon ended and the spiky-haired warrior grabbed Sora in midair and landed on the ground with arcane skill. Cloud straightened back up and gently placed Sora on the ground. Kairi ran over to examine him and to check for injuries. "Sora..." she said, softly.

A gentle snore escaped Sora's mouth and Cloud turned away as he said, "Relax. He's just sleeping."

Kairi smiled, but a tear escaped her eye as she said, almost humorously, "Lazy bum."

Cloud looked back at the whole group. Everyone was exhausted, fighting both Crystalli drones, hosts, and the Bahamut. Joyex came back carrying Aerith's body in a bridal style and Sakuzy had tears falling freely. "Cloud..." Joyex said, solemnly, "We...couldn't save her." Joyex laid Aerith's body down and turned to Cloud without ANY form of joking in his voice. "I swear, on the other half of my heart's place in Kingdom Hearts, that I WILL kill Topaz for this."

Cloud looked down at Aerith's lifeless body and his expression hardened. He then picked up Aerith and slowly walked toward the outskirts of the city and the others slowly followed. This moment was so solemn that even Crescent didn't say a word.

Eventually, they found themselves at Aerith's church where there was a small spring of water. But something was different about this water...it looked even purer than the richest spring on Destiny Island. Cloud waded into this spring until he was waist-deep in it, then lowered Aerith's body into it.

"What's going on?" Sakuzy asked, solemnly.

"She's becoming one with the Lifestream." Sakuzy looked over to see Marlene, holding Barrett's metal hand in her own. She had answered his question. "When someone passes away, they join the Lifestream's current where they will find peace." she explained.

Sakuzy went over to the pool and looked to where Cloud put Aerith, but Aerith was no longer there. It was as though she was absorbed into the pool itself. Strangely, when Aerith was truly gone, some of the so-called Lifestream sprung out of the earth and flew into Riku's hand. It morphed and contorted until it took the form of an aqua-green heart that simmered like water in a crystal container: it was the world's Pure Heart.

"Well, one less world for Diamond..." Riku said, fiddling around with it.

Sakuzy gathered his group, then turned to the others. "I'm sorry we can't stay." he told them, "But there are other places that need our help and we can't afford to wait."

Tifa turned to Sakuzy, then slowly nodded. "I understand. Go."

The whole group left the church, Sora was slung over Scott's shoulder like a piece of luggage, and Blader placed his fists on his hips. Vincent walked over to him. "Cid says that the Shera will be good to go in a few minutes." said Vincent, "We'll be heading for Radiant Garden soon."

Blader apparently wasn't listening, seeing as he sighed. "I'm sure gonna miss this place, but hey, at least most of us are still alive."

Something snarled from behind him and Blader turned to meet a pretty disgruntled-looking Red XIII. "I'm still sore about the nickname you gave me." he pointed out, his voice low.

Blader seemed a bit taken aback by this as he said, "Uh...be more specific, please. I have a LOT of nicknames for people."

Red XIII's lip curled back to reveal his sharp teeth. "That 'Siamese if You Please' name." he filled in.

Blader's eyes widened. Now he remembered how Red XIII responded to being called that. "Yeah, uh, hehehe...You see, Tribe Lion, I actually thought it was kind of..." Red XIII emitted a low, reverberating growl and Blader returned to his first statement. "No."

Blader soon found himself running as fast as he could with Red XIII on his tail. Eventually, he chased Blader behind a pillar and tackled him to the ground like a lion hunting a gazelle. From behind the pillar, they could hear Blader's cries for help. "Nice kitty! GENTLE kitty! FRIENDLY KITTY!" the computer master shrieked.

All this time, Cait Sith was doing a bunch of mock-boxing moves and cheering Red XIII on. "That's me boy, Nanaki! Tear 'im to pieces!"

Blader's upper body appeared from behind the pillar as he desperately tried to claw away from Red XIII. It was no use, because Red XIII simply dragged him back and returned to business.

_That was Cloud's SOLDIER Drive. This Drive can rival the Final Drive in raw power and mainly deals with teamwork. The more people in the area, the stronger it is._

_I just had to give Sephiroth another appearance. Hey, if Steven Spielburg could give T-Rex a last appearance in Jurassic Park 1 (the best of the three movies), I could give the One-Winged Angel another appearance._


	164. A Good Heart

Chapter 164: A Good Heart

There was a knock on Sakuzy's door and Scott walked in. "Mind if I come in, mate?" the Aussie asked.

Sakuzy spent most of the day laying on his bed, simply staring at the ceiling. When he answered Scott, he didn't even shift his gaze. "Hey, Scott."

"What's been eatin' yeh, mate?" Scott asked, removing his hat.

Sakuzy sat up and wrapped his arms around his legs. "Well, Quartz and I had a talk...about Aerith." he answered, almost curtly.

_Enter flashback..._

_Sakuzy was holding out his time machine. He knew that he promised to use it to take him back after the threat of the Crystalli were destroyed, but Aerith's death gave him an idea. Suddenly, Quartz's voice rang through his room. "That won't work."_

_Sakuzy jumped in surprise as a holographic form of Quartz's head appeared in his room. It was notably smaller, but it was his nonetheless. Sakuzy gathered himself, then said, "I just can't leave her DEAD, Quartz!" Tears were falling from Sakuzy's eyes again. "Are we just gonna STAND HERE and let her DIE?!"_

_Quartz's holographic visage was solemn, both stern and sad at the same time. "There's no way to save her without exposing yourself in the past." he said, sadly. Before Sakuzy could even argue, Quartz pointed out, "If you saw yourself during the struggle, you could destroy time and space as we know it."_

_Sakuzy blinked back tears and looked...a little angry. "But it's not right! I won't-"_

_Quartz cut him off. "Let it go. I know it's not right, but there's nothing you can do."_

_End flashback..._

Scott sat down next to Sakuzy and nodded solemnly. "I knew how ya feel, Sakuzy. All jokes aside." the Aussie said, his voice dead-serious, "I wanted to go back in time and save some friends that I lost--Thomas and an ol' mate of mine called Michael, to name but a few. April had the exact conversation with me before."

Scott sighed deeply to try and choose his words carefully. "The little weta in Sora's pocket told me about what Sora told ya back in Olympus Coliseum."

Jiminy hopped out from under Scott's hat. "How many times do I have to tell you?!" Jiminy scolded, "I'm a CRICKET!"

For a while, the room was comically silent, then Scott broke it with a question. "Don't ya have to get back to Sora?"

Jiminy thought if over, then shrugged. "Good point, Mr. Highflier. What was I doing under your hat, anyway?"

Scott held up a hand, then said, "Please. Call me Scott, but NOT Scottie." Jiminy nodded, then hopped out of the room and Scott returned to his conversation with Sakuzy. "Anyway, mate, I know WHY you wanna keep Aerith from dyin'."

"Because I have a time machine and can fix ANY mistake?" Sakuzy asked.

Scott waved this reply aside, then answered, "No. It's not because ya have the right tech. Besides, I didn't mean HOW, I meant WHY." Scott took his index finger and tapped Sakuzy's heart with it. NOW, Sakuzy understood. "It's because ya have a good heart."

Scott leaned back a bit, then said, "J told me that a bloke can't save everyone, but I added that you can only try. Aerith was a good-hearted person. If she was still here, she'd want these Crystalli stopped for good."

Scott got up to leave, but turned to Sakuzy just as he was leaving. "You'll get it in due time, but, seeing as Sora's yer great grand-pops, you've got one of the best hearts I've seen--a heart that feels pain. It's that little thing that keeps YOU from becomin' like those Crystalli blokes."

Scott then walked out, leaving Sakuzy to ponder what he said.

In the main hull, Kairi entered the main hallway. Since Quartz was piloting the ship, no one had to steer. Riku was also in the hall and turned on Kairi's approach.

"How is he?" Riku asked, "That battle at Midgar was tough on all of us."

Kairi smiled warmly and nodded. "Sora's fine, but he's still sleeping." she answered, then stifled a laugh as she said, "And after what we've been through, I can hardly blame him."

Riku was turning the latest Pure Heart around in his hand, admiring it like it was some sort of exotic predator. He then pocketed it and spoke to Quartz. "Hey, Quartz, how many more Pure Hearts do we need and why do we need them?"

A blue, holographic image of Quartz's head appeared not too far from them and the good-hearted Crystalli answered Riku. "At least ten more. We need them to open a portal to get to my homeworld--Crystal Empire."

"And we need those hearts because..." Riku asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I'm not as young as I once was." answered Quartz, "Plus, if I were to simply fly there, they would certainly try to kill me."

Kairi then changed the subject by asking, "Where's the next world?"

Quartz's head turned into a blue radar screen as a heart-shaped symbol pinged on it. "According to the radar, the next heart is about a day's fly away." Quartz's head reappeared as a hologram as he advised, "Get yourselves rested. The battle at Midgar was only the beginning..."

In Sora's quarters, the Keyblade Master slowly came back to his senses to find that he was in his room again. After a quick check to make sure that Kairi wasn't in sight. He sprung off the bed and darted over to his bureau. He had placed something in his room soon after Quartz became their ship, a wrapped box, which he saved before their old ship crashed. He was saving it since their trip to Radiant Garden before they got into their argument.

Sora had actually considered throwing the box away during their fight, but had enough kindness to keep it and he had mentally punished himself for thinking about it. All this time, Sora had saved it for the one day he was looking forward to since they started this journey--Kairi's birthday: the next morning.

_Next chapter, lovey-dovey galore. I'm a dang-busted sucker for romance, maybe it's just my teenage hormones, but I may be wrong._


	165. Birthday Feelings

Chapter 165: Birthday Feelings

Kairi's eyes fluttered open the next morning, the buzz of her alarm clock ringing in her ears. After muttering some curse about dismantling it, she turned it off and flopped out of bed. After letting herself wake up a bit, she went into the bathroom for a good shower. Midgar had NOT been good for her hygiene: dirt, some blood, and sweat was all over her. It still amazed her that Quartz had plumbing in his Gummi Ship mode.

A few minutes later, she walked out of the bathroom in a pink bathrobe and, to her surprise, Quartz's holographic head had appeared in her room. She screamed in surprise as Quartz's face flinched slightly. "Oops! Sorry. My bad." he apologized.

Kairi recollected herself, then asked, "What is it?"

"I just came to let you know that Sora wants to meet you in the kitchen." Quartz answered.

Kairi's expression was one of curiosity, but she nodded. "Okay. But can you give me a bit of...privacy, please?"

Quartz nodded. "Alright. Just be quick." In a flicker of blue light, Quartz's holographic face vanished.

A minute later, Kairi was changed into her clothes and proceeded to walk into the kitchen. On turning the lights on, she was met with several people saying one word...

"SURPRISE!"

Kairi jumped slightly as Joyex blew into a noisemaker and she spotted Sora at the table next to a cake with candles shaped like a one and a six. Kairi just couldn't help as a smile spread so quickly across her face, she feared it would split her face open. "Uh…What's the occasion?" she asked, playfully.

"Oh, don't say that." Sora said, then gestured to the cake. "It's your birthday! What else would it be?"

Kairi giggled nervously until everyone (except J) broke out into a chorus of Happy Birthday. She then blew out the candles only to have them reignite again. Ryan laughed out loud and everyone else was soon to follow.

"She actually fell for it!" Riku said, actually joking for the first time that Kairi ever saw her.

Kairi laughed at herself for falling for the oldest birthday trick in the world. "Trick candles...I never would've thought of that."

Presents were scarce, but then again, there wasn't really time for shopping in a battle to save the universe. Kairi didn't care. As long as the gifts were from the heart, she was A-OK.

"Happy B-Day, Kairi!"

Ryan handed Kairi a box, which she opened up to show several wrapped forms of the one thing Scott would NEVER allow Ryan to have: candy. Ryan was never allowed that, seeing as he'd go super-hyperactive.

"Thanks, Ryan!" Kairi said, taking a piece of bubblegum and popping it into her mouth.

"Hey, that candy looks like mine..." Joyex said, suspiciously.

J turned to Ryan with a glare, then asked, "WHERE did you get that candy from?"

Ryan looked sideways, then found that there was no way out of it. "I...uh...found the storage space Joyex had in the medicine cabinet." he admitted.

Joyex snarled and looked more ready to punch Ryan in the face than J, but seemed to decide better of it.

J didn't have a present, which was pretty much expected. April had given her a bracelet with an emerald, a ruby, and a sapphire linked onto it. Possibly the most bizarre gift was from Quartz. It was a CD by her favorite artist: Utada Hikaru. Sora was slightly stunned by this as he asked, "Wait, Quartz, where'd you get this?"

Quartz's answer was one simple word. "eBay."

Riku laughed at this slightly, then shook his head, putting his face in his hand. THIS was ridiculous. Sora finally handed her his present without saying anything. However, the blush he wore seemed about as affectionate as a hug. J shook his head in disbelief. _Amateur. He looks like he's got a fever…_

Kairi opened Sora's present and gasped as she saw what was in it. This gift was something that caught Sora's eye a while ago in Radiant Garden and he had barely managed to get enough munny to buy it. It was a necklace made from actual seashells, looking like something directly from Destiny Islands. What made it a little more unique was that it had various designs etched onto it: ocean patterns, a dolphin, and even seabirds.

Kairi was almost at a loss for words. "It's…beautiful." she said, barely managing the words.

Sora's blush slowly began to become more prominent as he added, "It's not the only thing that's beautiful…"

_Uh-oh…Romance alert!_ Ryan shouted in his mind. The kid, who wasn't a true fan of the luvvy-duvvy, tore out of the room faster than anyone else could register.

About at the doorway, he tripped and had to roll out of the room. Scott chuckled at Ryan's misfortune, then left the room. Everyone else was soon to follow. The two were getting ever closer as Kairi finally got her words out. "Uh…thanks, Sora."

Sora suddenly had a flashback to when a scene similar to this had happened--just after they left North Pole, but before they entered Radiator Springs, only THIS time, they were completely alone. "No…no problem." he said, almost stuttering.

Sora had NO recollection of moving, but soon found himself moving closer and closer to Kairi and she to him. They placed their hands in each others and Sora got the first good close-up he had of her face since North Pole. They then did something that they'd been wanting to do for ages--their faces got closer until…

On the other side of the door, Ryan was peering into the room with some sort of periscope. When he spoke, it was in a quiet hiss. "She's got him in a full-nelson! That CAN'T be legal!"

J quickly took the "periscope" away from Ryan, a slight growl in his voice. He did, however, make sure that he was quiet enough not to be heard. "Ryan, do us all a favor and show some respect."

J, getting curious, looked into the periscope himself. They had done it: Sora and Kairi were kissing and they seemed to be in perfect euphoria. Something in J's mind flashed at that precise moment and he didn't even notice Joyex snatching the periscope and peering into it. All the while, the shapeshifter stood there, his expression unreadable.

"Looks like Sakuzy when he and Pearl…" Sakuzy glowered at Joyex and the Nobody quickly corrected himself. "Er…Maya were having at it." Joyex quickly corrected, then asked, "What do you think, J?" There was no response. "J?"

Joyex turned around to see that J was gone. He had vanished so suddenly and quietly that no one even knew he was gone.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sora and Kairi parted. For a while, both seemed a bit unsure of what to do, but only Kairi seemed to be in the position to talk. "Um…thanks." she said, then finished, "Thanks for the present."

Sora's nod said "you're welcome" easier than words could have, if that was even possible.

Meanwhile, J was laying on his bed. His gloved, right hand slowly moved from his forehead to over his heart. His breathing was erratic, as though trying to gain control of what was going on in him. A memory had come to him when he saw Sora and Kairi kiss; one that was both beautiful and painful.

_Enter Flashback…_

_J was sitting at a table, waiting for someone. His waiting paid off when a beautiful, red-haired girl walked toward him with a full plate of salad. She was a little shorter than he was and was wearing a sky-blue T-shirt, blue jeans, and a silver locket that looked like a heart impaled on a sword. Still, even as she sat down across from him, J looked gloomy as usual. This was a surprise, because the redhead was none other than Maria Walker, the one he loved more than anything._

_Maria apparently noticed his gloominess, because she asked, "Something wrong?"_

_J looked up at her upon being addressed, then looked back down at his half-empty plate. He shook his head, but it was obvious that something was wrong here. Eventually, J reached into a pocket of his hoodie jacket and pulled something out. "Here."_

_Maria held out her hand, curiously, and J put something into it. When he moved his hand, it turned out to be a necklace that looked like half of a broken heart. Maria looked a little struck at this._

_"I got it at that carnival we went to." J explained, "I couldn't get the other half, so I'm giving this to you."_

_Maria paused, then a warm smile crossed her face as she reached into her pants pocket. "That's very thoughtful of you…" Maria then held out J's glove-less hand and placed something in it as well. J knew what was coming in an instant, even before she said, "So, in return, I'll give you the other half of the necklace." On seeing J's expression, she explained, "I saw you win that half, so I got it while you headed back to the car. Now, no matter where we go, we'll always be together."_

_J removed his sunglasses and, for the first time in many, many years, smiled. This wasn't his usual sarcastic smirk or somewhat-evil grin, he actually looked happy. "Thank you..." he said in a barely audible whisper._

_A while later, J and Maria were outside the buffet, wearing their newly exchanged necklaces. They had been silent for a while, but it was soon ended when J asked one question. "Maria?"_

_Maria turned on being addressed. "Yeah?"_

_J paused, but managed to recollect himself. "There's something I have to tell you…" Maria was now very quiet as J slowly turned to her and took her hand in his gloved one. He took a deep breath, then said the three most important words he had ever said in his life. "I…I love you."_

_For what seemed like hours, Maria was speechless. Then, she smiled and reached up to gently stroke the side of J's face. Then, a tear ran down her cheek, yet she retained a smile. "I love you, too…"_

_Without warning, Maria threw herself into J's arms and cried tears of joy into his chest while J embraced her, stroking her hair. After a while, she met him face-to-face to see J remove his sunglasses. He wanted her to see his eyes for this occasion. Then, slowly, she brought her face up to his and they closed their eyes as they shared a kiss._

_End Flashback…_

J stared at the ceiling, the flashback playing itself over and over in his head. He would not get through this day easily…

This birthday was good for everyone as Sora went back to his room, feeling light as a feather. The Keyblade Master kept playing the kiss over and over in his mind. Quartz then spoke to him, correctly guessing what was going through Sora's mind. "A day to remember, Sora?"

Sora started as Quartz's holographic head floated in front of him. "Whoa! How do you DO that?" he asked, clutching his now-hammering heart.

"The inner workings of my Gummi Ship form are covered in hologram projectors." the Crystalli explained, "I can communicate with you at anytime anywhere and vice versa."

It was at that time that Sora realized he was still red enough to look like he had a fever. And as he spoke, he scratched the back of his head with a slight chuckle. "As for your question...Yeah. I'm not forgetting today anytime soon."

Quartz was smiling as Sora returned to his room. Kairi had responded in a similar way to him, only slightly happier. At that moment, a proverb popped right out of Quartz's mouth. "Love...it is something far beyond inorganic understanding. That is something that you've got AGAINST Diamond: the ability to care about others."

Quartz cleared his throat and Sora immediately turned to respond. "But, that neither here nor there, we're approaching the next world--Ant Island."

_For Sora's "not the only thing that's beautiful" line, credit goes to Silent Keyblader._

_Poor J. We got to see what he was like before this whole thing and I have to give D-Dude the credit for it. He admits that it was beautiful to write it._


	166. Food Order

Chapter 166: Food Order

Ant Island...

_Several bugs skittered around until the words 'Ant Island' formed. The words then dispelled into a bunch of caterpillars and maggots._

At first glance, this new world appeared to be a forest, but there were notable differences. The towering plants were not trees, but grass, flowers, and grain stalks. The rocks were pieces of dirt and a small bonsai was the size of the huge tree on Destiny Island.

"Another world, another change." Sora said to himself.

"You can say THAT again." Donald agreed.

Like in previous worlds, the entire group had, once again, changed form. Sora and Kairi were now ants--Sora was blue and his antennae pointed in the same directions as his spiked hair, while Kairi was purple with a pair of wings and her antennae streamed backwards to her back. For some reason, a thunder-using female Nobody came to Sora's mind. One that seemed...distant, but not unforgotten.

Riku was now a black hornet with his antenna dropping forward like his bangs. His wings were silver and there was a Heartless symbol on his back. "Cool..." he said to himself, inspecting everything from his black exoskeleton to his spindly limbs.

Donald and Goofy, predictably, were the smallest. Donald was a small, white gnat with a tiny blue hat and his head while Goofy was a pillbug with a green shell. Goofy inspected himself from his semicircular build to his multiple arms. "Still bigger than you, Donald. Ahyuck!"

Donald folded his arms and addressed Goofy without even turning to meet his eye. "DON'T remind me!"

The others chose that time to walk out of the grass forest. Sakuzy was now a copper-colored termite. He looked a bit like Sora only his head was more prominent, a different shade of brown, and had a strange funnel of sorts on his forehead.

Joyex, on the other hand(s) was a big, black spider. He walked on six of his legs while the other two were used as a pair hands.

Sakuzy looked a bit stiff in the neck, and made Sora a bit concerned. "You okay, Sakuzy?" the ant asked.

Sakuzy turned to Sora, but by adjusting his footing, not by turning his neck. "Yeah, I'm fine." he answered, "It's just if I turn my head too far, this hole in my forehead sprays acid."

Sakuzy turned his head and a burst of some acidic liquid sprayed into Joyex's face. It burned his face like fire and stung his eyes like someone had sprayed him with lemon juice. "OW!" the spider screamed, "YOU'VE ALREADY SHOWED ME THAT!"

Scott's hat was now made of leaves sewn together by thin vegetable fibers. He had long legs that really increased his height and bore resemblance to a giant cricket, only he had no wings. "Crikey, I'm a weta." he said, flexing his long, powerful legs.

Sora gave Scott an odd look and asked, "Weta?"

Scott removed his hat to reveal a pair of LONG antennae, easily as long as his whole body. He scratched his head, then put his hat back on with extreme difficulty. "It's a giant cricket from a land not too far where I'm from. I read Jiminy's journal and I think that ya met HUGE versions of them on Skull Island." he reminded.

Sora shuddered at the thought of being trapped in that bug pit. He REALLY didn't like it, judging by the way he said, "DON'T remind me..."

Ryan hummed out into the air to show that he had turned into a cute honeybee with a bright red chest. He inspected everything on him from his fuzzy body to his wings and to the stinger on his abdomen. "YES! I'm a bee! Bzzzz..." he buzzed, then pumped his fist into the air, "Now I can sting the HECK out of Heartless and Crystalli alike!"

J scuttled out of the shade of the grass. He was now a black, nasty-looking scorpion with red eyes, a stinger on his tail, and powerful-looking pincers. He turned to Ryan and pointed his claw at him like a finger. "ACTUALLY, you only get ONE sting." he corrected.

Ryan couldn't believe what J was saying and turned in midair. "WHAT?! Why?!"

J scuttled away into the grass forest's depths and answered, "If you use that stinger, you WILL cause major damage. However, the stinger will get stuck in your victim and it'll pull out your entrails and kill you."

Ryan gulped at this. He never really thought about that. April fluttered over as a monarch butterfly. She had a sleek, black body, stringy antennae, and beautiful wings that were reddish-orange with black lacing. She took a look at J and stuck out her tongue. "Ugh..." she said in disgust. She didn't fly off, but made sure to give J a wide berth.

Scott walked over to the shapeshifting scorpion, the distance covered in only two or three strides. "Ah, don't mind 'er." he assured, "April's a bit...creeped out by scorpions."

After getting acquainted with their new forms, the entire group hiked through the forest. What was a small patch of clovers, flowers, and grass had become a forest of what looked like trees. But they hadn't gone too far when several large crystal spires slammed into the ground. Judging by the size of them, they were going to be LARGE. "FLIPPIN' HECK! LOOK!" Scott shouted.

When the crystals had converted form, the group looked up to see that it was a Crystalli Parasite. Usually, they were no bigger than a hummingbird and probably wouldn't be perceived as a threat. Such was not the case here, because now they were the size of a small bus. Each of its eyes was easily the size of Sora's clenched fist and its three-pronged mouthpart sounded like a giant drill when it spun.

"And they were bad enough when they were SMALL." J growled to himself.

Then, just as the first Parasite advanced on them, three others shifted to their true form. Now there were THREE insectoid Crystalli the size of T-rexes and slowly advancing toward them. Sora acted on instinct when the first Parasite took one step forward, its sword-sized forelimb crashing into the rocky ground. Sora instantly summoned his Ultima Weapon Keyblade and jumped onto one, driving his weapon into its head. The Crystalli didn't really mind it, because the best the Keyblade did at this size was scratch it. The Parasite shook the slight pain off, then took off into the air, as it still retained enough weight to fly. The result of its rapidly flapping wings was to knock anyone unprepared for it to the ground.

Fortunately, Joyex, being a spider, managed to catch himself on a web he produced. "Being a spider, cons--lots of legs to get used to." the Nobody said to himself, "Pros--can make your own rescue lines."

Meanwhile, in the air, the oversized Parasite shook off Sora shortly after it took off. After getting to a good height, it dropped like a falcon, its mouthpart aimed to impale its victims. Everyone hit the deck and the Parasite missed, creating a massive crater in the ground Joyex grinned. He had an idea. He jumped onto one Parasite with a resounding "thunk" and summoned the Chain Thrasher in his right hand.

"Graviga..."

An orb of black material surrounded part of the Parasite's head plate. With a slight crunching noise, there was a hole in the Crystalli's head large enough for a person to squeeze into, which Joyex did. After tossing out several parts, the half-hearted Nobody saw an area similar to an arcade game. He cracked his knuckles as he settled in. "Let's rock!"

Meanwhile, J was fending off a Parasite's oncoming claws with his pincers and stinger, however they didn't seem to be doing much--J's pincers were small and his stinger couldn't penetrate the Crystalli's armor. All he could do was wrestle around with the claw. The Parasite's fierce chatter caused Sakuzy jerked his head up, spritzing it with acid. The acid hit it along the leg and the Parasite screeched in pain as it tried to shake the burning sensation out of its leg.

"Boy, do I feel useless..." Ryan said to himself. If J was right, his first sting would be his last. Still, that wasn't the only weapon he had and he smiled a mischievous smile at the realization.

Back in the battle, Kairi suddenly made good use of her wings, which Sora lacked. She flew up its leg and dragged her Keyblade up one of the Parasite's legs. Scott then jumped onto one and caused a long spike to appear out of the place where his wrist would have been. He then jammed it into the Crystalli's armor...to no effect. The spike simply shattered and put him in a world of hurt. The Crystalli flapped its wings once, which was more than enough to send the Aussie plummeting to the ground. Fortunately, April was there and she caught him out of the air.

The Parasite took note of the reddish-orange wings fluttering about, then took off after it, sounding like a large helicopter. Ryan flew after it and took in one plan he had left... He took his insectoid legs and blasted the Parasite's wings with solar energy. His plan worked: the Parasite's wings were not as tough as its body armor. Within seconds, the Parasite was forced to the ground. As it landed, everyone realized that the best these attacks seemed to do was sting it. Sora, fed up, held out the Ultima Weapon to the Parasite like an accusing finger.

"BLAST!"

The all-too-familiar spell fired from the tip of Sora's Keyblade with the force of a cannonball. It exploded on contact, sending the monster to the ground, dead. Sora slumped to the ground, gasping for breath and using his Keyblade as a crutch. "One...down..." he said between breaths.

As the other Crystalli noticed, they turned because one of the Parasites began acting...very weird. It turned, shakily, and began walking towards the other, jerkily. Meanwhile, Joyex was inside the Parasite's head, controlling it like an arcade game and...singing. "_I AM THE ONE EXTERMINATIN'!_"

The parasites plainly had no idea what was going on as Joyex's Parasite staggered, then crashed into another one. "_At the Copa, Copacabana!_" Every now and then, Joyex would jerk the controls sideways and crash into something._ "The hottest spot north of Havana..._"

Joyex pressed a button, which activated something in the Parasite, causing its three-pronged mouthpart to start spinning like a drill. "_Sing us a song, you're the piano man!_"

Ryan and J were looking at this with different expressions on their faces. J looked exasperated while Ryan seemed to say "what the heck?"

"WHY is he singing?" J asked, pretty close to a snarl.

Ryan shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe he's the SCR--Singing Comic Relief."

The Parasite controlled by Joyex dug its drill-like mouthpart into the other's armor, which cut right through and went through the other side of its head. As the enemy Crystalli fell to the ground, the last Parasite took its gawky ally as a threat and was about to advance when something happened. There was suddenly a strange, sharp-sounding music in the air and Sakuzy gulped.

Sora gave his descendant a questioning look as he asked, "What?"

"I heard this slight woodwind/fierce strings tune in Walking with Prehistoric Beasts and it CAN'T be good! (1)" Sakuzy answered.

Sakuzy was right, because what appeared to be a black carpet of living things was moving closer and closer towards them. When it was close enough, Sora could tell that it was made up of hundreds of thousands of Heartless. They looked like GIANT ants, still half the size of Sora's form, but dangerous nonetheless. Their eyes were yellow and they had powerful jaws, a pair of small wings, and the Heartless symbol on their backs. Oddly enough, they marched right past Sora's group and swarmed over the surviving Parasite and the one Joyex was in. Inside, Joyex could hear the sounds of their feet on the armor.

"_Ghost Riders...in the..._" Joyex suddenly stopped singing as he noticed the strange clatter coming from outside. "Hey, what's going on?"

The Army Ant Heartless suddenly began digging their jaws into the Parasites, sending through small electrical charges through their jaws. The sentient Crystalli writhed around, trying to get the Army Ants off it, but to no avail. Soon, it fell on the ground, squirming like a stomped cockroach as the Army Ants soon began to overpower it by sheer numbers. Soon, it stopped moving altogether and the Army Ant Heartless marched away, leaving a lifeless husk.

Meanwhile, in the controlled Parasite, Joyex's screams in agony were still audible through the mayhem, getting electrocuted himself. The Army Ants soon began swarming into Joyex's Parasite, creating sounds of a scuffle. With a stream of released hearts, Joyex jumped out of his vessel. He looked like he had a close encounter with a bug zapper, seeing as the small hairs all over Joyex's body were singed a bit. The Heartless, strangely enough for them, retreated.

Leaving the lifeless husks of the Crystalli Parasites behind them, the colony of bugs continued to scout the forest. "That was weird." Sora said, looking over his shoulder to where he came from.

"You're telling me. They just retreated all of a sudden." Riku agreed, "And judging by the amount of time it took them to defeat that Parasite, they could have crushed us..."

"But why-" J never finished, because at that time, a large grain stalk came out of the blue and slammed onto J's back. It was easily the size of a small tree and sent the obsidian-colored scorpion to the ground. "OW! SON OF A-"

J was cut off when another stalk exactly like the last one landed on his back and sending him to the ground again. The stalk also hit a purple ant with a small leaf crown close by. "HEY!" she said.

April then turned to someone, who was wearing a sort of primitive harvesting equipment. "Cut it out!" she called, "You could hurt someone over here!"

The person lifted up the helmet to show that it was a blue ant similar to Sora. The ant lifted a mask as he turned to the source and looked frightened at the group's exclamation. "OH, I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!" it apologized.

Two ants, one short and stocky and the other old and thin, looked disdained at the blue ant running towards them. "Oh, it's Flik." one of the ants said.

The blue ant, Flik as he was called, ran over to the rest and looked a bit...fascinated. "Well, looks like we've got some visitors. I'm Flik, Inventor..." Flik didn't even fully introduce himself when he noticed who he had hit and shrieked. "AH! Princess Atta!"

The purple ant, Atta, stood up. "Flik! What're you doing?" she asked.

Flik returned his attention to Sora and co., who turned to Sora. "Good to meet ya, Flik. I'm Sora and these are..."

"FLIK!"

Flik snapped his attention back to Atta, who was staring at his gear. "Oh, THIS! This is my idea for harvesting grain!" Flik explained, "No need to spend time plucking the seeds, you can just cut down the ENTIRE stalk!"

Flik turned to make his point and to show what he had made. Atta seemed a bit exasperated by this as she asked, "ANOTHER invention?!"

Sakuzy turned to the rest, seeing as Flik paid them no attention whatsoever. "What's going on?" the termite asked.

"Ah, give it time." Sora advised.

Flik continued his conversation with Atta as the group took in the landscape--it was mainly a small patch of grass on a moderately-sized island in the middle of a small pond, but at their size, it was probably the size of Destiny Island. Ryan, April, and Riku flew to try and get a better look at the landscape.

Ryan, for the moment, didn't seem too impressed. "Ah, I don't really see the attraction to..." Suddenly, something caught Ryan's interest. "OH BOY! FLOWERS!" April and Riku barely got out of the way as Ryan darted off like a bullet for some flowers and began moving plant-to-plant. As he paused by each one, he slurped up nectar. "Mmm...Nectar..."

J could see Ryan collecting the flowers' precious nectar, unwittingly spreading pollen to other plants nearby. The poisonous arachnid could only sigh. "Bee instincts to collect nectar. He'll get over them sooner or later." he said, more to himself than anyone.

After a minute or two, Ryan came back, covered in yellow powder that was actually pollen. Sakuzy sniffed the air, then let out a loud sneeze and said, through a stuffy nose, "Sorry. I'm allergic to pollen..."

Suddenly, the ground beneath Sakuzy suddenly lowered a good amount and he barely hopped away as the ground gave way. Out of the hole came two boy ants not much older than Ryan. "Ditch Dot!" one of them said.

As the boys darted off, a small girl ant popped out of the same hole, possibly the smallest ant they had seen thus far: almost the same size as Donald. "HEY! Get back here!" she said, impatiently.

The little ant ran after the two to no avail, seeing as they were much older than they are. Like most royalty ants, she had wings. But when the little girl tried flying, she fell and landed with a grunt with pain. Ryan saw what had just happened and grinned slightly with a chuckle, "Heh. I've been THERE before..."

An elderly lady ant with a large, flower crown walked over. This had to be the queen, it couldn't be anyone else. "DOT!" she scolded.

The girl ant, Dot, looked over to the queen. "Yes, mother?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

The queen walked over to Dot and asked, scoldingly, "What did I tell you about trying to fly?"

Dot replied in a monotone. They had obviously gotten into this talk before. "Not until my wings grow in."

Ryan suddenly had a flashback.

_Enter flashback..._

_Scott was trying to train Ryan how to fly, this was BEFORE they knew he was solar-powered. "C'mon, mate, just try harder." the Aussie coached._

_Ryan jumped into the air as hard as he could only to fall back to the ground and land on his back. He got up, dusted himself off and said, frustratedly, "Scott, I'm TIRED of this!"_

_Scott shook his head as he said, "Too bad, mate. You ain't stoppin' 'til you've made some progress. Now, even if ya hover for a few moments, you get a lunch break."_

_Ryan screwed up his face and took off into the sky before falling ten feet and landing on his back._

_"Good for now!" Scott said, approvingly, "Now, how's 'bout that lunch break?"_

_End flashback..._

Flik then turned to the queen and asked, "Uh...could I borrow Dot for a second?"

The two walked off and Sora turned to Atta. There was a long chain of ants carrying food from grain to berries over to a large stone slab. The slab was held up by three pillars made of rocks and had a large leaf on it. The leaf was piled high with the food and it looked like enough to feed an army.

"What's going on here?" Sora asked.

Atta heard Sora's question and turned to answer, then flinched slightly at Scott before actually seeing his physical features. After that, she put a hand over her heart and sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness..." she gasped, "I thought he was a grasshopper."

Scott scratched his exoskeletal head in confusion. The noise his fingertip made against it was...weird; as though someone was trying to scratch something off with a rubber glove. "What's yer problem with..."

Scott's sentence was suddenly cut off by a sound that reminded him of a didgeridoo back at Mugwomp. Atta, as well as the whole colony, seemed to panic. "EVERYONE, in the anthill! Big bugs...just hide!"

The rest of the colony was obviously in too much of a panic to hear Atta, but that changed when the queen emitted a shrill whistle. When the queen got everyone's attention, she spoke at the top of her lungs, "Okay, everyone! Take all the food to the offering stone, then move into the anthill. All large newcomers, head for cover! Now let's go!"

The entire colony obeyed the queen's orders without question and the line went from the offering stone all the way back to the anthill. Joyex simply stared at Atta as she ran off. "From what I can tell--she's a few Skittles short of a full bag." he pointed out.

J nodded as he, Scott, and April made their escape to the high grass. The rest were headed towards the anthill, but Sora stopped to do a quick head count. He saw Dot come by earlier, but one was missing. "Wait...where's Flik?!" he asked.

Sora's question was answered when a voice rang out. "HEY! Hey, wait for me!" it begged.

Sora bolted back from the anthill to see Flik running towards the offering stone. "Flik? What're you doing?" the Keyblade Master asked.

Flik didn't seem to hear Sora, seeing as he seemed to be in a panic. "Get the food into the offering stone, then into the anthill!" he said to himself.

Flik vibrated his harvesting equipment to try and get the grains he collected out. When it didn't work, he simply dunked his equipment onto the leaf, but it was still vibrating like mad. It fell off the slab, tumbling to one of the pillars holding up the rock, and a catapult (the one that had launched grain stalks) flipped out, knocking a single rock out of the pillar's structure. The pillar slowly, but surely, gave way and the slab came crashing down. A crash like that was enough to grab Flik and Sora's attention, earning panicked yells from both of them. The two ants dashed towards the leaf, which had tipped over and its contents were pouring into the lake below.

"NO!" they both said, panicking, "NO! NONONONONONONONONO!!!"

Both ants seized the leaf's stem and began trying to pull it back to no avail. The leaf only stopped when the last grain of food fell into the lake with a splash. Both Sora and Flik peeked over the edge, shocked expressions on their faces.

"Oh no..." Flik said, his eyes wide in light of the fact that he had screwed up.

"Uh oh..."

Within seconds, the two were soon racing towards the anthill at breakneck speed. "Princess Atta! Princess Atta!" Flik screamed, "PRINCESS ATTA!!!"

Sora saw shadows on the ground and heard the sounds of what sounded like several airplanes in the air. THAT only made him run all the faster.

Inside the anthill, it turned out that it wasn't as dark as the whole group imagined it to be. Turned out that it was a very complicated network of tunnels with some form of glowing mushrooms to provide light. As the faint sounds of rapidly-flapping wings began to hum above ground, Goofy curled up into a ball and Donald hid behind him. Every single ant was tensed up and eagerly waiting for something, especially Atta.

"They come, they eat, they leave..." Atta repeated to herself, "They come, they eat, they leave..."

Sora and Flik pushed and shoved their way through the crowd of ants with an occasional "excuse me". Sora got to his friends and Flik went to Atta. Kairi gave Sora an odd look, because Sora looked like he had just seen a ghost. "Sora? You okay?" she asked.

Sora slowly shook his head, then pointed over at Flik. The other ant had just reached Atta, looking VERY frightened. When Flik spoke, it was in a quiet, worried hiss. "Princess Atta!"

Atta brushed him aside with a "Not now, Flik."

"But, Princess, it's about the offering!" Flik hissed again.

"SHH!"

The exchange made it obvious that Atta was too focused on making sure whatever was up there would be over soon. The buzzing stopped and was soon replaced by the sounds of several things landing on the ground. Soon a muffled voice spoke from above ground. "HEY! What's goin' on?!" it asked.

Another voice joined in, slightly higher and more casual. "Yeah! Where's the food?"

Kairi now had a good idea on what Sora was so worried about as the whole area rang with the sounds of several gasps. Atta, on the other hand, looked ready to murder Flik on the spot, especially when she asked, "What...did you DO?!"

As the whole colony turned hard looks on Flik, Sora decided to vouch for him and get the poor guy out of trouble. "It was an accident!"

Sora would have explained further, but hadn't even said a word when a large, clawed foot then burst through the ground, followed by many others. In a flash, a small army of grasshoppers hopped into the holes they created and began to wreak havoc amongst the ants, all the while cackling evilly. Sora and co. reacted in an instant as Keyblades flashed to life. A grasshopper made to grab at Sora only to meet a Keyblade straight to the head. Sora had slammed his Keyblade onto the bug's head and it swayed, dizzily, until it fell to the ground with a thud. But still, more grasshoppers came to harass him, causing the blue ant to swing his Keyblade wildly.

Ryan was buzzing around the area, slamming his yellow, fuzzy body into any grasshoppers in his way. After taking out two or three, he chuckled to himself. "Hehehe...cake."

Suddenly, a short, stocky grasshopper peeked out from one of the holes. "BOO!" it said, before laughing as it prepared to enter. Said grasshopper dropped from the hole, landing directly on top of Ryan, crashing the bee into the ground. "Where's the food?!"

The grasshopper was obviously talking to the ants as it stepped off the squashed bee that was Ryan. "Ow..." he said, twitching his wing, feebly.

Sora and co. were doing a pretty decent job against these invaders. Riku was buzzing around the immediate area, taking down grasshoppers with his Way to Dawn. As he did, Donald took his staff and whacked Goofy like a golfball, smacking down any grasshoppers in the pillbug's way. Joyex actually sprayed some with a web technique to make Spider-Man proud and Sakuzy caught them in the face with a good squirt from his forehead. It greatly amused him to see the grasshoppers clutching their faces, trying to get acid out of their face.

But soon, things took a turn for the worse, Sora heard the all-too-familiar sound of skittering feet and looked up at the holes to see a battalion of Army Ant Heartless. "Oh no."

Within seconds, the Army Ant Heartless swarmed the entire area, herding the ants into tightly-knit groups and disabling any that resisted. Sora's group was vastly outnumbered and overpowered. Several Army Ant Heartless forced Sora and Flik to the ground. But as they tried to crawl away, a pair of spiny feet landed right in front of them with a THUD. Right in front of the two was a large grasshopper bigger than all the others. One eye was milky white with a scar over it. He leaned over so close to Sora and Flik that they could see the detail of his armored skin.

Flik shuddered at the sight before saying, "H-H-Hopper..."

The grasshopper, Hopper, seemed to dismiss them as he slowly walked around to get the rest of the colony into an even circle. The Army Ant Heartless had subdued the off-worlders and held on with their vice-like jaws. When Hopper was quite certain he had the whole colony's attention, he spoke with his back turned to the colony. "So, where is it?" he asked.

There was a stunned silence as the colony was at a loss for words. Upon not hearing an answer, Hopper wheeled around to roar, "Where's my FOOD?!"

Hopper's roar echoed through the area, causing Donald and Ryan to cringe slightly. After a while, Princess Atta had the courage to ask, albeit nervously, "Isn't it up there?"

"What?!" Hopper advanced on Atta, who was getting scared witless.

"The food was on a leaf, sitting on a..." On seeing the look on Hopper's face, she asked, "You sure it's not up there?"

Hopper glanced around, saw Kairi, grinned, then turned back to Atta with an annoyed look on his face. "Are you saying I'm stupid?" he asked.

"No..." Atta said, hesitantly.

"Do I look STUPID to YOU? Let's just think about the logic, shall we? Let's just THINK about it for a second." Hopper's voice started calm, but slowly started to rise over time. "If it was UP THERE, would I be coming DOWN HERE, to YOUR level, LOOKING FOR IT?!" As Atta stuttered to try and find something to say, Hopper seemed to notice who he was talking to. "WHY am I talking to you? You're not the queen."

Hopper's antenna suddenly lowered and began wriggling around Atta's face, startling her to the core. (This is a bug's way of smelling.) "You don't SMELL like the queen."

The queen spoke up, offering an explanation. "She's learning to take over from me, Hopper."

Realization then dawned on Hopper's face as he said, "Oh, I get it--under new management." His face quickly turned into a scowl as he turned his attention to Atta again. "So, it's YOUR fault."

Atta's eyes widened as she said, "No, not me, it was..."

She gestured at Flik, who was looking a bit scared, but Hopper stopped her. He didn't seem to care what she had to say or what she wanted him to see. "Uh-uh-uh! FIRST rule of leadership--EVERYTHING is your fault." Hopper sat Atta down and placed a leg next to her. "It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, princess." he explained, "One of those 'Circle of Life' kinda things. Now, let me tell you how everything's supposed to work--the sun grows the food, the ants pick the food, the grasshoppers eat the food..."

The stout grasshopper that flattened Ryan suddenly had to put something in. "And the birds eat the grasshoppers! Like the one that nearly ate YOU, remember? Remember?" he said, eagerly.

Hopper OBVIOUSLY didn't approve of this as he addressed the shorter grasshopper directly. "Molt."

Molt ignored his brother and continued, still retaining his eager, boyish tone. "It was awful, I tell you. AWFUL. I mean, Hopper's basically halfway down the bird's throat. He's hoppin' and flippin' and screamin', okay?" Hopper, looking REALLY ticked off, slowly stomped over to where Molt was ranting. "Oh, c'mon! It's a great story!"

Suddenly, Hopper seized his brother by the antenna, dragged him away with several "ow's" and slammed him against the wall. His voice was quiet, but threatening--like that tone J usually had when Ryan was driving him up the wall. "I swear, if I didn't promise mother on her deathbed that I wouldn't kill you, I'D KILL YOU!"

"And believe me, no one appreciates that more than I do." Molt said, quickly and fearfully.

"Shut up!" Hopper snarled, "I don't wanna hear ANOTHER word out of you while we're on this island! Do you understand me?!" Molt whimpered slightly and Hopper slammed him against the wall in further anger. "I SAID 'DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!'"

After THAT exclamation, Molt asked, "Well, how could I answer? You said I couldn't say another word." Hopper now looked so furious that he was ready to punch Molt, flexing an arm to sock him. Molt's expression screamed terror. "AAH! REMEMBER MA!"

Hopper growled, then turned on his heel and punched another grasshopper to the ground with a loud "SMACK". Hopper breathed slowly, saw that everyone was staring at him, then suddenly changed his mind and mood. "Hey, I'm a compassionate insect. There's still a while before the rains come, so you all can just TRY AGAIN..." At the end of his last statement, his voice went into a low growl.

"But, Hopper," the queen reasoned, "Since it's almost the rainy season, we need this time to gather food for OURSELVES."

Hopper seemed oblivious to the queen's plead, because he began strutting around. "Hey, if YOU don't uphold YOUR end of the bargain, then I can't guarantee your safety from those crystal things, because there are insects out there who would take advantage of you!" he said.

To make a point, he gestured to Ryan, who simply glanced around. "Don't look at me, I'm just the Flower Obsessor." he said, making a "no" hand sign.

Hopper ignored the bee and snapped his fingers after saying, "SOMEONE could get hurt..."

A loud snarl sounded through the anthill's interior and every single ant turned to see the cause. Two grasshoppers were trying to control another one that was on a leash made from a blade of grass and growling, drooling, and barking like some bloodthirsty monster. At the wrong moment, Dot squeaked in fear and tried running away from the seemingly-rabid grasshopper, but Hopper caught her by the head.

"What's the matter?" asked Hopper, "You scared of grasshoppers?" Dot whimpered and tried to lean away from the beast as Hopper was taking her closer to it. By his next sentence, Hopper had brought her almost nose-to-nose with the beast. "You don't like Thumper?"

THIS was too much for Sora, because he looked ready to jump out and stop Hopper, but Flik got there first. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" he said.

Both Hopper and Thumper turned to him in surprise as Thumper's maniacal barking slowed to a low and steady growl. Hopper slowly strode over to Flik and held out Dot. "You want her?" he asked, "Go ahead...Take her."

Flik's sense seemed to have caught up with his courage and he remained silent. Hopper raised an "eyebrow" as he asked, "No?" he then growled, "Then get BACK IN LINE."

Flik looked down in shame as he returned to his spot next to Sora. Hopper released Dot and the little girl darted over to her mother for protection. Hopper turned to the grasshoppers, then turned to the rest. "It seems as if you ants are forgetting your place. So, let's DOUBLE the order of food!"

This shocked the ants to the core and Atta stuttered for a few moments before Hopper walked over to Molt. "We'll be back, at the end of the week." Molt cringed as Hopper walked over to him, reaching for something. However, it turned out that Hopper simply snatched a piece of loose skin and turned to the ants. "When the last leaf falls..."

Hopper let the flake of shed skin fall to the ground like an autumn leaf and several ants watched it until it touched the ground. Hopper backed up to one of the holes in the roof. "You ants have a nice week." Suddenly, Hopper addressed the whole gang of grasshoppers and shouted, "LET'S RIDE!"

With several cheers of excitement, the grasshoppers flapped their wings so loudly that it sounded like several small helicopters were revving their rotaries. When Hopper flew up out of the hole in the roof, the other grasshoppers were quick to follow...except Molt, because he bumped his head on the ceiling before correcting himself. When the last grasshopper was gone, the Army Ant Heartless vanished in puffs of darkness, leaving the entire ant colony to glower at Flik, who grinned nervously. This was his biggest screw-up yet...

Flik

An inventor ant who always seems to mess up with EVERYTHING. He has a brilliant mind and has made all kinds of inventions, despite the fact everyone in the colony hates his ideas. However, he's kind to Dot and has a...thing for Princess Atta. His most recent inventions are harvesting equipment, a megaphone, and a telescope. He first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

Princess Atta

The queen-to-be who is overseeing the offerings to the grasshoppers. She seems overworked because she's nervous about someday becoming queen. She's sometimes mentally stressed and always acts like the sky is falling. She first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

Queen

The elderly leader of the colony. She's led the colony for a good number of years, but is teaching Atta, her oldest daughter, the essentials. She often enjoys joking at unusual times (probably because her voice actor's Phyllis Diller). She first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

Princess Dot

The youngest of the queen's two daughters. She's always picked on because of her size and can't manage flight yet. Still, she maintains a good friendship with Flik and a confident nature. She first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

Molt

Hopper's somewhat-idiotic brother. He has told almost every embarrassing story about Hopper and tries to keep his more physically able brother from beating the tar out of him by reminding him of his promise to their deceased mother that he wouldn't kill him. He first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

Hopper

The leader of a gang of grasshoppers who terrorize the citizens of Ant Island. He is ruthless and manipulative, keeping ants under his thumb to insure their protection from other bugs. He has aligned himself with Maleficent to make sure that he's top gun. He first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

Army Ant Heartless

The Heartless that swarm over Ant Island and destroy the Crystalli, reversing the usual power struggle. While Crystalli usually out-compete Heartless elsewhere, the role is reversed here. They may be smaller than average Heartless, but they often number up to half a million and use bio-electric shocks from their powerful jaws.

_(1) In a documentary called "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts", there was a species of carnivorous ants about an inch long that hunted in large numbers, stripping its prey to the bone. There was a calm oboe/fierce strings tune when they appeared._

_Ah-ha! ANOTHER character played by Hayden Panettiere! Trust me, Hayden was only nine when she starred in this movie...and she looked very cute when she commentated. Heh. Wonder how she'd respond to it now..._


	167. Circus Bugs

Chapter 167: Circus Bugs

Sora and co. were waiting outside the anthill, each one finding a way to try and pass the time. Atta had Flik attend a trial due to his major goof-up and so far, things had been slow. "How long have we been waiting here?" he asked. Kairi made to look at a watch, but soon realized that no one had any. She turned to Sora, a slight glare on her face. "Oh, right. Sorry..." he apologized instantly.

"So, what exactly happened?" J asked, with the best "shrug" that his new scorpion body could give.

Sora shook his head. He didn't really like the way it happened either... "Oh, Flik took off his invention too early and it tipped the stone." he explained.

"Honestly, who could be THAT clumsy?" Joyex asked in disbelief.

Ryan obviously heard that because he pointed something out just as Scott looked in his direction. "LOOK! It was while I still couldn't control my powers! I wasn't doing ANYTHING, Seifer's gang started it, I got tensed up, they DROPPED the charges, and his gang's been after me ever since, so just LEAVE ME ALONE, OKAY?!"

Everyone gave Ryan an odd look as Flik exited the anthill. Sora was the first one there and the first thing he said was, "So, how'd it go?"

Flik, to everyone's surprise, seemed extremely excited. They were half-expecting a broken ant to slump out, but Flik really looked like he would jump out of his skin in joy. "They went with MY idea: I'm gonna go get some bigger bugs to come here and fight! And they'll forever rid us of Hopper AND his gang!"

J sighed as he scuttled over to Flik. He, unlike all the other bugs, had to walk close to the ground in order to use his stinger. The result was that he couldn't stand up like Sora. "Flik, the colony has an acid-spraying termite," J gestured at Sakuzy. Whenever he said the insect name, he gestured to the person. "A hyperactive, knucklehead bee, an Outback weta, a butterfly, a rolling pillbug, a small gnat, a wisecracking spider, a couple of other ants, a wasp, and me, a deadly scorpion."

Flik wasn't listening, seeing as he was too hyped up to hear J. "BUT, I'm not going alone! Sora, you're coming with me along with..." Flik studied his choices, then pointed out Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and J. "You, you, you, and you."

J remained quiet, then turned to Sora. "Is it too late for me to abort?" he asked. Sora stared flatly at the anti-hero arachnid, who sighed. "I thought as much..."

Scott stood proudly as he said, "Don't worry. We'll keep the colony in tip-top shape while you're gone."

Within the hour, Flik had packed up and his lot marched off into the grass forest while the colony cheered as they left. Flik took it the wrong way; he thought they were cheering for an oncoming hero(es). Donald, on the other hand, knew better, "NOW I think I know why we're leaving..."

Goofy paused, then shrugged...with all of his arms. "Oh well. Better make the most of it. And who knows?" he asked, "Maybe we'll find the Pure Heart?"

As the group moved along, Flik then turned to a grass stalk and asked, "Hey, fellas. Beautiful mornin', huh?"

Much to their surprise, two boy ants jumped down from the stalk and began following them. They were the same boys that had tried to ditch Dot earlier. "My dad gives you ONE hour, before you come back to the island, crying." one of the boys told him.

J's reply had his usual sarcasm in it. "Glad to see he has faith in us."

The second boy, on the other hand, said, "My dad doesn't think that."

Flik seemed a bit encouraged by this. "Really?"

"Nah, he thinks you're all gonna die." the second boy said, quashing his plans.

Donald turned a bit pale at this and gulped. Flik's response was...shaky, but at least he wasn't paralyzed. "Really?" Flik asked.

They continued walking and for even more company, Dot joined them. The second boy nodded, then said, "Yeah. He says if the sun doesn't get you, the birds WILL."

"Well, I think he's gonna make it!" Dot said, completely different from the boys.

As they neared a ledge, the first boy turned to Dot and spat, "No one asked YOU, your royal shortness!"

Sora, Kairi, J, Donald, and Goofy came to a halt when they saw the edge, but Flik turned to the three. "C'mon, she's entitled to her opinion." he pointed out.

Flik then turned to the edge to see what the others were staring at. The ledge led to a pretty steep drop. J looked down, shrugged, and then began scuttling down it. He scaled the rock easily, seeming to defy gravity as he slowly made his way to the bottom. "I'll meet you on the other side." the scorpion said as he descended.

Donald put a hand to his chin, then snapped his tiny fingers. He whispered something into Goofy's ear and the knight smiled. "Now, there's an idea!"

Goofy curled into a ball like a pillbug does and Donald got a good hold on him. The duck mage fluttered his wings and slowly lifted Goofy off the ground and made for the other side of the trench. This wasn't without extreme difficulty, seeing as Goofy was bigger AND heavier than him and Sora could certainly see the strain the duck was making.

At the same time, Kairi realized that she had wings like Atta and Dot and was soon flying over the trench. Sora sighed a defeated sigh, then called over to Kairi and Donald. "Lucky!"

Flik checked the trench, then turned in another direction. Sora looked over at him with an odd look and asked, "Isn't the city THAT way?"

"Yeah, I know." Flik answered.

One of the boy ants obviously thought Flik was stupid as the blue ant began climbing up a dandelion that was ready to disperse its seeds. "You're supposed to be looking for BUGS not DANDELIONS!" he called.

Now, Sora and Dot had an idea on what Flik was doing. Sora quickly darted after him and the other boy sighed. "I think the heat's gone to both of their heads..."

"Leave them alone!" Dot said, defiantly, "They know what they're doing!"

"That's right!" Flik had just reached the top of the dandelion as well as Sora. Both kicked a seed loose and Flik held it over his head, majestically as he announced, "For the colony and oppressed ants EVERYWHERE!"

Flik got to a good run, then jumped off the dandelion. The slight breeze was enough to carry the seed over the canyon. Sora also jumped off with his own seed and was soon sailing right behind and slightly above Flik's. It was probably because of a slight change of the wind. Flik's turned around and he saw a small speck that was Dot (no pun intended) waving to him.

"Goodbye, Flik!" Dot called.

Flik waved to Dot, not even paying remote attention to where he was going... "BYE!" Flik turned to try and steer his seed...and slammed face-first into a rock.

Sora looked down from his seed and almost screamed, "FLIK!"

Sora quickly dropped down to see the ant flattened on a rock, but surely getting up. "I'm okay!" the latter said.

As Flik picked himself up, J scuttled over to him. The scorpion had already crossed the canyon with relative ease and gave Flik an idea. Unfortunately, J sensed Flik approaching and said, "Sorry, but I'm no one's pack animal."

Donald and Kairi had already reached the top of the cliff's edge, and were waving from above, making Sora sigh. "Took ya...long enough." Donald said between gasps. The duck was obviously still exhausted after heaving Goofy across the canyon.

Sora looked out to the vast grass forest they faced and nodded. "Let's go."

That night, the group had made excellent progress as they had reached a trailer. At the size they were, the trailer looked MILES high and wide. J glanced up at its front porch to see two flies buzzing around a bug zapper. Suddenly, one took notice of it and began to slowly move towards it. The first fly took notice of its friend and panicked.

"No! Harry, NO!" one fly screamed, "Don't look at the light!!!"

The other fly, on the other hand, sounded almost hypnotized as he said, "I can't help it...It's so beautiful..."

With a ZAP, the second fly was sent plummeting into a garbage can with a high-pitched shriek (1). J stared at what had just happened, his red eyes slightly wider with surprise. "Weird…" he said.

Sora and Kairi were pretty weirded out by what had just happened, but soon something happened. Donald tried to fly over to the light, and Goofy had to restrain the duck so that he could only flutter a few feet. Flik's next statement seemed to explain that he was talking to himself. "Try not to look like a country bug."

Sora clapped Flik on the back and said, "C'mon, we've been to cities before, we can blend in EASILY."

Flik nodded and they continued. As they continued, the light of the bug zapper shone down on all of them. Oddly enough, J seemed to illuminate when the light was on him. J raised a brow, then went over to the light's shade and put his claw in its glare. It glowed without the rest of his body, even as he waved it back and forth. After a while, J shrugged it off, then continued. The others stared at what had just happened, then dismissed it.

The group turned a corner and looked up as a daddy longlegs walked right over them. As they followed its tiny body, they saw that they were at a large city with various bugs scuttling around. The buildings were made of discarded cans, boxes, and even paper. One of the pieces of paper included a ticket to a Lion King show on Broadway (2).

"Cool…"

As the group explored the city, they noted several differences in this city. Rather than cars, the traffic was made mainly of beetles and traffic lights were actually fireflies lighting up emptied Christmas lights. When the light turned green, traffic acted up in an instant and the group narrowly avoided every oncoming beetle. But just as they avoided the traffic, they started brushing with pedestrians, which were a much more common thing than any traffic beetle.

As Flik was apologizing to a slug that he had accidentally bumped, there was a sharp note that sounded like it was from a badly-tuned violin. As they looked down, there was a grasshopper that looked down on its luck. Next to it was a sign that read "kid pulled my wings off". After apologizing for the umpteenth time, Flik looked around a little, not noticing that a mime was mimicking his movements.

"Alright, where can we find some..." Flik said, searching the city.

There was sounds of a scuffle and the whole group turned to the source to see the source. At that time, a wasp kicked a small fly out of a bar that seemed to be made of a can of tuna fish. "AND STAY OUT!" the wasp shouted, then buzzed back into the bar.

Sora and Flik's faces lit up in an instant, but both were completely oblivious that the mime had now gone from mimicking Flik to copying Sora. "TOUGH BUGS!" Flik said, cheerfully.

Sora nodded. "There's gotta be someone who'll help us in there..."

Sora and co. ran off, leaving the mime running in place. When they entered the bar, they saw several bugs who seemed to be either celebrating or down on their luck. Some were sitting on the slant that seemed to go almost straight up.

"Alright. Sora, look over at the east wing." J said, gesturing with his claw, "Flik, take the west, Kairi, try those guys in front of us, and Donald and Goofy will try above us."

Sora looked pretty confused by this, seeing as the scorpion left himself out. "Where will YOU be?" he asked

J turned and answered, casually, "Getting a drink."

As the others took off in their directions, J scuttled over to the bar and ordered some water, getting a small water droplet instead of a cup. As he sucked it out, he happened upon a group of bugs--a mantis, a moth, a black widow spider, two pill bugs, a rhino beetle, a ladybug, a walkingstick, and a caterpillar. All of them were either drinking or eating immense amounts. He glanced, curiously, at them, then joined them.

"Down on your luck, huh?" Every bug gave J a glance as the scorpion held out his pincer in what he hoped was a friendly gesture. "My name's J."

The ladybug turned and spoke with a man's voice, much to J's surprise. "You have no idea about our luck, pal. Anyway, I'm Francis. These are Manny," Francis pointed to the Mantis. This bug looked a little withered and old.

"Gypsy," He pointed to the moth, who was sitting next to the mantis.

"Rosy," He pointed to the black widow spider, her face buried into her hands in exasperation.

"Tuck and Roll,"

The pillbugs, Tuck and Roll, were babbling to each other. For a while, J couldn't understand a word they were saying, then they started saying two words and pointing at each other.

"You fired!" one of the pillbugs said, oblivious as to what the word meant.

"You fired!" his brother returned, equally oblivious.

"You fired!"

Rosy seemed severely irritated by this, judging by her response. "Oh, will you SHUT UP?!"

Tuck and Roll's response was obvious. And when they said it, Rosy sighed, then returned to her original pose. "YOU FIRED!" they said, somewhat-playfully.

Francis then continued the introductions of Dim the rhino beetle, Slim the walkingstick, and Heimlich the caterpillar. J finished his water, then asked a question that was probably uncommon at this bar. "So, what happened to YOU?"

Slim, the walkingstick, took the opportunity to answer J. "Oh, we're a bunch of circus performers that lost their jobs." he asked.

"Really?" J asked, mildly curious.

"And to make it worse, our boss was a FLEA!" J eyed Slim awhile, thinking this guy was REALLY dramatic. He then eyed the caterpillar, who was stuffing his face with food.

When Heimlich the caterpillar spoke, he turned out to have a thick, Bavarian accent. "Someday, I will be a beautiful butterfly. And then everything will be better." he weeped.

Gypsy sighed and spoke in a lofty voice. "I can't believe the troop is breaking up, we've always been together..."

Manny then held up his dew, as if toasting. His voice was British and overly-dramatic, but not as much as Slim's. "Farewell, my friends."

Francis then held up his dew as did the rest, including J (even though he didn't know what was going on and had no water anymore). Slim took a sip, then noticed two flies entering the bar and gasped. "FRANCIS!" the stick insect said through the corner of his mouth, "Your boyfriends from the circus are here!"

J seemed confused by this, but readied his stinger and looked ready to fight. Suddenly, a HUGE fly lumbered in and J, not one to attract attention, decided to stay out.

Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy went up to see a table with a stag beetle, an assassin bug, a bulldog ant, and a killer bee. "Howdy, big fellers!" Goofy greeted.

"How would YOU like to defend an ant colony?" Donald asked, remembering Goofy's old days as a salesman.

The four tough-looking bugs simply growled at them and the two backed away, slowly. None of them wanted to get impaled on jaws, mouthparts, or stingers.

Kairi tried getting some tough guys, but they were too busy...trying to get "friendly" with her. She made her escape, then shuddered. "I NEVER want that many hands after me AGAIN."

Sora and Flik ended up together and found a mosquito that looked like it had a bit much to drink. "Hey, uh, how would you like to..."

The mosquito probably didn't hear Flik, because he lifted one of his arms and called to the bartender. "Hey, bartender!" it called, "Bloody Mary, O-positive!"

The bartender placed a bit of blood, which the mosquito eagerly drank up through his nose. When he finished with his drink, he let out a sigh in pleasure and fell to the ground with a crash.

"Oh." Flik said, looking at the ground.

"What?" asked Sora.

"Nothin', it's just...I didn't think that this place could have a basement..."

Meanwhile, the two flies were quickly backed off by some people imitating Robin Hood and Little John--namely Francis as Robin and Heimlich as Little John. Slim was...just the sword. "Stand back, ye flies!" Francis said, with false bravado, "We are the greatest warriors in all Bugdom!"

Flik's face beamed with joy and Sora couldn't help but stare at them. "I think that we've found our warriors." Sora said

"My sword!" the ladybug called.

Someone handed Slim to Francis, who looked less-than-enthusiastic at his role as a prop. "Swish, swish." the walkingstick said, unenthusiastically, "Clang, clang."

"Little John!"

Heimlich jumped out from the side clad in a leaf hat and wielding a toothpick like a sword. "What ho, Robin!" he answered, "Justice is my sword and truth shall be my quiver!"

Kairi was outside the bar with Donald and Goofy. The court mage and captain of the guards had the tar beaten out of them by some attempts to recruit. Kairi had noticed them and was hoping to tend to them. That is, until she heard the kerfuffle inside. "What's going on in there?" she asked, hoping against all odds that Flik had nothing to do with it.

Sora and Flik were quickly backed out of the bar, but J was still there. Francis was waving around Slim, possibly in an attempt to scare off the flies.

"Thrust, parry, lunge!" Slim said, but suddenly, the big fly grabbed Slim around the neck and growled in his face. "Me thinketh it not working!" Slim said to his group.

When the entire troop realized their act wasn't working, they began running UP the can's wall. The sudden shift of weight caused the can to roll away, knocking J against the walls in the process, several times. "OW! OW! What...OW! A BUNCH!...of WIMPS! OW!" the scorpion grunted on each collision with the wall.

After what seemed like forever, the can crashed, headlong, into the side of a trailer. Sora and co. watched as it rolled the entire way and stopped right there. They caught up to the can and went in just as Francis heaved Slim out of wrecked tables and unconscious bugs. To some, it looked like a scene from King Arthur. The rest of the troop heaved themselves up around him as light shone down on them.

Donald frowned slightly at the sight, then said, "Talk about dramatic..."

Flik seemed in awe as J scuttled back, looking slightly exasperated and somewhat dazed. "Wow..." Flik said in total awe, "YOU'RE PERFECT!"

J turned to Flik and began gesturing with his claws in an attempt to get his attention. "Uh...Flik, they're not..."

J never made himself heard, because Flik rushed forward and bowed to the bugs. "OH, GREAT ONES! WE HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR BUGS WITH YOUR TALENTS!"

The troop seemed to have obviously misunderstood his meaning. "Some talent scouts?" Gypsy asked.

Flik continued as the troop listened eagerly. "MY COLONY IS IN TROUBLE! GRASSHOPPERS ARE COMING, WE'VE BEEN FORCED TO PREPARE ALL THIS FOOD!"

The odd bunch seemed to get excited by this as Manny said, "Dinner theater!"

Heimlich, on the other hand, only responded to one word. "Food?!"

Flik scooted forward, on bent knees, with his hands in a begging position. "PLEASE! WILL YOU HELP US?!"

Sora turned to J, curiosity in his expression. "Uh, J? Out of simple curiosity, what were you going to say to Flik?" he asked.

J scuttled over to Sora. The blue ant had to kneel in order to hear him due to J's low-slung position. "I was going to tell him that..."

J murmured something into Sora's "ear", but Sora just wanted to make sure he had heard what he heard. "What?" J murmured the same thing, only Sora seemed to understand it this time as his eyes bulged. "WHAT?! THEY'RE..."

J slapped a claw over Sora's mouth and hissed, "_NO! Let Flik find out BY HIMSELF._"

Sora was confused by this as he asked, "Why?"

"His spirit will get broken soon enough..." was all J had to say.

At that time, the flies had begun to regain their consciousness and the troop seemed to jump to an agreement. "We'll take the job!" Slim said quickly.

Within seconds, Sora's group was swept away and Sora, Flik, and Kairi were placed on Dim with Rosy and Tuck and Roll. "Alright, break a leg!" the black widow spider said in a strong voice.

Flik seemed to take the saying for its literal meaning, judging by his response. "Whoa! You're vicious!" Flik said, impressed.

"Hold on, everybody!" Dim said in a deep, slow voice.

Dim's shell opened up to show wings, which helped him take off. Manny grabbed J's tail and Gypsy grabbed the rest of his body as they took off with Francis carrying Slim, Heimlich in Dim's feet, and Donald with Goofy again. "AMAZING!" Flik cried in victory, "THIS IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!"

J rolled his scarlet eyes. "And it is..."

As they flew through the air, J realized something. He reached out with his pincer, then seized a small insect out of the air. The bug screamed as J bit into it and sucked out its juices. When the bug was sucked dry, J dropped it several stories to the ground. The act earned the scorpion odd stares from Manny and Gypsy and he looked back at them.

"What?"

Francis

A ladybug with a short temper and a tendency to get called a girl; it doesn't really help. He's been friends with his troop for many years and got fired by a certain P.T. Flea. He first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

Dim

A rhino beetle who's about as sharp as a marble. He may be big and strong, but he's also a big baby and not the sharpest branch on this tree. He's always seen with Rosy the spider. He first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

Slim

A walkingstick with SEVERAL insecurity issues, seeing as he's mainly a prop, which he complained about to his original employer. He's overly-dramatic and often makes big deals of even the smallest things. He first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

Rosy

A spider who's often seen with Dim. She was the Mistress of the Highwire...before P.T. fired her and the troop. She's often taken it as her responsibility to take care of the big beetle. She first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

Manny

A self-proclaimed psychic mantis who is the troop's magician. Often at times, he has been forced to save the show. He and his wife, Gypsy, were fired by P.T. after a failed act. He first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

Gypsy

Manny's beautiful assistant and the subject to many of his tricks. She is married to Manny and was fired with the rest of the troop by P.T. She first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

Tuck and Roll

Two pillbugs who were the human cannonballs of a circus. They mainly speak gibberish and don't understand a word said by their fellows. To be frank, no one really knows what they say or do either. They were the only ones who didn't take the firing seriously. They first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

_(1) Best part of the whole movie. Hehehe..._

_(2) No really, that was in the movie. Look carefully as Flik enters the city and you'll see what I'm talkin' about._


	168. Truth Breaks Out

_**Well, here's where the fic left off! For you old time readers, all new chapters are comin' out!**_

Chapter 168: Truth Breaks Out

Back on Ant Island, the temperature was atrocious. It may not have been a big deal to a large animal, but to an ant, it was almost unbearable. So far, the offering stone was only about a fifth of what was dumped into the lake. The sun's true side showed when an ant keeled over from exhaustion and heatstroke. Atta zipped over to him, and urgently called, "Scott!"

Scott hopped over and kneeled beside the ant. "Strewth, not another one." he said, shaking his head, "Joyex, make another stretcher, will ya, mate?"

Joyex sighed and created a stretcher by spreading some web between two sticks. Sakuzy walked over to try and help with the stretcher. "We're not makin' much progress and we've got five days 'til the deadline." the termite pointed out.

Scott was helping to take the fallen ant to some shade and seemed as irritated by the heat as anyone else. "WE KNOW, SAKUZY! STOP REMINDIN' US, YA BLOKE!" Sakuzy flinched slightly and Scott adjusted his hat in an apologetic sort of way. "Sorry, mate. I've been in worse heat, but I guess all the time I've been out of it's made me more prone to it."

A blur of yellow raced past everyone, making them recoil in surprise. When it passed, Ryan came back to focus with arms filled with honey. Apparently he was still the busiest member of the group. "Hey guys, I..." Ryan hadn't even finished when several shadows loomed overhead. The thought of grasshoppers coming early made him drop everything he had collected and his eyes widened in fright. "RUN FOR IT!" he screamed.

The entire colony heeded Ryan's words and hid as the figures overhead began to get ever-closer. They thought it was the grasshoppers, but in reality...

Sora and co. landed on the ground. Each of the new bugs took a pose and Francis had the words out his mouth faster than anyone else. "TA-DA!"

No one was there, seeing as their entrance scared them away. Slim, who had Francis lifted on his arm, looked about ready to snap from the force. After a few seconds of silence, the larger bugs slumped a bit. "Once again, our reputation precedes us..." Manny groaned.

Sora and Flik hopped down and, almost instantly, Flik waved his hand in an attempt to get everyone's attention and called out, "Hey! We're back!

Joyex peeked out with Sakuzy and the half-hearted Nobody saw Rosy. In a flash, his eyes changed into large, red hearts as he silently screamed, "WOW! HOT SPIDER!"

Sakuzy shoved Joyex down and said, out of the corner of his mouth, "Joyex, she's a Black Widow Spider. Black Widows EAT their husbands after mating!" Joyex's expression immediately changed into one of cartoonish shock, whereas Sakuzy added, "But, hey. He dies happy."

After a few more seconds of trying to get the colony's attention, Dot ran out of her hiding place toward Flik. "FLIK! You're back! I knew you could do it!"

Upon seeing Dot's bravery, the rest of the ants and the others slowly came out. Manny and Gypsy let go of J upon getting a rather hostile glare from the scorpion. Donald, on the other hand, didn't manage to let go of Goofy, seeing as he plummeted from the sky and, for reasons unknown, Goofy landed on top of him.

"Ow..." Donald groaned.

Goofy looked down at his seat and guffawed as he saw Donald squished underneath him. "Sorry, Donald." he apologized.

J scuttled over to Scott, getting the overgrown cricket's attention. "So, how was the collecting?"

Scott shuffled a foot, then bent down to J's level and answered. (Scott's about the same height as Slim) "Not the best. The ants were fallin' like flies." J flinched slightly, the time at the bar was still vivid, especially the BIG fly, but Scott didn't notice. "And the fact that RYAN DIDN'T HELP WASN'T MUCH!" he continued, pointing accusing eyes at Ryan.

Said bee buzzed, seemingly out of nowhere, looking offended. "What did I do?!" he asked.

Scott wheeled around to Ryan and, for one of the first times, Sora and co. saw the anatomy-changer lose it COMPLETELY with the hyper freak. "When I asked for help, ya said ya needed a minute." Scott pointed out, "Here we are, two days later, and all you did was COLLECT NECTAR!"

While Scott was shouting this, Ryan was blown, comically, away. Scott stormed away and Ryan got back up. "What was THAT all about?" he asked.

J caught the bee in his pincer and brought him so close to his face that Ryan could see every detail of the scorpion's face. "You skived out of two days of work and all YOU have to say is 'what was THAT all about'?!" he said, his voice quiet and threatening.

Ryan didn't move and April fluttered over to pry J's claw open. Ryan fell down and remained motionless and stiff as a board. "Great. He's petrified again..." the butterfly sighed. April proceeded to pick up Ryan, who was still completely petrified, and flew him away.

Back with Sora and co., Atta walked over, looking shocked, confused, and worried at the same time. Her original idea was to get rid of Flik long enough to meet Hopper's demands, NOT to actually find big bugs. She was a bit uneasy as she approached them.

Flik, however, took immediate notice of the princess. "OH! Princess Atta!" he called, then darted over to Atta, took her hand, and dragged her over to the others. "This is Princess Atta!" Flik introduced eagerly, "She sent me to find you guys!"

Atta put on a pseudo-smile to wave, then immediately wheeled around and began muttering, "_This WASN'T supposed to happen..."_

As Atta said this, tensions started to mount high in the colony. Francis noticed as well, then got on top of Dim. "Your majesty, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, we are honored to be here. And when your grasshopper friends get here, we are gonna KNOCK THEM DEAD!"

When Francis finished that sentence, the ants let loose a monstrous applause. Most of the group were just confused, and the bugs seemed a bit invigorated. "Boy, these folks sure are up for entertainment..." Slim said, amused at their response.

J sighed in disbelief. This was all adding up to REALLY big misunderstandings. The ants took Francis' announcement literally, thinking they were really going to fight for them. The circus bugs, on the other hand, thought Flik had invited them to perform for guests rather than fight off intruders. If either found out what was really going on, it would mean chaos.

Music started the greeting ceremony with all kinds of woodwind tunes that Flik found very catchy. Several other members had to hand it to them, they knew how to play. The so-called "warrior bugs" were eating all that the ants could offer them. The only one that stuck out was Ryan, who was drinking nectar like soda at a sporting event...

_Everything suddenly stopped like a film that had hit pause and Crescent appeared out of stage right._

_Crescent: Okay, just a moment, I hate the part with the mural and the play, so I'm just gonna fast forward through it, okay? See ya!_

_Crescent sidestepped to the left as everything zipped past to a certain point, like a film in fast-forward._

The children ants gathered up their props and walked away. J was obviously unimpressed by the performance while Slim covered Heimlich's eyes and said caterpillar looked slightly pale. Atta stood up, ready for a very important-sounding speech, and Sora shifted, uneasily, in his seat. This probably WOULDN'T turn out good. Sora was sitting next to the troop and wasn't paying much attention to the speech. The so-called "warrior bugs" were arguing amongst themselves in quiet hisses.

"YOU tell him!" Francis hissed.

"YOU!" Slim argued back.

"Why not Rosy?" Manny suggested.

Tuck and Roll said something that Sora couldn't recognize, until Rosy sighed in defeat. She walked past with Sora, who was just as cautious. Rosy walked over to Flik, who had just cut off Atta via a makeshift megaphone and was babbling some nonsense about how great it was they could be here.

Rosy whispered something to Flik, who in turn, tried to dismiss her. "Not NOW, Rosy." he said. Flik continued, but Rosy asked something. "No, there's no circus around here. So...huh?"

Flik stopped RIGHT in the middle of his speech, then looked over to the troop, who began a quick juggling act like clowns. Flik glanced at Sora, who jerked his head to J. When the black scorpion nodded, Flik's mouth fell open in stunned disbelief at what they meant. He darted over to Atta and spoke in a great rush. "Sorry, Atta, but we've gotta go discuss this circus...circumVENTING event with the battle trapeze...STRATEGIES." he said, uneasily, "Maybe Sora and J should come with me, we've gotta go A.S.A.P, strictly BYOB We've gotta go, with the battle looming and all..."

Sora, J, Flik, and the "warriors" walked into a small grass patch. Atta seemed a bit suspicious about this as she asked, "'B.Y.O.B'?"

Scott popped in, slightly confused, and asked, "Doesn't B.Y.O.B mean Bring Yer Own Beer?"

Sora and co. arrived at the small grass area and Flik coaxed them in. The minute he made sure they were out of sight and earshot, he exclaimed at the top of his lungs. "Circus bugs?! HOW COULD YOU BE CIRCUS BUGS?!" he screamed.

The troop turned to Flik with great offense. "Hey, you said NOTHING about killin' grasshoppers, pal." Francis pointed out, "YOU lied to US."

Flik wheeled around to Sora and J. "And you two KNEW THIS?!"

Sora nodded, then corrected, "J knew it. He told me."

J scuttled over to Flik and elevated himself to his maximum height, which made his body, excluding the tail, level to Flik's midsection. To make a point, he made Flik bend over with some help from his pincer. "I TRIED telling you back at the bar, but you wouldn't let me get a word in, edge-wise." J scolded, "You were too busy worshiping these clowns!" J paused, taking in what he just said and thought, aloud, "Hey, it works in both senses."

Flik wormed out of J's claws, then turned his temper to the troop again. "THIS, my friends, is false advertising!"

The entire troop seemed offended by this, judging by Manny's response. "How DARE YOU!" the mantis growled, "Preying on the dying embers of success in hopeless souls, deceiving your wares as a talent scout! We shall depart now! Farewell!"

Manny huffed, then turned on his heel, ready to leave. Tuck got on top of Roll's shoulders to get to the right height, then slapped Sora across the face for reasons unknown. The troop began walking away with Flik hot on their heels.

J made to leave, but Sora grabbed his tail. "OW! WHAT?!" the shapeshifter said at the tugging sensation on his tail.

"Atta..." Sora hissed, gesturing to the grass with his thumb.

J, uneasily, turned around to see that Princess Atta was, indeed, just at the edge of the grass forest. "Sora! J! Where's Flik?!" she barked.

Sora glanced at J, who held out a claw as though saying, "go on". "Uh...he's off talking to the warriors about something." the Keyblade Master said, uneasily, "Probably some important-"

Atta gave Sora "the look" and the blue ant held up his hands in surrender. "Okay. I'll go find him, then..."

Sora took off, quick as a flash, with J scuttling after him with equal speed. He quickly caught up with Flik, who had stooped down onto the ground. "Okay, okay. Just go." Flik said, depressed, "But, before you do, could you do me a favor and just...squish me." Flik lifted one of Dim's feet and placed it on his head. Dim gave Flik an odd look, but didn't squish him at all, even when the ant added, "'Cause, if they find out, I'm as good as dead."

"Flik?" Sora called.

Upon being addressed, one of Flik's antennae perked up and he got up off the ground. There, he saw Sora and J, looking like they had run a mile. It had especially been a challenge for J, seeing as he was the slower of the two. "What is it, Sora?"

Sora stopped to catch his breath, then answered, "It's Atta. She wants to speak with you."

Flik ran off to the place where J was and pulled apart the grass. He was just as jittery as when he left. "Oh, Atta! What a nice...surprise!" he said, grinning nervously.

Atta was obviously suspicious and in a bad mood, judging by her eyes AND tone. "Flik, I'd like a word with these so-called 'warriors'."

Flik tried answering, but Sora tapped his shoulder and pointed off toward the gorge. Flik turned to see that the troop was leaving without another word. He let out a yelp, then tried to look convincing as he could and asked, "Could you excuse us a second?"

Flik let the grass snap back and ran after the bugs, on the other side, Atta heard his screams. "PLEASE, NO, DON'T GO!" Flik begged.

Atta thought that Flik was talking to her, so, naturally, she responded. "I'm not going ANYWHERE!" She pulled apart the grass to show that Flik, Sora, AND J were gone. "FLIK? SORA? J?!" Atta gave a defeated sigh, then went off to the colony. She wanted to spread the news of what she had just experienced.

Sora, J, and Flik arrived at the same canyon that led back to the city and Flik grabbed onto Slim's legs as Francis was flying him away. "NO! DON'T GO! I'M DESPERATE!" Flik begged, shaking Slim's legs frantically.

"Well, THAT much was obvious..." J said, rolling his scarlet eyes.

Francis took off with Flik clinging to Slim's legs and Sora jumped to grab the other ant's legs. It took a little effort, but the ladybug managed to stay airborne. J quickly latched his pincer around Sora's ankle, causing the ladybug to dip a little.

Francis, not being able to take it anymore, dropped to plummet to the ground with a thud. On impact, Sora and J tumbled off Flik and slowly got to their feet. Sora shook the cobwebs out of his head just in time to hear Flik begging at the top of his lungs. "PLEASE DON'T GO!!!"

The circus bugs gathered, then began trying to pry Flik from Slim's leg. However, Flik had a notable death grip on the walkingstick's leg and remained suspended in the air, even when Manny was trying to pull him back. Flik looked behind the circus bugs, then found a few things that ultimately led to him dropping Slim immediately and running away.

"AAAH!! RUN!" Flik screamed, "RRRUUUNNN!!!"

The rest of the bugs stared at Flik as he ran off as fast as his insect legs could carry him. "Boy, he runs fast for a little guy..." Heimlich said, impressed at the feat.

"Yeah, but why would he-"

Sora never finished his sentence, because just behind the larger bugs was a ground-breaking CRASH as something landed behind them. Everyone whirled around to see the most unlikely monster they had ever seen.


	169. Bird

_**Well, old Prince of Heart fans, here's a new start! I've already finished writing the fic out, so I'll be updating all week (as opposed to when I still wasn't finished when I didn't update on Sundays).**_

Chapter 169: Bird

"Boy, he runs fast for a little guy..." Heimlich said, impressed at the feat.

"Yeah, but why would he-"

Sora never finished his sentence, because just behind the larger bugs was a ground-breaking CRASH as something landed behind them. Everyone whirled around to see the most unlikely monster they had ever seen...a simple, red songbird. Normally, Sora wouldn't see it as much of a threat, but in this world, its size rivaled the V-Rexes on Skull Island. It let out what would have been a cute-sounding tweet to us, but at the size of a bug, it was a loud, vicious roar.

Tuck and Roll both pointed at the bird and said, in alarmed-sounding voices, "TWEET-TWEET! TWEET-TWEET!"

Upon recognizing the threat, everyone ran off. The bird hopped after them, but J stood his ground. When the bird came towards him, he raised his claws threateningly and arced his tail. The bird looked at J, then hopped to the side. J followed it, matching the monster move-for-move. After a while, the bird lost interest, then bounded off towards an easier meal. J noticed it going for them, then scuttled towards them.

"Why were YOU so calm?!" Sora asked in disbelief.

J answered as though the answer was obvious. "Birds know better than to attack scorpions."

As the group of bugs hid out amongst the crags, they heard someone scream. Some of the bugs looked up to see a dandelion seed with... "Dot?!" Flik asked in surprise.

It was Dot on that dandelion seed, but if anything, things were now worse than what they had originally been. The bird heard the screams for help, then went for the easiest target--the seed with the hapless Dot on it. "HELP!" she screamed

The bird flew at the seed with speed to boggle the mind and narrowly missed Dot. Dot fell from the seed in surprise, screaming all the way. Francis took notice and quickly flew over to catch her, but when he did, the sudden force caused both to fall into one of the many crevices around the island. Sora peeked out to see the bird trying to get at them, pecking at the crack with its massive beak.

"They'll need help..." Sora said, meekly.

Slim was freaked out, judging by his hurried sentence, "Francis, Francis, Francis, Francis…"

Flik stopped Slim's arms, then said, "Wait…I've got a plan!"

Back at the crevice, the bird was just inches from getting Dot and Francis for dinner. The ladybug was knocked unconscious by a falling rock, while Dot was trying to move him away from the attacking bird and wake him up at the same time. The bird was about to peck again when someone called out to it...namely Heimlich, who was held up by Slim.

"Yoo-hoo! Mr. Early Bird!" the caterpillar called, "How about some nice juicy worm on a stick?"

It was obvious that Slim was suffering from this "performance", because he was starting to buckle under the caterpillar's weight. "I'm going to snap…I'm going to snap…" the stick insect strained.

The bird twittered curiously, then switched targets. Each one of its little hops covered, in a bug's eyes, several meters. When the birds was out of sight, Flik, Sora, J and the other bugs went over to the crack where Dot and Francis were.

"Don't worry, pals. We're here to rescue you!" Sora said, getting on the ground to scoop up Dot.

J, on the other hand, muttered, "Drama queen..."

That remark got J a swift tap with Sora's Keyblade. Dim then hovered above while Rosy lowered a rescue net for them to get into. They loaded Francis into it, then took off behind the bird's back.

Meanwhile, Slim carried Heimlich over to the home crevice with the caterpillar laughing, teasingly. "WOO-HOO-HOO! Bye-bye, birdie..." Slim dropped back into his crack, but Heimlich wasn't so lucky. His chubby body didn't mix with the thin crevice and he immediately got stuck. "HELP! HELP! I'M STUCK!" he screamed.

The bird hopped over and looked ready to devour Heimlich, who was now screaming at the top of his lungs. The bird almost brought its beak down, but something suddenly got in its way: something that was wide, brown, and looked like it had eyes. Gypsy had found a way to make herself look larger than she really was, and that was quite confusing to the bird.

Slim, on the other hand, was trying to get Heimlich back down the crevice and was having no luck with it whatsoever. "Suck it in, suck it in..." he strained.

Heimlich did as he was told and sucked in his stomach, disappearing into the crack in the blink of an eye.

Back with Sora and co., the whole group was making their escape on Dim, however Francis chose THAT moment to wake up. Said ladybug noticed the pain in his leg, and exclaimed, "AAH! My leg!"

It seemed that Francis had hurt his leg when a rock fell on it. In surprise, he spread his wings, but when he retracted them, the cover of his wings acted as a pair of scissors and cut one of the web's lines. The entire net tipped another direction and Francis almost fell off. Flik jumped after him and Dot grabbed his arm, Sora grabbed Flik's foot, and Flik grabbed Francis' antenna. THIS wasn't the most comfortable situation and it was made worse because Sora almost lost his balance. It was fortunate J was there, he had seized Sora's leg with his pincer, seizing Dim's foot with the other. All the while, Francis screamed at the constant tugging on his antennae.

Suddenly, at that time, the bird noticed the screaming ladybug and began to fly after them. J saw it, then spoke to both Flik and Dim, almost shouting over the ruckus. "Don't worry, there's a thorn bush not too far away!"

Sora had to shout up to the scorpion just to make himself heard. "HOW IS THAT A POSITIVE?"

J turned down to Sora and called back down, "WE CAN LOSE THE BIRD IN THEM!"

The rest of the troop took off, but soon came to a wall, up where the thorns were. Tuck and Roll kept on blabbering about going up and Dim obeyed immediately. As they climbed, the bird was getting ever closer. The bird opened its beak to snap them up and came so close that the entire group could feel its breath. Suddenly, the entire troop had flown into the thornbush with the rest. The bird tried getting in, but the thorns prevented it from getting any closer and when it tried to perch, the thorns hurt its feet. The bird eventually gave up on its would-be food and flew off to the other side of the canyon.

Sora sat down and tried to catch his breath. THAT was too close for comfort. There was suddenly a noise like thunder and the troop was confused by this.

"What is it?" Rosy asked.

Manny replied, pointing to reveal the source of the applause, "That, my friends, is the sound of APPLAUSE!"

The entire ant colony was clapping for them, apparently they had seen the whole thing. Kairi and the others had heard this as well and applauded the circus bugs as well. The troop brightened up at this as they flew down. Sora was waving, this was the first applause since...he couldn't remember. J, on the other...claw, was sulking in the back; the last thing he wanted was attention.

Francis seemed more than content at this as he waved at the crowd. "Applause, I'm in heaven..." he said, dreamily.

Bird

A large songbird and a known insect eater. It has eggs to protect and needs something for its unborn chicks to eat. In this world, the bird is the size of a dinosaur and can fly (and move) at lightning-speed. It nearly ate Sora and his friends and has an important role to play before long...It first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.


	170. BirdBrained Idea

Chapter 170: Bird-Brained Plan

Back inside the anthill, Francis had his broken leg in a cast and elevated by a pronged stick in the infirmary. In front of him was a small group of little girls. "And we thank Ms. Francis for rescuing our youngest member, Princess Dot." one said, probably having to rehearse it several times, "And because of Ms. Francis, we changed our bandanas."

The small ants turned to show that they had small flower petals that were altered to look like ladybug backs. "We nominate you as an honorary den mother!" Dot said, turning to face Francis.

The girls cheered, then swarmed all over a VERY struck-looking Francis. "WHAT?!" he asked in surprise.

The ants were soon ushered out. J turned to Francis and his voice rang with smugness. "Looks like you're stuck. MS. Francis." This remark made Francis try and punch him, but J caught it in his pincers. "Too easy."

_The film rolled to a stop again and Crescent poked his head into the camera again._

_Crescent: This part is EXTREMELY awkward, so I'll just fast forward through it again._

_Blader's voice rang from off-camera._

_Blader: Stop messin' with the film, Crescent!_

_  
Crescent: Last time, I swear._

_Blader heaved a sigh, then surrendered._

_Blader: Fine._

_Everything went into fast forward again._

As soon as the fast-forward ended, Flik burst through the threshold of the infirmary, which were basically leaves in a veil build. "Hopper's afraid of birds!" he exclaimed.

Francis was talking to Sora, but changed his attention back to Flik as he said, "And I don't blame him!"

Flik walked forward, eagerness still in his voice. "This is great! I have a plan! You just pretend to be warriors!"

Sora folded his arms. He already didn't like this plan so far. "I don't know how much longer you can keep this up, Flik. I mean, what if people find out about this?"

Manny walked over. "The young boy has an EXCELLENT point, Flik!" he pointed out, "I don't know what you're concocting in that little ant-brain of yours, but we'll have NO part of it!"

"You'll be GONE before Hopper's gang EVER gets back!" explained Flik.

Sora shifted uncomfortably, he didn't like lying...on purpose. He only did it if it helped someone and he knew that some people would lose a GREAT amount of respect for him.

"Remember Flik, these are CLOWNS, NOT warriors." J pointed out, raising an accusing pincer at Flik.

Before J could even continue, a few boy ants poked their heads through the curtain. "Excuse me?" a boy asked, "Could we get the warriors' autographs?"

_The screen went into static as a puppet with a suit and horned-rim glasses ran in._

_News Reporter: Here is a Prince of Heart News Flash._

_He simply stood up and took off before saying..._

_News Reporter: There is NO news tonight._

_Meanwhile, Dimensiondude and I were watching this with confused looks._

_Dimensiondude: What was the point of THAT?_

_TLSoulDude: I don't really know..._

_Lunatic121 poked his head through the door._

_Lunatic121: Hey, guys!_

_TLSoulDude: What?!_

_Lunatic121: Carl just puked on the table. (I'm talkin' about Mrfipp's pet) I think it's ALIVE!_

_I sighed as the screen returned to Ant Island. Jeez. There WERE a lot of interruptions...I wonder if Crescent put that in on purpose._

The boy ants ran out of the room and the troop turned to Flik. Sora was grinning and feeling differently about this--no one had EVER asked for his autograph before. "So, what were you thinkin' about?" he asked Flik.

Flik smiled, excitedly, as he went into an explanation. This was probably the first time someone had actually chosen to listen to him. "Alright, we need to build a bird: a bird we can operate from the inside, when it's dark, we can..."

The scene changed to the main chamber with Sora, Manny, and J, who had a small model of a bird tied to his tail by vegetable fibers. "Put the bird high in a tree. Then, when Hopper and his gang are below, we launch the bird and SCARE OFF THE GRASSHOPPERS!" the elderly mantis fanned out his wings suddenly for emphasis, "We're gonna need..."

The scene changed again to Atta speaking to the entire colony via a megaphone made by Flik. "Everyone's involvement to make this plan a reality. I know it's not in our nature to do things differently, but if our ancestors could build this anthill, we could surely gather together to build this bird!"

The entire colony applauded at this and Flik smiled. At last, things were going HIS way.

The next day, the construction on the bird had begun. Sakuzy used his jaws to cut out an outline in a leaf.

_Last interruption, I swear...Anyway, I had just gotten back from the kitchen with a puke-colored rag._

_TLSoulDude: FINALLY, I got the barf off the table._

_Dimensiondude: Well, I think NOW would be a good time to show the fast-motion._

_Lunatic121: Isn't that fast-FORWARD?_

_Dimensiondude: More like those nature documentaries that show how a tree grows._

_Lunatic121: Oh. In that case, move on._

In fast-motion, all the ants and other insects were swarming around a shadow until the skeleton of an artificial bird was formed. Eventually, a nut was cracked to make a beak and rocks were used as eyes. And for the final touch, leaves were made into feathers and the bird was heaved into a tree. Tuck and Roll poked out the beak as soon as it was secured in a treehole.

"YOU FIRED!" they called.

Upon the bird's completion everyone applauded that sounded like oncoming rain. No one even bothered to notice that the offering stone had gone virtually unnoticed.

----

The Desert...

Meanwhile, out in a desert not far from Ant Island, the grasshoppers were staying out of the heat in an abandoned sombrero with Army Ant Heartless and mosquitoes doing their bidding--from being waiters to being their personal darts. Some of the Army Ant Heartless and mosquitoes were doing Mariachi music using tools like a rattlesnake tail, a makeshift guitar, and a trumpet of sorts.

Amidst the chaos, Molt was hanging out with two other grasshoppers at a bar of sorts. Other grasshoppers there ordered grains for food.

"And if we go back and it starts to rain, we might as well be sucking' bug spray!" One of the grasshoppers said.

Molt cringed in fear, then said, "OH! Don't say that! Y'know, you guys are makin' a lot of sense. You should tell Hopper that!"

Both grasshoppers talking to Molt shifted uncomfortably, then the second grasshopper thought of something. "Good idea...but, it wouldn't be the same comin' from us. I mean, you're his BROTHER. That makes you, like, the vice president of the gang!"

Molt looked surprised and impressed as he took this fact in. "Wow. It kinda does." he said, inspired, "Okay! I'll tell him."

As Molt got up and left, the other grasshoppers leaned close to each other, exchanging nervous glances. "What if Hopper doesn't like it?" the first one asked.

"Then Mr. Genius gets the slap and not us!"

Up in the highest loft, Hopper was laying down and getting a massage from an Army Ant Heartless, which was repeatedly patting his back in several places. "Ah, yes...uh, lower, lower. Oh yeah..." Hopper said with every hint of satisfaction.

Molt suddenly flew up into his room and landed not too far away from him. "Hiya, Hop."

Hopper responded without even turning to face Molt, still using the threatening tone he often used. "Go away."

Molt turned to leave, but not before saying, "Okay, then I won't tell you my idea."

Hopper snapped his eyes shut as he said, "Good."

Molt hurried over to Hopper so that he faced him. "Okay, I'll tell you anyway." he said, ignoring Hopper's death threat, "Y'know, I was thinkin' 'Why go back to Ant Island at all'? I mean, you don't even like grain."

Hopper stood so suddenly that the Army Ant Heartless massaging him flew backwards in surprise. "WHAT?!" Hopper barked.

Molt was immediately sent into a panic that he usually went into whenever Hopper threatened him like this. "You're right. I didn't think it was such a good idea, myself." Molt said, frightfully, "Actually, its wasn't my idea, it was Axle and Loco's. They talked FANCY to me! I GOT CONFUSED!!!"

Hopper then pondered what Molt said, deep in thought.

Down below, the grasshoppers were still partying until Hopper landed with enough show to grab anyone's attention. The partying almost immediately stopped and the two grasshoppers who talked to Molt, Axle and Loco, turned to keep Hopper's eye off them.

"Guys...Order another round, 'cause we're staying here!" Hopper announced, a grin on his face. The grasshoppers cheered and high-fived at this and the music continued via Molt's conducting. "What was I THINKING, going back to Ant Island?" he asked, "I mean, we have shelter and MORE than enough food to last through the winter. Why go back?"

Hopper went over to the bar where Axle and Loco were, then stopped in front of a water container filled with grain. "BUT, there was that ONE ant who stood up to me..." he said, scratching his chin.

Axle and Loco snickered at this. It didn't seem like such a big deal to them. "Yeah, but we don't have to worry about him!" Loco pointed out.

"Yeah, it's just ONE ant!" Axle said, pointing out how small an ant was compared to them.

The whole gang of grasshoppers laughed and Hopper joined in agreement of this. "You're RIGHT! It's JUST ONE ant!"

"Yeah, boss, they're PUNY!" Axle said, agreeing.

Hopper's expression changed into one of slight amusement as he asked, "Hm...puny?" He then opened the dispenser to get a kernel of grain. "Say, let's pretend this grain is a puny, little ant."

Hopper tossed the kernel at one of the grasshoppers. The kernel hit the first grasshopper in the chest, not even leaving a bruise. "Did THAT hurt?" Hopper asked, stifling a laugh.

Axle scoffed as he answered, "Heh. Nope."

Hopper pulled out another grain. "What about THIS one?" He tossed it at the OTHER grasshopper, thunking him in the chest. The second grasshopper almost laughed.

"Are you kiddin'?"

Hopper laughed at this as did the other grasshoppers, but then, things changed. "How about THIS?" the lead grasshopper asked.

Hopper, in a sudden twist of events, pulled off the nozzle, letting all the grain out. Both grasshoppers screamed in fear as EVERY kernel poured out and buried them immediately. As their cries died down, Hopper looked severely ticked as he stepped onto the pile.

"You let ONE ant stand up to you and they ALL might stand up!" Hopper told them in a loud, strong voice, "Those ants outnumber us a hundred to one and if they figure that out, there goes OUR WAY OF LIFE! We also need that girl ant for Maleficent, because SHE'S supplying the Heartless that help us even the odds. THAT'S why we're going BACK!" Hopper calmed down a little, then asked, "Does anyone ELSE wanna stay?"

The rest of the grasshoppers, not wishing to face Hopper's punishment for staying, revved up their wings like motorcycles. "He's quite the motivational speaker, don't ya think?" Molt asked some random guy.

Hopper hopped in front of them, then issued his signature, two-word command. "LET'S RIDE!" Hopper took off through the top of the sombrero along with the rest, seeming like a small cloud to the human eye.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH(1)

Ant Island…

All of the varied insects were celebrating the completion of the bird. They were doing the conga to Caribbean music as well as having various other celebration techniques.

Ryan zipped around the party with something in his arms. He halted right in front of an ant and spoke suddenly, startling the wits from it. "Honey buns? Fresh from the comb!"

Some ants were using Slim as a limbo stick and Atta uneasily bent under him. Dim was catapulting kid ants with his shell, using one of Rosy's webs as a soft landing.

Rosy and Joyex were really starting to chat it up, seeing as Joyex was the only other spider around. "And that's how my TWELFTH husband died." she explained, "I mean, I've always been a Black Widow, but now I'm a Black Widow-widow."

Upon finishing that sentence Joyex backed away, slowly. This woman was jinxed, he just KNEW it.

Meanwhile, J was hanging around the rest of the troop. He didn't want to get involved with this party in any way possible. Sora, on the other hand, got back from the party with Flik.

"Well, look who it is." J said, dismissively, "Don't you have some other guy to annoy?"

Flik made sure he was a respectable distance away from the party, then whispered his new plan in a hushed whisper. "Alright, we just wait for the party to quiet down, you guys slip out the back, and you're out of here forever!"

Upon hearing the plan, the troop showed that they seemed to have OTHER ideas.

"Dim don't wanna go." the rhino beetle said, sadly.

"Well, if Dim's staying, he'll need me." Rosy explained, "He's not completely trained...I mean HOUSE trained."

Francis scratched the back of his head, then said, "I...uh...promised the kids I'd teach 'em canasta."

"Besides, my friends and I have to stay to get something real quick." Sora said, twanging his crooked antennae once.

Gypsy walked forward as she proudly announced, "It seems as if we have an extended dedication!"

Kairi walked over to them and looked out at the rest of the colony. "Well, these guys have done wonders." she said, proudly, "I can't even RECOGNIZE some of our friends!"

Indeed, Riku was laughing out loud with a bunch of lady ants, normally he would avoid every member of the opposite sex…save Kairi.

"Yeah, that's the first time I've seen Riku ENJOY a girl's company..." Sora said, but couldn't suppress a smile.

Sora leaned close to Kairi, much closer than he had ever gotten, but hadn't counted on one thing: their antennae. Their cranial projections got twisted together and Sora accidentally tugged on Kairi's. Upon hearing her slight exclamation, Sora immediately noticed their current situation. "Oops. Sorry!" he apologized.

Sora quickly untied the two antenna and was VERY grateful for his exoskeleton, because if he didn't have it, he would have been the same shade as Kairi's hair. Little did he know that Kairi was feeling the exact same thing. She chuckled, then turned to go.

"I'll just, uh...check on the bird." Kairi walked off, but after a while, she changed direction as she corrected herself, "The bird's THIS way!"

Sora laughed at her clumsy moment. It was a small, but affectionate sort of laugh. The rest of the troop were staring at him, as well as J. "Getting close to Kairi, are we?" the obsidian scorpion asked.

J scuttled off, but hadn't even gone a few step when the celebration music was split by the noise that heralded the grasshoppers: the didgeridoo-esque one he heard previously. Everyone was rushing about, readying battle stations. But then something different flew out of the grass stalks: a box of animal crackers with wheels, driven by millipedes.

The cart screeched to a halt and on top of it was a flea, who hopped to the top of the box and spoke to the colony. "Welcome folks, Oop-Ba-Ba-Doo, and how do ya do?" he asked, cheerfully, "I am the great P.T. FLEA!"

The flea, P.T., did a small dance and the whole troop immediately scurried off into the shadows. They were NOT intent on being seen by this cheapskate.

"I am in need of your...oh, forget it." P.T. said, dismissively, then got to the point, "Y'know, I've been going from anthill to anthill looking for these bugs, have you seen 'em?"

P.T. rolled down a poster that had the entire troop on it and Flik IMMEDIATELY felt his stomach clench. Ryan walked over, looking suspicious. "Hey, isn't THAT..." Ryan pointed to an area on the poster...one without any picture on it, then finished with, "A coffee stain?"

Flik, on the other hand, began to try and desperately roll up the poster and said, hurriedly, "Sorry, but we haven't seen them anywhere. And besides, there are HUNDREDS of other anthills out there, so bye!"

P.T. heard something and turned to see...a leaf walking away on several feet? He reached the leaf in a single bound, grabbed it by the stem, and flung it off to reveal the ENTIRE troop and J.

"Is THIS the flea who fired you?" J asked in a hiss.

Francis slumped forward as he answered, "Yes, unfortunately."

P.T. looked ecstatic to see the circus bugs as he began rambling to them. "Guys! I'm glad I finally caught up with you! Flaming Death is a huge hit! The crowds were DYING to see it...literally, they were all flies (2). BUT, I've got a plan! You burn me TWICE a night, I take the day off to heal, and WE DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!"

The entire colony gasped as Atta walked forward. "You mean, you're not warriors?" she asked in shock.

P.T. turned to her, then said, insensitively, "Are you kiddin'? These are the lousiest circus bugs in the world!" P.T. then brought Tuck and Roll next to him in a kind of hug, then added, "AND THEY'RE GONNA MAKE ME RICH!"

Sakuzy seemed both confused and ticked by the suddenness of it all as he asked, "You mean our ENTIRE defensive strategy was concocted by CLOWNS?"

Joyex uneasily scratched the back of his head as he said, "Yeah, weird..."

Francis, in their defense, said, "Look, we thought Flik, Sora, and J's plan was gonna work..."

Everyone gasped and to the three mentioned bugs and J glowered at the ladybug, his red eyes blazing. "Way to go, miss!" the scorpion growled, his tone indicating that he wouldn't hesitate to disembowel him there and then.

Francis then realized what he just said. "Oops..."

The ants turned to Flik and Sora, but only Atta had the strength to speak. "Tell me this isn't true!"

Sakuzy seemed flabbergasted by this as he suddenly said, "If Hopper finds out what we almost DID..."

"Hopper is NOT going to find out!" the queen corrected, using a strong tone, "We're going to hide all this and pretend it NEVER happened!" The Queen turned to the troop, pointing at them with an accusing finger, "You bugs were NOT here!"

Flik and Sora ran over to the front of the colony, trying to make an impression. "The bird! The bird WILL work!" Flik reasoned.

The Queen seemed insulted by this and she put a hand on her hip as she said, "Well, I NEVER thought I'd see the day when an ant would put HIMSELF before the rest of his colony!"

"What?!"

"The fact is, Flik, you LIED to us." the queen pointed out, "And you only confided in the people who ALREADY knew."

Flik seemed lost for words as Atta walked up to him. No one had seen her look THIS angry at Flik, not even when she found out about the first offering. "She's right, Flik. You lied to us!" With every other thing she pointed out, her tone increased. "You lied to the COLONY! You lied to the QUEEN! YOU LIED TO ME! And, like an IDIOT, I believed you!"

Flik seemed at a loss for words as he said, in a quiet voice, "I just wanted to make a difference..."

At the same time, Scott snarled before walking over to J. On instinct, the scorpion's tail arched and his claws shot into a defensive posture to try and avoid physical violence. Scott, however, remained a good distance, but his attitude stayed ablaze.

"First yeh DITCH me and Ryan at Camp Greenlake, THEN you treat EVERYONE like they're beneath you, NOW you lie to EVERYONE who was counting on us!" Scott said, restraining every urge to just explode there and then.

J also seemed lost for words and scowled before Scott walked away, but the weta had enough time to turn an angry face to him. "Leave, J. But THIS time, DON'T come back!"

Atta apparently told the same thing to Sora and Flik, judging by how they sulked off. Dot looked ready to follow, but Ryan stopped her. "Flik..."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be in my hive!" Ryan said, hovering off the ground and earning a strange look from Joyex.

"WHAT hive?" the spider asked.

"Good question." Ryan answered.

Meanwhile, as P.T.'s circus left, Donald and Goofy followed them, having to run as fast as they could.

"SORA!" Donald called.

"We ain't leavin' ya, Sora!" Goofy also called, and soon the magician and captain were following the circus bugs as they left for the canyon.

Kairi couldn't believe what happened. Sora had actually let Flik lie to the colony and hadn't even done anything to stop him. She turned away, then walked off, her heart in shambles.

Meanwhile, up above, the last leaf…fell from the tree and slowly drifted to the ground.

P.T. Flea

The original boss of the troop. He fired the troop after a failed trick called Flaming Death, but now sees it as an opportunity to make it big. He's a bit of a cheapskate and only wishes to become rich and popular. He first appeared in _A Bug's Life_ 1998.

_(1) My new scene-change method._

_(2) That wasn't REALLY in the movie, I thought it'd be good, though._

_**In other news, Lunatic121, my little brother, has gotten a spam folder. This means it's a matter of time before he gets on .**_


	171. Going Back

Chapter 171: Going Back

In the skies, all the grasshoppers were flying back to Ant Island with a swarm of Army Ant Heartless marching under them like a carpet of black. THIS time, they meant business.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Back on the island, the ants (and Ryan, because Scott threatened to get rid of all his honey) were rushing around like crazy through the fog. However, the food they had gathered wasn't even a FIFTH of what Hopper wanted. Atta fluttered over to Sakuzy. "This is it?" she asked, desperately, "There's GOT to be more food on the island!"

Sakuzy looked defeated as he turned to Atta and pointed out, "I'm sorry, but if you give up any more food, the entire colony will starve."

Atta looked freaked out as she continued, "But Hopper won't accept THIS!"

There was some humming in the air and all ants, working or not, froze in place.

"What are we going to do?" Atta asked, her voice no more than a hushed whisper.

The queen, usually the main driving force of the colony, was at a loss. "I…I don't know."

The ants cowered away in fear as the grasshoppers and Heartless slowly came out of the fog. Thumper snarled to try and keep them away from them.

"YOU PUNY TERMITES!" a familiar voice roared.

Sakuzy, who was actually a termite, seemed offended by this as he turned to say, "HEY!"

But as Sakuzy looked up, he saw that Hopper was flying above them, heaving the offering leaf over his head. "I GIVE YOU A SECOND CHANCE AND THIS IS ALL I GET?!"

In rage, Hopper chucked the leaf down to the ground, spilling its contents everywhere.

"But, Hopper! We ran out of time!" Atta said, fearfully.

Hopper didn't hear this, judging by his continued rage. "HAVE YOU ANTS BEEN PLAYING ALL SUMMER?!" he barked, "YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME?! WELL, GUESS WHAT?! YOU JUST LOST!"

The Army Ant Heartless moved out and began swarming and overpowering any in their way. Any who tried to stand and fight were quickly immobilized and those who tried to run were chased down.

Kairi stuck close to the queen in an attempt to keep her safe, but Hopper caught up to them. Kairi made to smack Hopper across the face with Flowering Strength, but she hadn't even swung it when Hopper grabbed her by the forearm with enough strength to keep her at bay. The queen was frozen where she was as Hopper addressed the two of them. "No, no. You two are staying with ME."

Meanwhile, Scott managed to get out of the onslaught to keep the smaller ants safe. The only ones able to get out of the attack were Dot and her Blueberry Troop.

"Quick! To the clubhouse!" Dot said, quiet enough to avoid the unwanted attention of grasshoppers.

Dot and the other kids ran off with Scott following them. "I hope I know what I'm doin'…" Scott said, praying to Kingdom Hearts up above.

Ryan zipped past, leaving a small pile of grasshoppers that had been slapped silly (they were TOO close to his honey), and began following the kids. Dot opened a small leaf in a stalk, revealing a hole in it. The Blueberry Scouts quickly hopped in as someone was coming toward them, followed by Ryan. Scott would have gone in, but he was WAY too tall. The Aussie settled for hiding behind a large rock as two grasshoppers walked over to the stalk. They didn't appear to have noticed anyone, until one of them paused.

"Hey, wait!" one grasshopper said, "I think I found somethin'!"

Scott tried hiding better as the grasshoppers walked over. Meanwhile, inside the clubhouse, Dot and Ryan tried to keep hidden, too, but the grasshopper stooped over and picked up Dot's bandana.

"Hehe…cool." he said, somewhat dully. The grasshopper put the bandana on his head like a sun hat and turned to his fellow to ask, "Hey, how do I look?"

The second grasshopper was VERY ticked at his partner's stupidity. "Like an idiot." he answered.

Scott rolled his eyes behind his rock and thought, _Which he virtually is._

The first grasshopper shrugged, then suggested, "I dunno, maybe it'll keep me dry in the rain?"

The second grasshopper whacked the first one, causing the bandana to spin slightly. "YOU MORON! We'll be outta here before it RAINS!" All of the heroes listened in on what he just said, including Dot. "AFTER Hopper collects all the food, he's gonna squish the Queen to remind her who's boss and take that other ant to that witch!" Dot gasped at the horror of the meanest bug she'd known killing her mother. "Then, the Queen's dead," the second grasshopper continued, "The girl's gonna help the witch with her evil scheme, they cry 'boo-hoo', we go home, END OF STORY!"

The two grasshoppers began walking away, the first one still wearing his new "hat". "Oh." he said, stupidly, "Cool. I love our job."

Dot turned to the rest of the club. "Stay here!" she whispered, "I'll get help!"

Dot quietly bolted out of the stalk and Ryan followed, quickly flapping his wings. "Hey, I can fly. Maybe I can help..."

Scott hopped around the rock as soon as they were about to pass his rock. Dot almost screamed until she recognized the leaf-made hat. "It's me." Scott assured her, "I just came to see ya off."

Dot nodded, still nervous about the grasshoppers, then ran off with Ryan and Scott. They ran and ran towards the cliff where Flik departed. Chances were that THAT would be the first place the circus bugs would go. They were about halfway there when Thumper sprang out of nowhere and kicked Scott across the face, sending the weta to the ground and earning a scream from Dot and Ryan.

"Ow…that hurt." Scott said, massaging the side of his face.

Scott hopped after Thumper, who was flying after Dot and Ryan. Ryan and Dot got above the clovers, but Ryan quickly flew away as they heard Thumper coming after them, leaving Dot alone. Yet, before he left, Ryan quickly gave her directions. "I'll see you at the cliff!"

As Ryan flew from sight, Thumper burst from the clovers and looked ready to attack Dot, but Scott jumped out from underneath the tree-sized clovers and pulled the blood-crazed creature down. As Dot ran, she pulled down a plant with a thorny flower to crawl down and Scott managed to catch up as she descended. He grabbed it as Dot let go. When Thumper came into view, he let it go and it shot back to its upright position and the thorny flower sent Thumper flying back a notable difference.

Scott sighed with relief…which was short-lived, seeing as Thumper flew back in a rage and kicked him back to the ground. Scott tumbled across the ground, but was soon on his feet and continued following Dot. When he found her, he saw that she was at the edge of the cliff, desperately trying to fly.

"C'mon, wings! Fly. FLY!" she begged them.

Scott quickly turned to see the heel of Thumper smash him in the face, knocking him backward. Dot barely had time to register what had happened when the enraged grasshopper's outstretched hand pushed her over the cliff's edge. Thumper looked down the chasm and upon finding that Dot was no longer there, took off again with Scott hanging limply in his hands.

Dot slowly opened her eyes to see that she hadn't fallen to her death. She turned to look behind her and saw that her wings were pumping to keep her in the air.

"Dot! You're doing it!" Dot turned to see Ryan, buzzing just a few feet in front of her. "You're flying!"

Dot turned to Ryan, then to her wings with what could only be described as pride. "YES!"

Dot was so happy that she tried doing a loop…which resulted in falling down a little bit with a small squeal. She regained her altitude and Ryan chuckled slightly.

"I guess we'll work on that later. Let's go!" Ryan zipped off with Dot in hot pursuit. If there was one person they knew who could help, it was certainly Flik.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Meanwhile, on the other side of the chasm, the circus troop was moving out. J was walking solo with Dim, as he was too big to fit into the box, while the rest were in the box. Sora was slumped over, adjacent to Flik.

"Boy, those two look down." Francis said, pitying them.

Francis shuddered as he felt a certain scorpion's glare focus on him, even when he was outside the box. After getting over the shudder, Francis walked over to Flik and Sora with Heimlich and Slim.

"Cheer up, guys." Heimlich said, "The circus life is not so bad."

"Yeah, you two could be part of our act! Watch!" Francis smacked Slim across the back, who appeared to be slapped silly, and fell into Francis' arms.

Slim immediately perked up as he joked, "Slapstick! Get it? I'm a walking stick and…"

He stopped when there wasn't a reaction. Sora simply gave them a glare while Flik simply stared at them, looking down as ever.

"Not workin', clowns." Donald had gotten into the habit of simply calling the troop "clowns" ever since P.T. exposed them for what they were.

"Oh, never mind." Slim said, looking crestfallen.

Sora then heard something—someone calling their names and his antennae instantly perked up. "Guys! Wait!"

Sora and Flik both stood and tried to focus on what was calling them. There. Just a while away was a familiar small ant and bee: Ryan and Dot. Ryan zipped over, followed by Dot, who Flik quickly caught in his arms. "Dot?" Flik asked in surprise, "You're FLYING!"

Donald seemed to brighten up as he asked, "You two are joinin' the circus, too?"

Ryan's reply was caught between gasps. "You…wish, duck-man."

Dot's reply also had gasps for a while. "You…have GOT to come back! Hopper's gang has taken over and his gang's eating EVERYTHING! And I heard one of the grasshoppers say that, when they're finished, HOPPER'S GONNA SQUISH MY MOM AND GIVE KAIRI TO A WITCH!"

Every circus bug responded to this with a gasp, but for Sora, the very mention of Hopper touching Kairi made his fist (and teeth) clench. J growled at this as he scuttled close enough to hear and respond. "So, the grasshopper's gonna give Kairi to Maleficent?"

Sora seemed confused by this. As far as he knew, the shapeshifter hadn't met Maleficent before. "You know about Maleficent?" he asked.

J's reply was short, sweet, and to the point. "Everyone who survived the invasion when Radiant Garden became Hollow Bastion knows about her. Go ahead, ask Leon about it."

Slim, avoiding the Maleficent talk, asked, "Well, what are WE going to do? We're just a bunch of clowns…"

"And what'll we do about those Heartless?" Goofy asked, "There's so many of them!"

Everyone thought, then Gypsy had JUST the idea. "I know, the bird!"

Slim's beady eyes widened at the thought. "The bird, that's BRILLIANT!" he agreed.

Within seconds, everyone was chattering in agreement except one. "The bird WON'T work."

Everyone turned on Flik's comment. Had he just turned down his own brilliant idea? Sora seemed confused by this. THIS was the second time he saw a hero give up—next to Aladar. "What're you talking about, Flik?" Sora asked, "It was YOUR idea."

Flik seemed utterly defeated as he answered Sora's question. "That bird's a guaranteed failure. Just like me."

J snarled at this as he addressed Flik directly, still scuttling behind the wagon. "Look, Flik, I've lived out most of MY LIFE thinking I'm a failure, so I know what I'm talking about when I say, YOU AREN'T ONE!"

Flik still seemed down when he asked the scorpion the next question. "Yeah? Well, name ONE thing that I've done right."

The troop seemed to be at a loss until Dim answered, "Us."

Sora looked at them, then his face lightened up as he knew what Dim was talking about. "Yeah, Flik. If it weren't for you, these guys wouldn't have known what it felt like to be admired." Sora agreed, "And did you see them at that party? I don't think they've had that much fun in a long time."

"Please, Flik?" Dot asked, quietly. Flik didn't answer Dot's question or Sora's support, so she zipped out of the box for a second. After a few seconds, she fluttered back and brought back a rock, which she set down next to Flik. "Pretend it's a seed, okay?" she said, folding her arms.

Flik looked at the rock and then back at Dot. He smiled because he had taught her that when she wasn't too confident about her wings. "Thanks, Dot." Flik stood up with fierce determination in his eyes; THAT was the Flik they all knew and loved. "Alright, let's do it."

Goofy turned to Donald with slight confusion and asked, "Uh, what's with the rock?"

Donald shrugged. "Probably an ant thing."

J pointed a claw up to the top of the wagon. "We still have a cheap flea driving this thing. Got any ideas?" Flik grinned, mischievously and J gave him his usual, somewhat malicious grin. "Great minds think alike I suppose…"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Meanwhile, steering the wagon, P.T. was singing a song out loud and not even minding someone scuttling up the wagon. "_Bugs will be comin' all around to see, the biggest bonfire, starring me!"_

Francis then zipped in front of P.T. and pointed behind the flea as he shouted, "Hey, P.T.! MONEY!"

P.T. looked behind him, being the money lover he was, and asked, "What? Where?"

As P.T. turned around, he shrieked as he saw J, who seized him in his claw and lashed out with his stinger. "I wish this could do MORE damage, but my stinger's only meant to paralyze." he said to himself.

J's stinger dug into the screaming flea, who froze in place immediately. Now it was time to put things into action…

_**Lunatic HAS a account now.**_


	172. Freeing the Island

Chapter 172: Freeing the Island

Ant Island…

"KEEP MOVING!"

One of the grasshoppers kicked an ant who was slacking slightly. Around him, the rest of Sora's group had been immobilized by Army Ant Heartless. The Heartless were on top of every member, using their weight to keep them down. Flik gasped as he saw the whole thing through a telescope made with grass and a bit of dew.

"Oh no! They've collected all the food!" Flik said, urgently, "We've gotta get the Queen and Kairi NOW!" Flik put away the telescope, then pointed out the plan. "Alright, we move on Gypsy's signal as J sneaks off with Kairi…"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Scott got up, gingerly, and began rubbing the area where Thumper kicked him. He recognized his surroundings: the clover forest. Thumper must have dropped him somewhere to try and kill him. Fortunately, the Aussie was tougher than he looked with his thick exoskeleton and large size.

"Ugh. As soon as I get my hands on that bloke…" he groaned. Scott shook the pain out of his head, then hopped off toward the colony.

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Hopper was eating the food with Atta, the Queen, and Kairi next to him. The rest of his gang were gorging themselves on all (literally) the island had to offer, so they didn't notice J sneak up on one of them. He didn't even have time to notice the sting, which paralyzed him without anyone's notice.

J dragged his victim away in his pincers, then bound him with a blade of grass and gagged him with a piece of acorn. As soon as he was sure the grasshopper couldn't escape, J touched it and slowly shifted into his shape. The only notable difference was the shade of crimson his eyes were. _Good thing I can still change in this world…_J thought to himself.

J snuck back into the area and put himself back in place, which was between one grasshopper and Kairi. He then spoke out of the corner of his mouth…

"Kairi," he hissed, "It's ME. J."

Kairi jumped, then tried to see if she could spot him in there. She recognized his crimson eyes instantly. "J?" she asked in shock.

J shushed her, then assured her, "It's okay. EVERYTHING'S under control…I hope."

Molt had just finished off a good piece of grain when something came through the grass and Slim's amplified voice broke through the silence. "_Ladies and gentlebugs, larvae of all stages, may I present the all-bug circus!_"

The entire circus came out, including Donald and Goofy, who wanted to be part of the act. However, as they neared, Hopper stood and said, "HOLD IT!"

All the music suddenly stopped and slight fear of failure flowed through the entire circus. "I think I just wet myself…" Heimlich said, going strangely pale.

"Steady…" Donald hissed through the corner of his mouth.

Hopper seemed to be in a bit of a temper as he asked, "Who invited YOU?!"

Slim's reply was a bit shaky, but he managed to answer Hopper's question. "Oh, yes…we were invited by Princess Atta to welcome you for your arrival!" he said, catching on as he went.

Hopper only said two words that made the entire troop panic slightly. "Squish 'em."

Every grasshopper in the immediate area revved their wings, ready to attack. But just on cue, Goofy, Tuck, and Roll flew out of a cannon that Dim accidentally triggered and began dancing while singing in gibberish. As Tuck continued dancing, he raised his arms and his hand smacked Donald across the face by mistake.

"OW!" the court mage said, massaging his face, "WHY YOU LOUSY…"

Donald, in rage, smacked Tuck across the face. The pillbug snarled a gibberish threat at Donald and tried punching the gnat. Donald evaded the attack and Tuck hit Roll instead. This broke out into a fight as Goofy ran in to try and break it up. "Hey, guys, settle down!" he said, trying to coax them away.

Goofy, however, got dragged into the fight, too. And, before long, all four of them were slugging it out in a cartoon fight cloud. Hopper paused, taking it in, then grinned at the squabbling. "Now, THAT'S funny…" he admitted.

Soon, all the grasshoppers were chuckling at the four's antics. J held his chin, in MILD amusement. "Well, it IS kind of amusing…" he admitted.

Slim chuckled nervously as he held out his arms. "Well, then, on with the show!"

The act began with the crack of Rosy's whip, which was actually a shoelace. Dim began galloping in a circle with Tuck balancing on Roll's back. All the while, Donald had curled up Goofy and was dribbling him like a basketball on Dim's back.

Molt was acting like an energetic five-year-old, clapping his hands and chanting, "THE CIRCUS! THE CIRCUS! I LOVE THE CIRCUS!"

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Meanwhile, the Blueberry Troop was waiting patiently for Dot to return. They cowered as they heard the sound of someone entering their clubhouse. Suddenly, Flik, Sora, and Dot came out.

"Hello, kids!" Flik greeted.

Sora's voice had the enthusiasm of someone much younger than himself as he asked, "Wanna make some grasshoppers cry?"

"It's payback time, Blueberry Style!" Dot said, earning cheer from all the girls.

Upon gaining confidence from Flik and Sora, every girl slunk out of the clubhouse and towards the tree.

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Meanwhile, Heimlich did an act that involved him in baby clothes. He had just sucked a makeshift bottle dry and cried, "Ba-Ba all gone! Baby wants PIE!"

Francis hovered over to him with an enormous pie in his hand. "PIE?" he asked. Heimlich made several happy noises as he tried to reach the pie as Francis turned and addressed the grasshoppers. "He asked for it. Should I GIVE IT TO HIM?"

Every grasshopper in the area begged for him to do it, including Molt. "Yeah!" he cheered, "Give him pie! Give him pie!"

A few moments later, every grasshopper was splattered with the pie's contents as Francis splattered it onto Heimlich's face. Each and every bug was roaring with laughter as they tried to clean themselves.

Slim then walked over, a berry splattered on his face and with a dull expression. "Thank you, gentlemen. As always, an intellectual treat." he said, blandly. Slim then began juggling berries as a joking smile came back onto his face. "Say, how many roaches does it take to screw in a light bulb?" he asked, then answered, "Can't tell. As soon as the light goes on, they scatter!"

The grasshoppers howled in laughter at the joke…except J. "I don't get it."

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Meanwhile, Sora and Flik were getting the bird good to go, making sure the wings would flap correctly. "Everyone okay back there?" Flik asked.

The Blueberry scouts got in their positions at the wings, each one nodding in response. Dot turned to answer Flik, but accidentally spoke into a megaphone put in to make sure the bird could do realistic noises. The voice of Dot was amplified so much that it startled Sora. Dot's apology was a quiet whisper, especially after her last attempt. "Sorry."

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Meanwhile, back at the colony, it was Manny's turn to do his act: the magic act. THIS would also be the signal for the bird. "From the most mysterious regions of uncharted Asia, I give you the Chinese Cabinet of Metamorphosis!" he announced in a mysterious-sounding voice, then added, "First, I will need a volunteer!"

Manny walked around, his fingers to his temples and Molt looked hopeful. He kept raising his hand in an attempt to get his attention and begged, "Oooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!" Manny walked past Molt, who shut his eyes and placed his own hands on his own temples. "C'MON! I'm askin' you with my brain!" he added.

Manny continued searching, then walked over to the Queen with a pointed finger at her. "AHA! Your majesty…"

Thumper snarled at this as a certain weta darted behind the leaves. J simply motioned to him to keep the grasshopper he replaced restrained. The Aussie grinned. He was still angry at the shapeshifter, but was still grateful that his best friend came back

"No! Thumper, down!" Hopper said, calming the feral bug in an instant, "Maybe he'll saw her in half."

Manny took the Queen into a box of Chinese food and the Queen was ushered out the back by Dim.

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Sora was watching them through Flik's telescope. As soon as Gypsy gave the signal, that would be their cue.

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Manny motioned with his hands as he began chanting the same word over and over again. "Transformation…Transformation…"

As Manny chanted, clouds gathered in the sky and grabbed the attention of Francis, Donald, and Goofy. "Wow. Manny's gettin' good…" Francis said, impressed.

Sakuzy, on the other hand, was VERY worried about what was happening. "Oh, don't tell me it's going to rain! If it does, the bird will get ripped to shreds!"

"TRANSFORMATION!" That was Manny's last incantation, because the top of the box burst open to reveal Gypsy. The grasshoppers gave a chorus of ooh's and ahh's at the act. As Gypsy and Manny bowed to the audience, Gypsy was actually moving her wings in a specific pattern.

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Sora spotted the signal and turned to Ryan, who followed them for at least some involvement in the plan. "Alright, Ryan, I've got GOOD news and BAD news…ah, heck." Sora then called to Flik as the Key-bearer quickly got inside the bird. "That's the signal!"

Ryan zipped over to remove the sticks that helped to activate the bird's ignition: a rolling stone. But at about halfway down the slope, the rock stopped. "It's stuck!" Ryan said in surprise.

Sora heard Ryan's exclamation and emitted just one word: "WHAT?!"

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"That was AMAZING!" Molt said in applause, "HOW did he do that?"

Hopper was pretty amazed, but as he noticed Dim moving the box away, he also noted it was empty. "Wait!" he barked, "WHERE IS SHE?!"

Manny stammered to try and find an answer when Gypsy moved in between them. "I'm sorry." she said in a negative tone, "A magician NEVER reveals his secrets."

"She's got a point there, Hop." Molt pointed out, "I mean, where would the magic be if we all knew-" Hopper threw a piece of grain at Molt, hitting him in the head, and he immediately hunkered down a bit. "Shutting up."

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Ryan kept trying a fruitless effort to move the rock, but it was hopeless. He wasn't strong enough and that rock was bigger than he was. He looked around, then saw two makeshift hammers.

"Nah." he said, waving the tools off, "Who needs hammers when you got…SOLAR POWER!" Ryan held out two solar orbs in his hands, dramatically…until he realized that it was nighttime and his powers deactivated immediately. "I guess I do…"

Ryan took one of the hammers and began battering the stick until it gave way and released the bird. He then took off, entering through the mouth, the plan now in REAL motion.

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Hopper was strangling Manny, trying to find out where the Queen was until he heard a tweet/roar. As he looked up, he saw the bird coming straight for him. "BIRD! IT'S A BIRD!" he cried.

The bird zoomed overhead and the Army Ant Heartless saw what was going on. They couldn't handle this bird because it moved faster than the Crystalli Parasites. As they scattered, they released all prisoners, who quickly made a run for it.

"That's our cue." J said, then ushered Kairi away amidst the chaos and reverted back to his scorpion form. As Flowering Strength flashed into her hand, J seized an Army Ant around the neck and crushed it in his pincer. The Heartless vanished in a puff of smoke.

Sakuzy swung his Eagle Feather Keyblade, carving through all the panicking Heartless and grasshoppers. The Heartless, no longer in complete coordination, could only scramble around aimlessly until someone put it out of its misery. One actually surprised Sakuzy, forcing him to turn his head sharply. Acid sprayed from the funnel on his forehead and spritzed the Heartless in the face. As it writhed in pain from the burning liquid, Sakuzy took it out with one swing of his Keyblade. Three more were sneaking up from behind when suddenly, a white, sticky net flew at them, trapping them. Joyex had webbed them with his spinnerets and scuttled to face Sakuzy.

"Hehe…Just like from a comic book. (1)" Joyex chuckled.

As the grasshoppers ran around in panic, Scott had an idea as Slim squished a berry over his closed, left eye. He took one of his own and splattered it over his chest. Hopper was running around, screaming when Scott flung himself on the ground as Slim went screaming with his hand over the eye he just squished berry on.

"What?!" Hopper said in a snarl.

Slim removed his hand and the smushed berry made his eye look like it had been removed, leaving a bloody socket. "MY EYE! HELP ME!" he begged, as though dying.

Hopper screamed in horror at the sight, then screamed even more as he saw Scott writhing on the ground, looking like he had been gored. Hopper then saw that other bugs got the same idea—including Heimlich who looked like he had his head chopped off. When Hopper ran off, the caterpillar's head popped up, immediately, covered in berry juice. "Mmm, boysenberry!" the caterpillar said, licking some of the berry's contents off his face.

After a few more rounds, Flik suddenly saw where he was going and crashed into the circus wagon. The bird knocked the circus trailer on its side and P.T. as well as an open box of matches and a can of lighter fluid popped out. He clutched his head slightly, J's venom still having a slight effect on him, then glanced up at the bird and screamed. He turned to the source of a moan to see Manny, who was feigning death and freaking a grasshopper out. "Oh, the PAIN!" the mantis groaned.

Manny then dropped down, pretending to be dead, but P.T. seemed to be tricked, too. "There goes my magic act!" he freaked. P.T. whipped out a match and shouted, at the top of his lungs, "FLAMING DEATH!"

J noticed what P.T. was doing and made a desperate attempt to try and communicate with him. "NO, YOU IDIOT!" he roared.

Too late, P.T. lit the match and jumped onto the bottle of lighter fluid, creating a steady spray of the stuff. The lighter fluid quickly became a stream of flame and the bird passed right through it, catching fire.

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Inside the inferno, Ryan noticed the flames, as did the Blueberry scouts, who screamed in terror. "Abandon ship! ABANDON SHIP!" the bee shouted.

Ryan, in a panic, quickly flew out of the bird's mouth as it suddenly began to swing out of control, as no one to help it turn. Sora looked around, quickly noticed the emergency release, and undid it. The bird flew off its support and plowed into the ground just on one side of the anthill. The girls stumbled out, coughing from the smoke, as all bugs, good and bad, saw this. J gave a flat look. "THAT didn't go according to plan…" he groaned to himself.

The children ran over to Atta, leaving Dot in dead last due to her small stature. She had barely taken a few steps when Hopper seized her around the head. Now, the lead grasshopper was in a towering temper. "WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS?!" he roared, "HUH?! WHO DID THIS?!"

Hopper turned to Atta with a snarl on his face. "WAS IT YOURS, PRINCESS?!" he asked, then wheeled to the rest of the heroes, who had been kept in custody until the bird's arrival. "OR YOURS?!"

J arched his tail, ready to sting if Hopper got too close, but then Flik and Sora got out of the bird.

"Drop her, Hopper!" Sora said, his voice serious, but steady.

"The bird was MY idea!" Flik said, courageously, "I'M the one you want!"

Hopper dropped Dot and snapped his fingers. In an instant, Thumper jumped seemingly from nowhere and delivered a powerful kick that sent Flik to the ground. Sora hadn't even gotten the urge to summon his Keyblade when the rabid grasshopper kicked HIM down, too. The beating the two were getting seemed to be immense judging by Molt's response. Kairi simply watched as Sora endured the blows, not able to do much more than that.

Hopper snapped his fingers again. He basically said "heel", judging by Thumper's reaction—to stop beating the two into a pulp. Hopper walked over to them. Both had at least one bruise on their body and a black eye. "Where do you get the gall to do this to me, you pieces of dirt?!" Hopper asked in a growl, "No…you're lower than dirt. You're an ANT!"

Sora finally got the strength to summon his Keyblade and used it as a crutch to help him up. Flik, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling to stand. He could barely lift himself up with his arm, yet find enough strength to say, "You were…you were going to squish the queen."

"AND give Kairi to Maleficent…" Sora added.

The entire colony and the rest of Sora's group gasped at this. Hopper folded his arms and shook his head, disappointed, then said, "I hate it when someone gives away the ending…"

Hopper snapped his fingers and Thumper kicked Flik as well as the Keyblade keeping Sora up, making the Keybearer lose his balance. Hopper turned to the entire colony. "Let this be a lesson to you ants!" Hopper told them, "Ideas are VERY dangerous things! You are mindless, soil-shoving LOSERS! Put on this earth to serve US!"

Hopper then turned to the Sakuzy and the others, pointing a finger at them as though accusing them. "And what YOU are doing is fighting something you lost LONG before you started!" he said to the termite, "If I were YOU, I'd quit while I was ahead."

Then, to his great surprise, a weak voice addressed Hopper. "You're wrong, Hopper…"

Hopper turned, wanting to see who would dare speak to him. Flik and Sora slowly, but surely, stood up. Though they were in pain, they weren't about to show it. Both took a deep breath and Flik said, in a pained, but strong, voice, "Ants are NOT meant to serve grasshoppers!"

Hopper had a look of pure rage as Sora said HIS bit. "I've seen my friends do GREAT things." he strained, "And world after world, they somehow find the strength to deal with lowlifes like you AND find the strength to keep going!"

Hopper began advancing on the two, but Flik continued, pointing his finger at the larger bug. "So, who's the weaker species?! Ants don't serve grasshoppers! It's YOU who need us!"

Hopper was facing them, eye-to-eye, and Sora then realized something as he pointed his Keyblade at him like an accusing finger. "And you know what? I bet you KNOW that…"

THIS remark got Sora slammed across the face by Hopper's fist, who then proceeded to punch Flik down with the exact same fist. "YOU first, Key-bearer!"

Hopper gently placed a foot on Sora's head and raised it up, ready to crush his head like a berry. However, he was MORE than surprised when Atta flew between the two. Hopper chuckled at this. "Well, Princess…" he said, impressed.

Molt looked to the side and had a sudden statement. "Uh…Hopper? I don't mean to interrupt, but…" he stuttered.

Hopper turned to his brother's rambling and noticed that the ants and insects were looking just as defiant as Flik and Sora once were. In an attempt to scare them off, he pointed at them and issued one single command. "YOU ANTS STAY BACK!"

The bugs, both big and small, locked their arms in a show strength, whereas those with Keyblades summoned them. "Oh, THIS was such a bad idea!" Molt said in a panic.

Atta then spoke up, getting up close and personal with Hopper. "You see Hopper, nature has a certain order…" Atta then hovered up to Hopper's face to emphasize her next points. "The ants pick the food, the ants KEEP the food, and the grasshoppers LEAVE!"

Upon that last word, everyone charged in unity. Hopper instinctively snapped his fingers summoning…less than forty Heartless. "WHAT?!" he asked in disbelief.

Maleficent's voice rang through Hopper's head as she said, _You HAVE used the Heartless repeatedly. I guess using them as your masseurs wasn't the best choice._ Hopper growled as Maleficent's voice faded. She had suckered him!

J scuttled up to Molt and pricked him in the butt with his stinger, making sure NOT to inject venom. Molt screamed and flew off…shedding all of his skin and leaving a ghostly image of himself that all the ants plowed over.

Sakuzy hacked through the Heartless with Joyex, Riku, and Kairi all with joy at liberating the ants. The grasshoppers flew off in fear as Sora and Flik neared Hopper. In another part of the chaos, Dot suddenly ran into Thumper, who snarled at her only to get slapped by the small ant. "No! Bad grasshopper! BAD grasshopper!" she scolded, "GO HOME!"

When Thumper snarled again, Scott brought a powerful kick into the enraged insect's face, but it only stunned him. Thumper almost came back when Dim landed behind both of them and issued a loud ROAR (imagine a Jurassic Park T-rex roar). Thumper's eyes widened in fright and he quickly flew off with the other grasshoppers, yipping like a scared dog.

Scott simply stared at Thumper, then saw Dot and Dim high-five each other. "I could've done that."

Sora used the Cure spell to heal Flik and himself, then threw his Keyblade in Strike Raid to take care of an Army Ant Heartless that had tried to ambush him. Flik then took out his harvesting equipment and Sora got closer to him just as Hopper turned up behind them.

"Oh, c'mon! You're just ANTS!" Hopper said, popping his knuckles.

"Well, how 'bout we show you what ants can really do?" Sora challenged, "FLIK!"

"Let's make some grasshoppers cry!" Flik called. Sora hopped onto the ant's harvester and braced himself for anything. Flik pulled a lever and the device fired Sora forward like a catapult. Sora flew, spinning, through the air and hit Hopper in the chest like a cannonball. The impact caused Hopper to lurch forward in pain as Sora landed on the ground with grace to rival a cat.

Hopper recovered from being winded, then swung his fist at Sora only to miss by a mile. As Sora rolled away from the grasshopper's oncoming fist, he spun on stopping and his Keyblade connected with the bend of Hopper's knee, grounding the larger bug.

"FLIK!" Sora called again.

Flik quickly dropped his equipment and did a cartwheel, planting his foot into the back of Hopper's head and grounding him further. The two ants shook hands shook hands and soon, the entire colony was swarming over the leader of grasshoppers.

Kairi ran over to Sora and stopped a few feet in front of him. She paused to catch her breath, then hugged Sora. "I'm sorry, Kairi." Sora apologized.

"Apology accepted, now let's give Hopper the best sendoff he's ever had!" Kairi said, turning over to said grasshopper. Sora couldn't agree more…

The two parted as the ants immobilized Hopper completely. Scott ran over and two more arms sprouted out of his chest like a tree in a sped-up nature show. Sora looked disgusted as he said, "Ugh. Scott! I thought you said you couldn't grow extra limbs that WORKED!"

Scott shrugged with all his arms. "Somethin' I figured out while you were gone." he explained, "Apparently me anatomy powers 'ave been fine-tuned for this world. NOW, for the bloke."

Scott grabbed Hopper with all six of his arms (arms, NOT legs) and carried him away. Hopper struggled, but those times in the outback paid off for Scott, because he resisted well. The rest of the bugs shoved Hopper into the cannon so that his head was sticking out. Dim looked down at Hopper and laughed as he looked ready to jump onto the cannon, which would send Hopper flying.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen…" J said, clacking his pincer at Hopper.

Flik grinned at Hopper's humiliation and mock-saluted as he said, "Happy landings, Hopper!"

Suddenly, the clouds let loose something a clap of thunder and the entire colony quieted down. Soon, there was an unmistakable sound that Flik shouted. "RAIN!"

Ryan looked exasperated by this as he saw the torrent of falling water draw ever closer. "Oh, PERFECT timing!" he said sarcastically, "Bees hate rain!"

The rain, though a small shower to any human, was absolute chaos for a bug. Raindrops came down with the force of cannonballs tossed from two-story windows. On contact with the ground, the droplets exploded like bombs. The ants supporting the cannon quickly took cover, sending Hopper off-course. Hopper took quick notice of something and aimed himself so that he faced two of his most important priorities—getting revenge on Flik and bringing Kairi to Maleficent.

Dim jumped off his spot in fright and Hopper seized his chance. He rolled the cannon and Dim landed right on top of it, launching Hopper at the two. He zoomed at them with incredible speed, grabbing Kairi in one arm and Flik in the other.

"KAIRI!"

"FLIK!"

Sakuzy and other non-ants took notice and growled up at Hopper. "Let's get him!" he growled.

The other insects took off after them—April carrying Scott and J being carried by Gypsy and Manny. Riku and Ryan also flew off after them with Riku carrying Sakuzy and Ryan carrying Joyex. Dim carried the most: Heimlich in his legs and the pillbugs and Rosy on his back. Sora saw them about to take off and quickly hopped onto Dim's back just as they had liftoff.

They pursued Hopper into the tree's heights and were beginning to catch up to him when Francis went through some twigs—accidentally replacing Slim with an actual stick in the process. "AAH!" he screamed, "SLIM!"

Slim's voice came from the tangle of sticks, but it wasn't exactly easy to find him. Walking sticks were camouflaged to blend into tree branches, so he could have been anywhere. "Francis! Francis! I'm stuck!" Slim called.

Scott and April flew over to help Francis, who asked, "Where are ya?!"

Slim's voice came out, but the three still couldn't find him. "I'm over here!"

"WHERE?!"

"HERE! I'm the only stick with eyeballs!"

Scott sighed. Francis was going to be there for a while…

Meanwhile, as the others gained on Hopper, Ryan put Joyex onto Dim and quickly snatched Sakuzy from Riku. "Let's go!" the bee said, bravely.

Ryan revved like a motorcycle and took off after Hopper, landing on his back. Hopper noticed them and tried to wheel them off, but the bee's grip was true. Sakuzy jerked his head slightly and acid shot from his forehead, spritzing Hopper with the stuff. Hopper howled in pain as he continued to thrash, not even letting go of Flik or Kairi.

Ryan had one trick left; one that, if J said was right, wouldn't work twice. He built up his courage and brought his sting into Hopper's rear. Hopper screamed as Ryan pulled it out, but strangely…he felt no pain, no agony of his organs trailing out behind him. His stinger was RIGHT where it belonged. "Hey!" he said, incredulously, "I'M ALIVE!"

Hopper snapped his fingers and a super-sized Heartless appeared in a shroud of black. As it sped past him, the Heartless knocked Ryan off and sent him tumbling through the air. He would have continued when suddenly, a raindrop fell on top of the kid. He fell to the ground and Sakuzy noticed he was shivering like heck.

"For how long, buzz-boy?!" Hopper called, then addressed the others trailing him, "Let's see how you deal with the Killer Wasp!"

Dim flew around the so-called Killer Wasp, but Manny and Gypsy weren't so lucky. The Heartless resembled a giant, black hornet with white stripes instead of yellow and glowing, red eyes. The Heartless symbol was emblazoned on its wings and its legs resembled pikes. Riku went with Dim while Scott and the others paused to take care of the Killer Wasp.

"Get Kairi, ya bloke!" Scott called.

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Dim and Riku were getting closer and closer to Hopper by the second. Riku was up front while Dim was behind him. They were now so close that they could hear Flik and Kairi's frantic yells for help.

"Get him!" Heimlich shouted, pointing forward with his stubby hand.

Rosy and Joyex strung up Tuck and Roll, using their webs as safety lines. Rosy spun the two around like some sort of weapon, then threw them at Hopper. The two pillbugs landed on Hopper's back and began tugging at his antennae, causing him to scream in pain and mess up his flight pattern. Suddenly, Hopper noticed a group of branches that formed a tight circle. With a determined "YES", he cleared the opening. Riku easily followed him, but Dim was too big and got caught in it, pulling Tuck and Roll with them and leaving them hanging.

"NO!!!" Flik and Kairi yelled at the same time.

Tuck laughed, earning angry gibberish from his brother, but then he held up his hand and both laughed. It was Hopper's antennae and Tuck had broken it off.

Meanwhile, the chase between Riku and Hopper continued, but the black wasp was being outclassed. He was able to fly faster than him, but only over a short distance. Grasshoppers had more flying stamina than a bee or wasp, so Riku was beginning to lose distance. He had one idea left…

"GO!" Riku summoned as much strength as he could and gave Sora a good heave. Screaming in slight surprise, Sora went zipping through the air and almost touched Hopper, but soon began to lose momentum. He almost fell to the ground until someone grabbed him by the wrist again and began flying him towards Hopper. It was Atta.

"Get them, Sora!" Atta shouted over the rain. She got as close as she could, then tossed Sora at Hopper with all her strength.

Sora reached out his hand and grabbed Flik and Kairi's outstretched ones. The extra weight caused Hopper to struggle to remain airborne, but wouldn't let go whatsoever. Sora swung on both Kairi and Flik's support and actually spun upward to thump the grasshopper in the chin. THAT was enough to make Hopper let go of them. The three fell, but not for long. Kairi, like Atta and Dot, had wings, so she put them to use for the first time since the canyon incident and stayed hovering in the air for a while. It was difficult, but she managed to stay up, but hadn't even moved an inch when a raindrop fell on top of them, bringing them to the ground with a SPLASH.

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The Killer Bee Heartless fell to the ground and lay there, curled up on its back. J got up close, then gently prodded it with its pincer. The Heartless vanished in a puff of smoke and a pink heart before it vanished into oblivion. "Worthless bug."

As the group finished with the Heartless, Sakuzy and the rest of Sora's group began running towards where Sora was headed. The circus bugs, on the other hand, sat it out. If Hopper summoned another Killer Wasp, they didn't want to be part of it again.

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Sora, Kairi, and Flik took in their surroundings and coughed out any water they breathed in. Upon finding one object, an idea came to Sora and Flik. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin', Sora?" Flik asked.

"I think I am…"

The two left Kairi, who tried to keep them from going. "Sora, NO!"

Sora turned, then hissed, "It's okay, Kairi! We've got an idea!"

The two ran for what seemed to be help, but hadn't even gone a few steps when Hopper came seemingly from nowhere. He grabbed both of them by the heads, blocking their sight. "YOU THINK YOU'VE WON, DON'T YOU?!"

Flik and Sora feigned fear, though Hopper couldn't exactly see through their clever rouse. "No, Hopper, WAIT!" Sora begged.

Hopper heaved the two up to eye-level and looked just about ready to crush their heads as he slowly tightened his grip and spoke. "I'll get some MORE grasshoppers and Heartless and be back NEXT season, but YOU TWO WON'T!"

A twitter rang through the air, catching Hopper's attention. He looked up and grinned at the massive, red songbird that was peering down at him. "Well, what's THIS?" he asked, jokingly, "Another one of your bird tricks?"

Sora and Flik smiled as they both answered, "Yup."

Hopper had obviously seen this trick before, because he didn't perceive the bird as a threat. "Are there a bunch of kids in THIS one, too?" he asked, "Hello, kids!"

Hopper waved to the bird, but then the bird let out a roar-like tweet and Hopper realized that this WAS a bird trick…but not the trick he thought it was. He let Sora and Flik go as he screamed in pure terror and tried to run away, but the bird was too fast for him. It matched him move-for-move until the grasshopper stumbled. Seizing the opportunity, the bird caught him in its beak.

Hopper screamed louder as the bird brought him to its nest, which had THREE hungry chicks inside it. It then got Hopper close to one of their hungry mouths and Hopper screamed as he…_the rest of this scene is too disgusting for all readers. Skipping this scene is obviously necessary._

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The rest of the group arrived at the scene with Sora and Flik looking victorious. Kairi, on the other hand, looked a little disgusted. "Did we miss the part where you kick the bad guy's tail?" Joyex asked with a shrug.

"Yes." Sora answered, "Unfortunately."

Joyex snapped his fingers in disappointment, then cursed, "Rats."

Scott shook his head, then cast a curious glance at Kairi. "What's wrong with you?"

Kairi looked a little green in the face, then she gagged and quickly hid behind a blade of grass. After retching for a few minutes, she came out holding her stomach. "Oh, nothing." she answered, "I just won't look at birds the same way again…"

Scott scratched his head, then his question was answered when a leg fragment flew from somewhere behind Sora and Flik. April stared at it, then nervously pointed at it and asked, "Is that…?"

"Yup." Flik answered, "Hopper's bird food."

Ryan's eyes darted between this scene and a nearby flower. He looked at it eagerly, then asked, "Can I just pollinate ONE flower? I want to get at the nectar before it washes away."

J sighed with exasperation. "Alright, but JUST one. If it's any larger, I'll have to paralyze you."

"WOO-HOO!" Ryan cheered. Ryan darted over to a flower and disappeared behind it. Judging by the flower's movement, Ryan was moving around on top of it until he suddenly stopped. "Hey, there's a weird seed up here."

Scott pressed his fingers into his forehead. How ridiculous could Ryan be in this world? "Well, pluck it out and continue!" he said, exasperated.

"Okay." Ryan plucked out a seed and tossed it off the flower. Upon further inspection, everyone noticed that the seed had the peculiar shape of…

"The Pure Heart!"

As Ryan descended the flower, satisfied that he had collected what he needed, Riku zipped over and took the heart. "For once, Ryan, your obsession with flowers in this world ACTUALLY helped!"

Ryan blinked, confusedly, at Riku. "It did?"

Flik looked at Sora and co. with a confused look. "What now?" the blue ant asked.

Sora turned to Flik with a nostalgic look on his face. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways, Flik. But don't worry, we'll be back soon!"

Flik smiled at Sora and shook his hand. Sakuzy then held out his Pure Heart tracker, which had shrunk down to ant size. "Apparently the next Heart's in a world called Agrabah."

Sora brightened up. It'd be great to see Aladdin and everyone else in Agrabah again…

"And by the way, Flik, I think your colony will need food." Scott pointed out, "Fortunately, I know where Ryan's hiding his honey stash. It's just behind the place where the fake bird crashed."

Ryan froze in midair and growled at Scott. "HEY! THAT'S MINE!!"

Ryan felt a painful sensation in his side and before he knew it, his muscles just refused to move. He fell to the ground, only his eyes able to move, as J scuttled over to him and picked him up with one claw. "We can worry about your obsession later." the scorpion said, sounding very disgruntled.

J then hurried off as fast as he could toward the Gummi Ship.

_Flik's Insect Catapult and Circus Wheel._

_(1) Spider-Joy, Spider-Joy, does whatever a Spider-Joy does. (Credit to Mrfipp for that in the FIRST POH book, may it rest in peace)_


	173. Word to the Wise

Chapter 173: Word to the Wise

Agrabah…

Sora and co. arrived in the desert world of Agrabah, just on the outskirts of the marketplace. Upon further inspection, Sora noticed that Ryan was sweating immensely. "Ah…so hot…" the kid groaned, "So STICKY."

Ryan peeled off his sweat-drenched hoody to reveal his gray "Rascal Flatts" T-shirt. J also took off his hoody jacket to show a plain gray long-sleeve and tied the sleeves around his waist like a belt. Though J still looked disgruntled, Sora was sure he was relieved that he wasn't a scorpion anymore. "What?" J asked; Donald had been giving him a weird look. "I lived in Radiant Garden and it doesn't exactly get desert-hot there."

Sora smiled. It had been a while since he was in Agrabah. He was looking forward to seeing Jasmine, Aladdin, Abu, Iago, and Genie (who had helped him on more than one occasion as a Summon Charm). He turned to Donald and Goofy, who had focused back on him. "Good to be back!" Donald said, taking in the desert world.

"I wonder how Aladdin and Jasmine are doin'…" Goofy said, scratching his chin.

A sudden worried shock crossed Riku's face. Sora knew the reason, too—during their first time off-world, Riku had kidnapped Jasmine while he was working for Maleficent. Sora placed a hand on Riku's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Riku." Sora said, knowing what was going through his friend's mind, "If Jasmine could forgive Iago, I'm sure she can forgive YOU."

Riku still scratched the back of his head. He was still a bit uneasy about the visit, but went with the others to the market.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Meanwhile, in some palace, Maleficent was speaking to Mozenrath, who was strumming his fingers intently. "So, what is your plan, Mozenrath?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

The man, Mozenrath, changed position so that his gauntlet-clad hand now strummed the arm of a skeletal-looking chair. His REAL hand gently stroked an orb that he had been longing to use. "I'll use my little 'magic tricks' as Hades called them to torture Sora with something unimaginable."

An evil smile crossed Maleficent's face as she asked, "And the results will be…?"

Mozenrath's smile widened as a flying eel lay itself around Mozenrath's neck. The dark-clad man stroked the eel like a cat as he answered, "When I'm done, Sora will gift-wrap Kairi and send her to us. Isn't that right, Xerxes?"

Xerxes nodded, then suddenly spoke in a high-pitched, raspy voice. "Yes. YES! The Keybearer will be GIVING us the girl!"

Maleficent smiled at her comrade, but then asked, "And what about the others?"

Mozenrath gave a wicked grin. "I have my own…subtle ways."

Mozenrath's flying eel, Xerxes, flew over and repeated his words only with a bit more malice. "Subtle ways!"

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Sora and co. entered the desert city of Agrabah. A camel then trundled towards them and Sora recognized the rider: it was the Peddler that he met on his last adventure here. The camel eventually came to a stop and the Peddler slid off like a slide. (1)

"What is this?" asked Ryan, "A rest stop for midgets?"

Kairi, surprised at the statement, slapped a hand over Ryan's mouth. "Ryan! What's with you?" she hissed in his ear.

Ryan grinned, sheepishly, behind Kairi's hand and spoke with a muffled voice. "Sorry, it's just the intense sunlight's super-charging my powers and making me go a bit nuts."

Scott tipped his hat up with a smug grin. "Bet that makes ya wish ya had a hat, huh mate?" he asked.

Ryan's look was flat. The Peddler then took notice of the odd bunch and clasped his hands together in joy. "Ah, I see we have some new visitors! Please, please come closer and…" Ryan zipped over until there was only a millimeter between him and the Peddler. "TOO close! A little further!" Ryan zipped back a step or two. "There!" the Peddler said with every hint of satisfaction.

"Welcome to Agrabah!" he greeted, "A place where nothing is as it seems…" The Peddler suddenly pulled out a large stand filled with artifacts and pottery. "AND THE FINEST MERCHANDISE THIS SIDE OF THE JORDAN, COME ON DOWN!"

Sora and Sakuzy were staring at the guy like he was crazy while J rolled his eyes in disbelief. Ryan's eye then caught sight a necklace with a large sapphire in it. He quickly reached over and snatched it, then read the back of it. "Hey, this thing was made in Egypt! How exotic…"

Riku sighed at this, then asked, "Ryan, do you believe EVERYTHING you read?"

Ryan continued examining the necklace, then answered without even turning to face Riku. "Yeah, except stuff labeled 'unbreakable'. Case and point…" Ryan zipped over to a kind of coffee maker, earning him a strange look from the Peddler. "This thing says unbreakable and yet…" Ryan banged the "coffee maker" on the counter multiple times, then handed it back to the Peddler. It then…well, the Peddler pointed it out.

"It broke." The Peddler tossed the broken coffee maker behind his back, breaking a few priceless Ming vases, then pulled out a simple, white box. "Oh! I have never seen one of these intact before. This is ancient, Dead Sea Tupperware. No, wait, listen…" The Peddler opened it a little and blew a raspberry out of the corner of his mouth just before he closed it. "Ah! Still good!"

Joyex's look had gone surprisingly flat as he said to the group, "Alright, this guy's got nothin', so…"

The entire group turned to leave. The Peddler darted in front of their exit, trying again to get their attention. "Wait, don't go!" he said, quickly, then held out a scroll. "For twenty munny, you could get one of my special, ancient, very-wise sayings."

J simply turned his back to the midget and addressed everyone else. "Save your munny." he said, coldly.

Sora ignored J and handed the Peddler twenty munny, which the Peddler eagerly pocketed. The midget opened the scroll and traced his finger down a list of sayings, then found one that sounded good. "_In darkest of nights, in the hottest pit of Iblis (Iblis is an Arabic term for the devil), and in the coldest cave , only the strong of soul can conquer all._"

Joyex looked confused by this and asked, "And what does THAT mean?"

The Peddler stared at the half-hearted Nobody, then held out his hand expectantly. "An extra hundred munny for explanation." he answered.

Sora thought for a while, then shook his head. "Sorry, but I'd rather save my munny and figure it out on my own." he said, apologetically.

As the rest of the group turned to leave, Ryan stayed behind and held out the necklace. "How much?" he asked.

The Peddler took the necklace, inspected it, then answered, "It's worth twenty thousand munny."

Ryan pulled out his munny pouch and poured its contents onto his outstretched hands. "I was thinking of a slightly lower price…" Ryan quickly counted what he had…which was FAR less than what the Peddler asked for. "Say about six thousand?" he asked, expectantly.

The Peddler frowned, then held out a basket. "Sorry, but I do not negotiate. No money, no buy! Talk to this!" The Peddler quickly put the basket down on the ground in front of Ryan, who stared at it. Then, in an amazing feat, the Peddler packed up everything as quick as a flash and left on his camel.

Ryan sighed in defeat, "I can't win." He then took notice of the basket and looked at it curiously. He took the lid off it and almost screamed as a large, black cobra rose out of it. The solar-powered kid stared at it in fright, then asked, "Uh…do you take messages?"

The cobra stared at Ryan for a while, then, to Ryan's surprise, spoke in a casual voice. "Actually, no I don't." Ryan stared, then gently placed the top of the basket over the cobra's head as it slowly lowered into its home.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora scratched his head as he and his group walked through the palace gates. "What was that he said about 'the strongest soul'?"

Riku looked at Sora, then looked around the palace. Despite what Sora said, he would prefer it if he avoided Jasmine if she ever showed up. "I guess you'll find out later. Right now, we've gotta find…"

Suddenly, there was a loud snarl and Sora hadn't even turned around when a huge tiger pounced on him. The beast was VERY heavy: almost as heavy as FIVE of him. He struggled to push the big cat off, but it took his collar in its mouth and began dragging him away.

"SORA!" Kairi screamed.

Sakuzy growled in frustration. "Man! If I had a nickel for every time…"

Scott simply shouted, "C'mon, mates! We've gotta get Sora!"

The group sprinted after the tiger. Sakuzy did NOT want to fade from existence because of some random predator.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Meanwhile, just on the outskirts of the market, a crystal the size of a car smashed into the ground, actually burying itself in the sand. As it shifted, it remained under the sand and began to tunnel around under it. The sand behind it collapsed, so now it was basically swimming through it.

_(1) I want the voice of Robin Williams to be the Peddler, NOT Corey Burton. He made him sound Arabian, but NOT funny. Robin Williams, on the other hand, did both._


	174. Arabian Surprises

Chapter 174: Arabian Surprises

The group followed the tiger, which had taken Sora to the palace with the Keybearer in its mouth. As it rounded a corner, the big cat was emitting several low-pitched growls and as the group rounded the same corner, they saw it moving around on top of him and Sora trying to get the tiger off him.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Kairi said as she stormed over to the tiger, summoning the Flowering Strength in her hand. But then she noticed that Sora wasn't crying out in pain. Out of all places, he was LAUGHING. The tiger turned, then spotted the weapon in Kairi's hand and backed off slightly like a dog that had been scolded.

Sora sat back up, trying to recover from getting licked, "It's okay, Kairi, he was just playing. I'm fine." He started wiping his face and chuckled slightly. "Though I think I'll have a lot of trouble getting all this tiger slobber off me."

Kairi chuckled, but sighed with relief just as a woman with black hair, tanned skin, and sky-blue clothing walked in. It was none other than the princess of Agrabah: Jasmine. "Raja, I told you NOT to overdo it." she said in mock-scolding.

The tiger, or Raja as she called it, dropped his head slightly. Kairi dispelled her Keyblade, then decided to make it up to the poor cat. She walked over and began to rub his large head. "Sorry, big guy. I just didn't want you hurting my friend."

Raja's answer was to rub the side of his head across her midsection. Kairi had to admit that this tiger was a real pussycat once you got on his good side.

Suddenly, an all-too-familiar red parrot flew over and landed on Riku's shoulder. He quickly recognized him and held out a wing like he was expecting a handshake. "Riku, old buddy!" he greeted, "Been a while since Maleficent. How ya been?"

Jasmine heard the name "Riku" and turned to where Iago was. Upon recognizing his silver hair, she had an expression on her face similar to when she first saw Iago at the palace: dislike. Sora immediately cut across her. "Easy, Jasmine." Sora said, holding up his hands defensively, "Riku's our friend and he's one of the GOOD guys now."

Riku shoved Iago off his shoulder, sending the parrot to the floor with a small plop. As Iago picked himself back up, Jasmine got a good look at the rest. "Well, it's nice to see Donald, Goofy, and Kairi, but who are these?" she asked, giving them curious looks.

"Some friends we picked up." Sora answered, "These are Sakuzy, Joyex, J, Scott, April, and Ryan. But, how'd you know we were in Agrabah?"

Jasmine looked ready to answer when blue mist began filling the room. Suddenly, in a burst of white light, an all-too-familiar fellow with blue skin appeared. It was the one, the only, the completely nuts Genie.

"She was tipped off by the one, the only, GENIE OF THE LAMP!" Genie paused, then remembered that Aladdin had freed him on Sora's first trip to Agrabah. "Wait a minute…oh. Just the one, the only, GENIE!" he corrected. Genie turned to Riku and held out a big, blue hand, which Riku shook, albeit nervously. "No worries, Riku! I remember you HELPIN' Sora at that Organization's house…seriously, did that Xemnas guy ever HEAR of remodeling?"

Sakuzy and Scott had the look on their faces that said "What the heck?!" Genie then floated over to them.

"Well, well, well. Who're your new friends?" he asked, looking them over, then pointed at Joyex and complimented, "Nice ponytail."

Genie got a good look at J, then turned into a blue-skinned copy of the anti-hero, wearing the same expression and clothing. THIS was apparently getting on J's nerves.

"Hey, stop that!" J snarled.

"Hey, stop that!" Genie repeated, REALLY starting to tick him off.

J raised a fist at Genie, who was mirroring his movements and angering the shapeshifter further. "Knock it off!"

"Knock it off!"

J was took a step forward and spoke through his clenched teeth and in a proverbial roar. "I'M WARNING YOU!"

"I'M WARNING YOU!"

J, in a fit of uncontrolled rage, changed into a six-meter crocodile. He opened his mouthful of teeth and emitted a low, growl-like hiss. If this was an attempt to scare Genie, it didn't work. The cosmic being simply stared in awe and applauded. "AMAZING! Change again!"

Genie snapped his fingers and in a puff of purplish-pink sparkles, J turned into…an ostrich? He got a good look at himself, then flinched in surprise. _What the…_ Genie whooped, then turned J into a monkey. _Stop…_ Genie turned J into a llama. _Turning…_ He turned him into a fish, who flopped around on the dry land. _Me into…_ J was now a slimy, orange newt. _STUPID ANIMALS!_

Genie got the message, then turned J back into the crocodile. "HEHEHE! You're COOL!" Genie said as he pointed at J, who was now so enraged that he slammed his jaws onto Genie's finger out of simple irritation. Genie paused, then looked at the situation before screaming at the top of his lungs. "YEEEOOOWWW!"

_THAT'S FOR HUMILIATING ME! _J shot at Genie.

Genie wriggled around, screaming in pain, until he poofed out of J's jaws. When he reappeared, the Genie had his index finger in a cast. J changed back into a human and looked even MORE ticked than usual as he asked, "WHO IS THIS MORON?!"

Sora grinned and said, calmly, but shakily, "Maybe you should calm down before you demolish the palace…"

J snarled before wheeling around and storming off. Suddenly, J was poofed onto a psychiatrist couch and a split second later, Genie poofed onto a chair next to him, now with a notepad, a pair of glasses, and a suit. "So, when did your problems begin?" Genie asked, sagely.

J glowered at Genie, then crudely answered, "YOU arrived."

Genie scribbled this down, not noticing his patient's attitude. "Mmm-hmm. Then…?"

"YOU changed me into stupid animals…" After a pause, J simply said, "I think I'll kill you!"

Genie scribbled this down, still not noticing J's response…though he was actually playing a game of tic-tac-toe. "THAT'S it! A Primal Scream! Let it all out!"

J's mouth turned into his trademark evil grin as he clenched his glove-clad fist. "Okay."

J stood, suddenly, and punched Genie smack dab in the face, breaking his glasses and knocking out several teeth. Genie's response was…dazed. "That ends our session…"

Genie fell onto his back and the psychiatrist's office disappeared. He then poofed over to Sora and asked, out of the corner of his mouth, "Who invited HIM?"

Scott heard the genie and raised his hand. "I did." he answered.

Genie whirled around and stroked his beard, curiously. "And…who's this guy?" he asked, "I thought Steve Irwin was dead."

Sora suddenly realized he'd forgotten the intros to GENIE. "Oh…Well, the guy you were harassing was J."

"Does he have anger problems?" Genie asked.

Ryan answered, "I always thought so."

The others made their intros to Genie and he had a different response to each one.

"I'm Joyex."

Genie tugged, playfully, at Joyex's ponytail. "Oh yeah. Like the ponytail, cuz I think we have somethin' goin', y'know what I mean?" Genie tugged at his own lock of hair, then turned his attention to the next person.

"Scott Highflier."

"OOH! You're a foreigner!" Genie said, excitedly, "Where ya from?" Scott made to answer, but Genie held up a hand and said, "Ah, save it. I'll figure it out eventually."

April held out her hand in a welcoming manner. "April Goodeve."

Genie took April's hand and eagerly shook it, momentarily lifting her off the ground. As he finished shaking, he suddenly noticed that April still wasn't touching the ground. She was hovering a good meter above it, not even showing signs of falling.

"Is it me or are you flying?" Genie asked. April decided to stay in the air to sort of answer for him. Genie stared, then exclaimed, "WOW! I'll bet Carpet will have the time of his LIFE with you. Now he won't have to carry everyone!"

Genie poofed over to Ryan, who responded, "I'm Ryan Syrus—J's current punching bag and pain in the…"

Genie slung an arm over Ryan's shoulder and said, "Well, we've got THAT in common…"

Genie then poofed over to Sakuzy, who quickly introduced himself. "Hey. I'm Sakuzy."

"Sakuzy? Y'know, I knew a Sakuzy once…only he was a lot scalier and printed on a Japanese playing card (1)." Genie pointed out.

Sakuzy took a step back, then said, "I get that sometimes…"

Sora then decided to get out of the introduction and asked, "So…what's been going on in Agrabah?"

Genie poofed over to Sora as J poked his head out from behind a corner. "Is it safe to come out?" he asked.

Sakuzy nodded and answered, "Think so." J walked out of his hiding place, but kept his eye on the big, blue ex-wish-granter.

Genie slung an arm over Sora's shoulder and answered his question. "Well, for starters, it turns out that Jafar wasn't completely destroyed last time you were here and some idiot let him out of his lamp…AGAIN."

Sora gulped. He already fought Jafar…three times. Twice, the crackpot sorcerer was in his genie form. "Man! A FOURTH time?!" he asked in disbelief, "We've had to deal with that guy more times than I'd have welcomed…"

Scott turned, then asked, "I take it ya have some issues with this Jafar guy?"

Sora turned to the Aussie with Donald and Goofy and answered, "You have no idea…"

"He's tried to destroy us twice already." Goofy explained.

Donald looked to the heavens as he asked, "Are we being punished for something we did in a past life?"

Genie poofed over to Donald in the blink of an eye, then answered, "I dunno, but it could play a key factor in it…"

Sora sighed. HOW many times did they have to take out Jafar?!

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Aladdin was dashing over the desert sands on Carpet with Abu on his shoulder, both grinning, broadly. These Heartless were too slow for their ride. "Come on, Mozenrath! Is this all you've got?" Aladdin said to himself.

Unknown to the street-rat, something was moving through the desert sands. Something suddenly popped its head out from under the sand and got a good look at them with all four of its circular eyes. It could see them, even below the sand and hear every sound they made. It eventually buried itself in the sand again, then heard the boy's voice get closer. THAT was its cue.

Just as Aladdin and Abu finally lost the Heartless, something shot out of the sand and brought all three to the ground. They barely had time to register what it was…save a crystal-based armor. It landed on top of them, then got off and buried itself in the sand again. It had its bait, so now all it had to do was stay in the sand until its prey came along.

Raja

Jasmine's pet tiger, Raja is actually quite harmless despite his kind's reputation and can be a big pussycat if you know him well enough. He is playful, but fiercely loyal to Jasmine if he senses she's in danger. He first appeared in _Aladdin_ 1992

_I derived Sakuzy's name from a Yu-Gi-Oh card called "Cobraman Sakuzy", who had the head of (you guessed it) a cobra._


	175. Finding Aladdin

Chapter 175: Finding Aladdin

Sora and co. were traveling through the desert just outside of Agrabah, but not on foot. They were inside a giant, blue train that was obviously Genie in disguise. Soon, a Genie clone walked over to where Sora was sitting, dressed in uniform, and spoke in a falsetto formal accent. "Excuse me, sir? Are you enjoying your time at the Genie Express?"

Sora simply stared at the Genie for a while, then slowly nodded. The clone of Genie took out a TV from midair and handed Sora a remote to it. "Enjoy the entertainment." he said with a formal nod, "We will be arriving at the Land of Black Sand in…I dunno when."

As Genie walked away to tend to someone else, Sora shrugged, then flipped through the channels until he found something he liked.

Iago flew over to Joyex, landing on his shoulder and trying to settle down. Joyex noticed, then got an idea as he reached into his pocket. "Hey, Polly!" he said, getting Iago's attention, "Wanna cracker?"

Before Iago even knew what was going on, Joyex jammed the cracker into the bird's mouth. The parrot quickly spat it out and almost gagged. "DON'T DO THAT AGAIN, BUDDY!" the bird squawked angrily, "I got ENOUGH of that with the Sultan!"

Sakuzy stared at Iago, then said, randomly, "I always wondered if parrots did or didn't like that…"

Sakuzy suddenly lurched forward as the train came to a sudden stop. As they pondered what happened, Genie's outburst answered their question. "AL!"

In a puff of blue smoke, the Genie Express turned back into Genie. Everyone hovered, comically, in the air for one second, then fell to the soft, sandy ground. Joyex landed on his face and ended up getting a mouthful of sand, which he immediately tried spitting out.

As Sora and co. regained their footing, they saw Aladdin on the ground with a monkey and a walking carpet trying to wake him. Genie was soon with them, shaking Aladdin by the shoulders like mad. "AL! SPEAK TO ME!!" he begged.

Riku went over to Aladdin and checked his vitals. After a while, he stood up and said, "He's still alive, just unconscious."

"What happened here?" Kairi asked, staring at Aladdin.

Genie went over to Carpet and urgently asked, "Rug-man! What happened to Al?" Carpet made several movements, as though playing the game of charades, and Genie nodded every now and then. "Uh-huh…uh-huh…"

J stared at the big blue guy with an exasperated look. "You actually understand that rug?" he asked in disbelief.

Genie turned to J, took a deep breath, then answered, "No. Not really."

At that time, Abu hopped up and down, screeching and squawking madly at the Genie. Ryan winced, then asked, "Where the heck did he learn that word?" Everyone stared at Ryan, who leaned back a bit. Abu, on the other hand, went over to Ryan and squawked at him with a fleck of curiosity. "Oh, yeah, that guy's a bit of a jerk." Ryan explained, "I don't know why, but he's always been like that. There's a WALL there."

"Ryan? You actually KNOW what Abu is saying?" Sora asked in shock.

Ryan paused for a second or two, then answered, "…Yes. Why?"

"Nothing." Sora lied, then said, "Just ask him what happened to Aladdin."

Ryan nodded, then motioned for Abu to go on. Abu took this to mean what Sora had asked of him and started to chatter and squeak. "Uh-huh…Yeah, go on…" Ryan gasped, then said, "No way!"

"What?" April asked.

"He says that something jumped out of the sand and attacked them." Ryan answered, "He says the thing was HUGE and knocked Aladdin out like a light before disappearing under the sand. He also said that the rug beat him in tic-tac-toe."

J turned to Sora and said, "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"What? Why?"

"I've read about animals for six years to find out how to use them in the right situation." J explained, "I also had to read about animal behavior and THIS seems unusually like a bait trap…"

Sakuzy sighed. "Well, I guess this is getting a bit complex. Someone's gotta go and get Jafar, not to mention get Aladdin to safety."

"I'll do it!" Sora volunteered, "I've…"

Sora hadn't even finished speaking when, suddenly, a Heartless appeared. It was an unfamiliar species that was clad in a ragged-looking turban, black cloak, long, acid-green fingernails, and trademark yellow eyes. It was also tall and lanky and wore pointed boots similar to Bandit Heartless. Before Sora could even register that it had appeared, three more arrived, each one doing the same motions as its predecessor.

"Looks like you've gotta deal with these guys first…" Sakuzy said, his Keyblade appearing in the blink of an eye.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Mozenrath was holding out his hand in a palace a few miles from where the heroes were. He was summoning the Heartless he particularly favored, called Necromancers, to the area where Sora and co. were. "Phase one is over and phase two will shortly begin…" he said to himself.

Xerxes, his flying eel, slithered over to him, excitedly. "Ooh…phase TWO…" the flying fish said, eagerly, then asked, "What's that?"

Mozenrath chuckled, then went over to a small altar and took a glowing crystal sphere off it. "You'll see soon enough, Xerxes. You'll see."

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Riku summoned his Keyblade and charged at the Heartless. He brought Way to Dawn down, but the Necromancer simply stood its ground and began to move its fingers in an enchantment of sorts. When it finished, yellow energy strings flew out of its fingertips and brought a Shadow Heartless out of the ground. Just as Riku swung, the Shadow took the blow, sacrificing itself for its master.

"What the…?!" Riku stared in confusion at what happened just as four other Necromancers appeared on the battlefront and their fingers began glowing. This time, three Soldiers and two Shadows appeared and began to twitch idly as most Heartless did. Strangely, the five new Heartless had strings of light on their limbs, midsection, and head, like they were marionettes.

"Alright, let me guess—THIS is the part where we beat the tar out of the Heartless…" Ryan said, taking a small step back.

"RYAN!"

"Okay, okay. I can take a hint!"

J immediately changed into something that darted into the sands before anyone could get a good look at him. Spikes suddenly sprung out of Scott's wrists, looking like he had a small lance coming out of it. "Let's get goin, mates!" the Aussie said, bravely.

"I couldn't agree with you more!" Genie said, popping his knuckles. In a puff of bluish-purple smoke, the djinn went into his Limit Form and summoned his mock Keyblade.

Joyex whistled, impressed at what happened, and said, "Whoa, Genie! Now you're talkin' MY language!"

Joyex summoned the Chain Thrasher as he and Genie charged at the Necromancer, which used its Heartless to defend itself from the oncoming blade. The Necromancer turned, then raised its free hand and fired a blast of green energy at Genie, who screamed before the blast hit him straight in the chest. In just one second, Genie had gone from a big, blue guy into a pile of blue ash.

"Well, THIS is embarrassing…" Genie grumbled.

Sora charged at the vulnerable Necromancer only to see his blow blocked again by a Shadow. It summoned a Soldier and maneuvered its arms, the Soldier was moving in a manner similar to a puppet as it threw various punches at Sora, who blocked again and again, striking it down only to meet another.

Meanwhile, Ryan picked up a dust buster, seemingly from nowhere, and sucked up Genie. He popped out the bag and opened it before he took out a canteen and poured all the water it contained inside the container. "Stir well…"

Ryan vigorously shook up the bag and Genie burst out of it in a cloud of smoke and sparkles. "Thank you, my solar-powered friend. I owe you dinner tonight." Genie said, shaking Ryan's hand eagerly.

Suddenly, something burst out of the sand and attacked a Necromancer, sinking its fangs into it. It dug its fangs right into the Necromancer's foot and it disappeared in black smoke from the deadly venom entering its body. The thing turned out to be long, thick, black, and had red eyes. It was J, who had taken the form of a snake of sorts. _Desert viper—one of THE most venomous creatures you'll meet. _J explained.

J was about to disappear under the sand again when something struck him: a blast of green energy. J grunted in surprise and reverted back to human form before slumping to the ground. He wasn't unconscious, just drained.

The remaining four Necromancers just wouldn't die! Whenever ONE of their Puppet Heartless was destroyed, they would just summon another to take its place. And trying to strike the Necromancers directly was a bad idea, because they simply summoned Heartless to take the blow for them. Sora had one trick left and it was possibly the best he had in a while.

"GENIE!"

Genie perked up, then called out, "Comin' right up!" Genie raised his finger and bolts of thunder rained down from the sky, striking Puppet Heartless and Necromancers alike. The thunder actually stunned the Necromancers. Just as Sora realized that they were open for attack, Genie did, too.

"Hold on, Sora!" Genie seized Sora around the collar and heaved him at the nearest Necromancer. Sora brought his Ultima Weapon slamming into the Heartless' chest, causing the Necromancer to vanish in smoke and heart. When Sora landed on the ground, he spun back to his feet and brought his Keyblade into another Necromancer's midsection to meet the other's fate.

Around Sora, everyone else had the same idea. Now that the thunder had paralyzed the Heartless, they could take their chances with them. In just a few seconds, the remaining Necromancers were no more than a few pink hearts floating off into the cloudless sky.

As soon as the last Necromancer disappeared, a voice sounded from a place just behind them. "Well done, well done." it congratulated, "I never expected YOU to do this well against MY Heartless."

The sand around a particular area suddenly went from a yellowish-brown to pitch-dark. Soon, a figure rose from the black sand and turned to face them. The new person was a man with black robes, a matching turban, and long, black hair. He had a gauntlet on his right hand and an eel wrapped around his shoulders like a snake.

Genie screamed in fright, then pointed at the man and said, "It's Al's archenemy: Mozenrath!"

Mozenrath chuckled while the eel, Xerxes, snickered. "Glad to see you remember me." Mozenrath said, chuckling to himself, "Now…" He turned his attention to Sora and began to slowly move towards him. "The Keyblade's Chosen One. I never thought I'd meet YOU face-to-face."

Sora took up a defensive position, pointing his Keyblade at Mozenrath like an accusing finger. "What do you want?" Sora asked, his eyes as hard as stone.

Mozenrath sneered and Xerxes cackled. Then the former answered, "Just the Princess. Isn't that right, Xerxes?" Xerxes' giggles increased as he nodded, eagerly.

Riku growled and summoned Way to Dawn, taking up his own fighting stance. "So, YOU'RE with Maleficent, too?" he asked.

Mozenrath smiled, then clapped his hands in mock congratulation. "Well, Riku, glad to see that YOU catch on quickly. Your old partner is my employer." Mozenrath stopped clapping, then answered, "Yes. Maleficent requested that I retrieve the Princess, but I see that you wish for it to be done forcefully, so…"

Mozenrath held out his gloved hand, which began to glow a bright purple. The light flowed into the ground and three things burst from the ground that caused April to stick out her tongue in disgust. "EWW!"

"Eww" was the correct word for these beings. They were as tall as Scott and could have been human; humans that were pale-green, had tattered, Arabian clothing, and had no prominent noses. To make matters worse, their green skin was stretched over their skeletons and they had eyes that were a pale shade of yellow.

"I know." Genie said with equal disgust, "THESE guys are disgusting."

"ZOMBIES!!" Ryan screamed.

Mozenrath snapped his fingers and the zombies dashed forward, drawing scimitars. Ryan zipped forward with a sun ball in his left hand. "THIS is where you disintegrate!" he said as he jammed his ball into one's arm just at the shoulder joint. The limb fell off with a "pop", earning a slightly startled shriek from April.

"Now that's just nasty." Riku said, cringing slightly.

The zombie grunted in what could only be described as irritation, then picked up its arm and put it back into its socket. Soon after, it took a swing at Ryan, who dashed away in a streak of yellow. "O-kay…blowing off their arms won't work…how about their heads?!"

Ryan began calling up sun energy into his palms until he created a sun ball the size of a basketball. He threw it at the zombie's head, which burned to cinders on contact. When the light cleared, the zombie was blundering around, blindly, and trying to feel its way to Ryan or its head.

Ryan stared, then shrugged. "Not what I had in mind, but not bad…"

By this time, J had regained consciousness and had seen the zombies attacking. Acting on instinct, he sprang to his feet and brought the ball of his foot slamming into an oncoming zombie's chin. The head snapped upwards so suddenly that it flew off its neck. The shapeshifter stared for a while, then moved on to the next zombie, narrowly evading an oncoming scimitar.

Suddenly, amidst the battle, Sakuzy noticed something about Joyex and immediately warned him. "JOYEX! Your hand is in Xerxes' MOUTH!!!"

Joyex heard Sakuzy shout and lifted his hand, which did, indeed, have an angry-looking Xerxes on it. Immediately, Joyex went into a crazed frenzy: running around, screaming, and throwing in the occasional "GET IT OFF". Both good guys and Zombies stared at what was going on until Joyex got Xerxes off by slamming him into the sand repeatedly.

"Whew…glad that's over." Joyex sighed, then slumped down onto the sand until April pointed beside him.

"JOYEX! It's in there AGAIN!" she screamed.

Joyex raised his hand to see Xerxes on his hand AGAIN. Immediately, he resumed screaming in fright and pain and slamming the eel onto the ground again. "AAH! AAH! IT'S STUCK ON MY HAND!" Joyex continued screaming until he finally got Xerxes off, and this time, the flying eel lay on the ground, dazed.

Sora, on the other hand, had decided to deal with Mozenrath along with Genie and Riku. Sora charged, Keyblade in hand, and jumped in the air. But he hadn't even started coming down when Mozenrath raised his gloved hand and a burst of purple magic burst from it. The blast hit Sora in the chest and sent him flipping back to the ground. Fortunately, Genie was there, so that guaranteed protection. The spirit turned into a pair of firemen with a trampoline and caught Sora before he could even touch the ground.

Sora got off the trampoline just as Riku took a chance with the necromancer. He simply stayed on the ground and went with a full-on assault, but with each swing of Way to Dawn, Mozenrath simply sidestepped it. His glove sparked with magic and he threw it forward, trying to catch Riku with it. Riku quickly put Way to Dawn in the way and sparks littered the ground as Keyblade met the dark arts.

"Not bad. Maleficent has trained you well." Mozenrath said, then clicked his tongue. "Too bad you couldn't stay…we could have used your help."

Riku's teeth clenched and his eyes hardened as he moved Mozenrath's glove away and actually caught him across the midsection with Way to Dawn. Mozenrath stumbled back, but more than most enemies would, much to Riku's surprise. "Huh? I didn't hit him THAT hard…" Riku said in surprise.

Genie poofed next to Riku in the blink of an eye and whispered in Riku's ear. "You see, when Mozenrath got his magic powers, he became physically inferior." the djinn explained, "So, he's not much of a fighter as you can see…"

Riku smirked as he lifted Way to Dawn and helped Sora up with his free hand. "Well, if he's 'physically inferior', this should be a piece of cake." Sora said, confidently.

Mozenrath apparently heard him, because he lifted his gloved hand and pointed his finger at him. "Don't count on it, boy." the necromancer pointed out.

Mozenrath clenched his fist and purple energy created a sphere of pure dark magic. The spheroid of energy surrounded the entire area around Sakuzy and the others, blocking them off from Sora, Genie, and Riku. "Your friends won't be helping you THIS time. It's just the four of us now." Mozenrath said, proudly.

As Sora took these words in, Mozenrath charged energy into his glove, then let loose a barrage of energy blasts. The bursts spread out in a fan formation and at near-blinding speed. Genie disappeared, seized Sora, then teleported him somewhere else. But the being of semi-infinite, near-cosmic power didn't have time to get Riku and the user of darkness was knocked back by the black magic. When Genie reappeared, Sora took quick notice of his friend.

"RIKU!"

Genie looked back, then realized what had just happened. "Oops. My bad…"

Sora barely had time to comment when Mozenrath zapped the sand around him with his necromancy. The ground began to shake like an earthquake, but stopped shortly after it began. Suddenly, a giant hand made of sand erupted from the ground and seized Riku in its grasp. The giant hand's grip was true, so Riku wouldn't be escaping any time soon.

Genie raced over to one of the giant hand's fingers and turned himself into a blue crowbar with his face on the handle. As he tried to pry the finger open, Sora tried to take care of Mozenrath down below. The Necromancer fired bolt after bolt of pure energy at Sora, who batted them away with his Keyblade. Just as Sora was close enough to strike Mozenrath, the necromancer vanished in a puff of black smoke and reappeared behind Sora. THIS time, he caught Sora with a steady stream of dark magic. Sora screamed as the energy flowed freely through his body, feeling like every part of his body was being branded. Mozenrath smirked as Sora slumped to his knees, then tried to stand, using his Keyblade as a crutch.

"This is too easy." Mozenrath said, rolling his eyes, "I expected more from you, Sora."

Sora growled in frustration. If Mozenrath was physically inferior, yet putting up THIS good of a fight, this was going to be impossible. Unless… "Hey, Genie!" Sora called, "Come here!"

Genie gave up on trying to pry Riku loose, then flew over to Sora. "You called?"

Sora smiled as he thrust a hand onto the blue Djinn's shoulder. "DRIVE!"

In a flash of light and a scream from Genie, the two merged into one. When the light vanished, Sora was clad in a sky-blue, sleeveless jacket and was wearing a white turban, Arab shoes, and the symbol of Genie's old lamp on his shorts. He held out his hands and summoned the Wishing Lamp and the Three Wishes Keyblades. He looked over at Mozenrath, then at the zombies and the giant sand-hand. "Let's make some magic!" he said.

Suddenly, Sora disappeared in a puff of blue smoke and, in the blink of an eye, he was replaced by Genie, who was wearing an oversized version of the jacket Sora wore in this new Drive. "I thought you'd never ask!" Genie said, tensely.

In another instant, Genie poofed back into Sora, who pointed one of his Keyblades at the zombies like an accusing finger. The tips of both Keyblades emitted a sparkle of magic energy, and one second later, all the zombies vanished in a puff of blue smoke. Upon further inspection, Sora saw that the zombies had NOT disappeared, but merely turned into tiny houseflies.

Sora was VERY impressed at what he just did and whistled to show it just as Kairi killed one of the zombies by clapping it between her hands. "Wow…Now, let's see what we can do with Riku." Sora said, eyeing the giant sand hand.

In another puff, Genie reappeared and snapped his fingers again. Immediately, the djinn turned into a giant, blue fire hydrant with his face on its front and one nozzle where his nose should have been. "Comin' right up!" Genie shouted.

Genie undid the nozzle on his nose and a jet of water shot at the middle of the sand arm, just below the wrist. The entire structure fell to the ground and crumbled, leaving Riku on the ground, sprawled out on his back. The Prince of Darkness moaned as he sat back up and coughed up any sand or water he had accidentally swallowed. Now, all that was left was Mozenrath himself.

Sora took both Wishing Lamp and Three Wishes, spun them in circles, then crossed them in an "X" formation as his voice went into one of righteous justice. "Your time's up, Mozenrath."

Mozenrath chuckled at this, then charged his gloved hand with dark energy. "You can only try, boy."

At that time, Xerxes got up, shook the cobwebs out of his head, then snarled at Sora. "Yes, TRY!" the eel challenged.

Sora charged in the blink of an eye, then swung with both of his Keyblades. Mozenrath retaliated and blocked with a magic shield, making Sora feel like he struck a brick wall. The necromancer fired a blast that was meant to give Sora the shock of his life, but just as he fired, Sora vanished in a puff of smoke. "WHAT THE?!" Mozenrath exclaimed in surprise.

"Behind you!" Genie had replaced Sora and teleported behind Mozenrath just as he fired. Genie put up his hand, which was suddenly replaced by a big, blue boxing glove, then slammed it into Mozenrath. It rocked him in his shield and he staggered back a few steps, but just as he regained his balance, something struck him in the back of the head. Genie had swapped places with Sora again and the Keybearer had teleported behind him to strike with one of his Keyblades. Mozenrath stumbled forward, then turned to fire another blast of energy at him. But it seemed that Sora was beginning to pick up Genie's tricks, because one of his Keyblades turned into a giant hand mirror. The spell hit the mirror, then bounced off it and hit its own creator instead.

"Hehehe…I'm beginning to see why you like that, Genie." Sora said with a laugh.

Genie quickly swapped places with Sora. "Glad you think that." he said, happily, "Now then…"

Genie lifted a finger and, in an instant, he turned into a rough-looking army man with a headband, white muscle shirt, and military cargo pants. In one of his hands, he had a machine gun, while a bazooka was strapped to his back. Mozenrath could only stare at Genie in confusion. "What are you NOW, you buffoon?" he asked, angrily.

Genie loaded his machine gun, then imitated Rambo as he answered, "Your worst nightmare!"

Genie immediately went into open-fire, trying to hit Mozenrath…for the space of six seconds before Xerxes came seemingly from nowhere and bit Genie in the…well, you've seen America's Funniest Home Videos, right? (Complete with laugh track.)

Genie screamed in pain before running around, aimlessly, and in pain, too. Mozenrath saw this as an opportunity and shot several blasts of energy from his glove. However, Genie was both running around at random AND avoiding the blasts at the same time. "What the heck?" Mozenrath asked in disbelief.

Genie teleported out of Xerxes' mouth, then shifted back to Sora, who seemed to be suppressing extreme pain. Sora, now very ticked, teleported over to Mozenrath and took a swing at him with the Wishing Lamp. Mozenrath blocked with a green aura around his arms and made to fire a blast at Sora only to miss by a mile, because Sora simply ducked under it. Sora grabbed his gloved arm and sharply pulled Mozenrath into a sharp kick. The gauntlet was still in Sora's hand and he took quick notice of it.

"Hey, Mozenrath, you dropped your…OH MY GOODNESS!" Sora said in surprise.

The others could still see Sora's battle through the field of energy and all winced at the sight.

"Whoa…" Scott said, wide-eyed.

"Didn't see THAT coming…" Sakuzy said, clutching his stomach, and looking eerily pale.

Without the gauntlet, Mozenrath's right hand was revealed to be…nothing but a skeletal hand. Everyone in the energy dome stared at it, except April, who fainted at the sight. Genie quickly took Sora's place and eagerly clasped his hands together. "Well, THIS is a stroke of good fortune!" he cheered, "Without his gauntlet, Mozenrath's powerless!"

Sora took Genie's place again, then got a good look at Mozenrath, who was staring at the glove Sora had in his hand. "Hey, I guess you're right…" he said, raising an eyebrow with great interest.

Sora threw the glove onto the ground, then put Wishing Lamp and Three Wishes together, touching their tips together. Almost immediately, light began radiating at both tips and Mozenrath couldn't do anything about it.

"LIGHT!"

An enormous blast of light energy fired from the Keyblades' vertex and hit Mozenrath smack dab in the chest. He screamed in pain, then vanished in a puff of smoke as a heart floated away. Sora couldn't believe his eyes at what happened: all that work for… "A HEARTLESS IN DISGUISE?!" Sora asked in frustration, but then sighed. "Oh well. At least we stopped it."

As the field of energy that Mozenrath created began to fade, Sora noticed something…odd about his Drive. Usually, he and his partner would have separated by now, but not this time. He and Genie seemed to be stuck in the Drive.

"Sora, shouldn't you be changing back by now?" Riku asked.

Sora strained himself, as though trying to end the drive by himself. But after nearly popping a vein, he stopped and tried to catch his breath. "NORMALLY, yes, but I just…can't." he gasped.

Sora poofed again to be replaced by Genie, who pulled out a book labeled "Drives for Complete and Utter Imbeciles". The Genie put on a pair of reading glasses and began flipping through the pages until he reached a certain page. "Ah-ha! Genie-Drive!" he said, slamming a large, blue finger onto the page, "Let's see…apparently, we CAN'T separate until someone wishes us apart!"

Sora, again, took Genie's place and continued to do so whenever it was their turn to speak. "You mean it's just like your old curse?" he asked.

Genie reappeared and answered, "Basically. If I were to guess, we get to grant THREE wishes!"

The others looked at each other, then hoped that their wish would be granted. Riku then pointed out the problem amongst them. "How do we decide who gets the wish?" he asked.

Sora teleported over to Riku in an instant as he held out his hand. "Simple." Sora clenched his hand and ten straws took their places inside it. "We draw straws." he responded.

Joyex, without further ado, darted forward and drew a straw—which was pretty long. "WOO-HOO!" he cheered.

Sakuzy, in high hopes of getting a wish granted, quickly drew one only to find that it was far shorter than Joyex's. "Oh, dang it!" he cursed.

Scott drew one that was about as long as Sakuzy's. In an instant, his face fell. "Crud."

April drew one that was slightly smaller than Scott's. After an angry "ooh", she stamped her foot and folded her arms, grumpily.

Goofy drew one that was probably the smallest, but rather than curse or throw a tantrum, he just shrugged. "Well, I guess ya can't win 'em all, can ya?"

Ryan drew one around Joyex's length and a smile quickly burst onto his face. "YEAH, BABY, YEAH!" he cheered.

J, somewhat disgusted at Ryan's reaction, drew for the last straw only to find that his was much smaller than Ryan's. He rolled his eyes in what could only be described as irritation. "Oh, sure. RYAN gets the wish…" he grumbled.

Now, it was down to two people now—Donald and Kairi. Donald grabbed one and Sora knew that it was one of the long ones from the feel of it. Behind his back, he motioned with his index finger and thumb and the two straws swapped places without Donald knowing it.

Donald pulled out the smaller straw and his face fell. "Aw, nuts."

Kairi, immediately sensing victory, pulled out the last and longest of all straws. The winners were Ryan, Joyex, and Kairi. Ryan slugged Joyex on the shoulder. "Isn't this GREAT, Joyex? We get THREE wishes granted!" he said, excitedly.

"WISHES?!" Joyex said in awe, "I wish we knew that earlier!"

Sora snapped his fingers and April's watch went back two minutes. He then glanced over at Joyex and said, "Alright, you have TWO wishes, now."

"Whoops…" Joyex said, realizing what he had just done.

Sora turned back into Genie, who recited one line from Sora's first time in Agrabah. "And lemme tell ya what a doozy that wish was."

Ryan looked ready to make a wish, but Genie covered his mouth. "Hold it RIGHT THERE, my fine, solar-powered friend. There are THREE don'ts that I have to abide by." Genie said, holding up three fingers.

Ryan gave Genie a weird look, then asked, "Like…?"

Genie teleported over to Joyex, then slung an arm over the Nobody's shoulder. "Rule number one: I can't kill anybody." Genie brought his middle and index fingers across his neck, chopping his head off. He caught his head in his right hand before it hit the ground and said, "So, don't ask."

"Rule number TWO!" Genie popped his head back onto his head, then poofed next to Kairi as he made several fake romance motions: batting eyelashes and intertwining his fingers. "I can't make people fall in love at first sight!"

Genie's face turned into a giant, red pair of lips and laid a big, smoochy kiss on Kairi's cheek. Kairi blushed profusely, seeing as part of this was Sora's doing. Genie then began to playfully tug on Kairi's cheek, to her slight dismay and embarrassment and teased, "You little puddin' there…"

Genie teleported over to Ryan and laid, flat on his back. "RULE NUMBER THREE!"

Genie slowly sat back up, but had turned a sickly green, was hunched over, oozing some weird slime, and had a gross-looking face. Ryan, sickened by the sight, looked ready to throw up as he covered his mouth with his hand to keep himself from gagging. "I can't bring people back from the dead. It's NOT a pretty picture…" Genie then grabbed Ryan by the collar of his shirt and shook him vigorously. "I DON'T LIKE DOING IT!!!"

Genie poofed away, now back to his normal state, and bowed. "Other than THAT, you got it!"

Genie was replaced by Sora, who also decided to point something out. "Don't forget the fourth rule, Genie: No wishing for more wishes."

Genie returned as he rolled his eyes in some disgust and said, "Yeah, it got old after the FIRST five times…" Genie poofed back over to Ryan and asked, "So, what'll it be, little buddy?"

Ryan immediately began to rack his brains for what he could wish for. But then…he blew it. "I wish for…I wish…I WISH I KNEW!" Genie waved his finger and a puff of smoke appeared around Ryan's head. In an instant, his eyes widened as he realized something. "Hey! I know what I want and I…just used the second wish…"

Sora reappeared, looking a little disgruntled and asked, "You're making this REAL easy, you know that?"

Genie returned and turned to someone invisible on his left. "Hey! That's MY line!"

Kairi sighed. These two were insane sometimes…It was time for the last wish and she instantly knew what to wish for. "Sora, I wish for your freedom."

Sora could only smile as a light engulfed his body. In an instant, he and Genie were no longer sharing a body. Genie sighed to himself as he used his own hands now, rather than sharing Sora's. "Well, THAT was fast…" Genie said, slouching forward with a relieved sigh.

"TOO fast!" Sora recognized that voice and wheeled around to see Mozenrath, who had an orb in his gloved hand. The orb fired a blast of energy similar to the one his glove produced, only it was a bright blue, rather than violet. The blast hit Sora right in the chest and he flew backward, rolling over the ground like a tumbleweed before finally stopping, facedown, on the sand.

Genie gasped at the attack and screamed, "AN AMBUSH!"

Genie pointed his finger at Mozenrath and fired a blast of magic that shattered the orb in his hand. Mozenrath backed away in surprise, but smiled as he gathered a dazed Xerxes in his hand. "So you shattered my orb?" Mozenrath said, indifferently, "No matter. My mission is done here…"

Mozenrath reached into a sack on his belt and pulled out a handful of black sand. When he dropped it on the ground, the sand around him turned pitch-dark and swirled around under his feet. Eventually, he sank underneath it and vanished completely as the circle of sand got smaller and smaller.

Kairi looked over and noticed that something was wrong. Sora hadn't woken up yet. She ran over to Sora and began to shake him in an attempt to wake him up. "Sora? SORA!" Kairi pushed Sora over onto his back. He looked like he was asleep, but he was obviously far from it. His head just lolled over, limply, to his side…

Mozenrath

One of Aladdin's archenemies. He is a necromancer who rules the Land of Black Sand. He wishes to conquer all of the magic kingdoms (which Agrabah is not included in) and Agrabah, too. He is physically inferior because of an attempt to gain power and his left hand is nothing but bone, but he's still cunning. He's recently done something with Sora, but what is it? He first appeared in _Aladdin: the Series_ 1993.

Xerxes

Mozenrath's flying pet eel. He's known to often repeats his master's words, but he is not to be taken lightly. He's vicious, conniving, and is loyal ONLY to Mozenrath. He first appeared in _Aladdin: the Series_ 1993.

Necromancers

A type of Heartless controlled by Mozenrath. They have the ability to summon lesser Heartless and use them as puppets. They can easily replace the Heartless they lost, but can only summon Shadows and Soldiers.

_Genie's Magical Mayhem._

_That was Genie's Wish Drive. In this form, all of Sora's abilities, especially magic, increase dramatically. However, the only way out of the drive is for the Keyblade Master to grant three wishes with the third wish being his freedom._

_What's Mozenrath done with Sora? Find out in the next chapter!_


	176. Fighting Jafar

Chapter 176: Fighting Jafar

"Sora? SORA!" Kairi pushed Sora over onto his back. He looked like he was asleep, but he was obviously far from it. His head just lolled over, limply, to his side…

Genie immediately flew over and began shaking Sora as though wanting to hear something rattle inside. "Sora! SPEAK TO ME!"

Riku was shocked. Had this just… "SORA!" Riku began slapping Sora across the face to no avail. Sora simply stayed in his torpid state, despite the red patches that were now appearing on his face.

If Kairi was worried then, she was absolutely frightened now. _No…No…Don't be dead…_

Genie pulled a book out of an invisible pocket, took out his reading glasses again, and began flipping through it. He shut it and poofed it away. "Sorry, Riku, but Sora won't be waking up. He's gone where no man has gone before…"

Sakuzy looked…there was no other word for it: frightened. "Are you saying he's…"

Genie guessed Sakuzy's question and answered quickly. "No, he's not dead." he assured him, "He's just been sucked into…" Genie lifted his hands in a spooky manner and began to waggle his fingers. "_Inner Space!_"

A very awkward silence ran through the air, until Ryan cocked his head in curiosity. "I'm sorry. What?"

Genie put it simple and said, "He's trapped in his own mind, basically."

"Oh."

At that moment, Aladdin stirred, immediately sending Abu into a frenzied chatter of squawks and chirps. Iago took immediate notice and called over to them. "Hey! Aladdin's wakin' up!"

Aladdin groaned in pain as he put a hand to his head and slowly sat up. "Ow…what hit me?" Aladdin took in his surroundings, then saw two familiar faces amongst the many newcomers around him. "Donald?" he asked, "Goofy?"

Donald and Goofy took immediate notice of Aladdin's voice as Carpet raced over to investigate. "Hey there, Aladdin!" Goofy said with a wave, "Glad to see yer a-okay."

"You had us worried there for a moment." Donald said, wiping sweat from his forehead, "So, how've ya been?"

Aladdin stifled a laugh as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, let's just say I've seen better days." Aladdin looked around, searching for someone with a somewhat-eager expression, then asked, "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where Sora is, would you?"

Genie started, then materialized in front of Aladdin with a solemn expression. "I'm afraid that he's out of action, Al." he answered, "Take a look for yourself…"

Genie pointed over at Sora and Aladdin immediately saw the condition he was in. He raced over next to Kairi and knelt down to inspect him. "What's wrong with him?" he asked.

Kairi's voice was a whisper, but she showed no signs of crying…yet. "I don't know." she answered, "But it can't be pleasant…"

Sakuzy stood up, then took a little time to be a leader for now. "Look, I know Sora was a vital part of our team, but someone still needs to take out Jafar." Sakuzy then turned to the people he addressed. "Joyex, Donald, Goofy, Iago, and Genie! You're coming with me to stop him."

Iago fluttered over and landed on Sakuzy's shoulder. "And why should WE do what you say?" the parrot asked, coolly.

Sakuzy's only reply was to tip Iago off his shoulder, sending the parrot to the ground with a scream. "Because, some of us will have to look after Sora and make sure that Mozenrath doesn't try anything funny." Sakuzy answered.

Aladdin put his fingers in his mouth and emitted a shrill whistle. Carpet immediately raced over to him and lay flat on the ground. With a little effort, Aladdin managed to heave Sora onto Carpet. "We'll see if we can get him back to the palace. Maybe we can try to find some way of helping him."

Kairi got onto Carpet and sat behind Sora, pulling him into a sitting position where his head lolled onto her shoulder. _I don't know what's going on in there, but I won't lose you…_

"Alright, I chose myself to go after Jafar, because…heck, I know most of Sora's fighting technique." Sakuzy explained, "Joyex is coming because he and I have fought together on more than one occasion, so our fighting styles have basically melded. Donald and Goofy have fought Jafar before, so they'll be essential. Iago knows Jafar like the back of his…wing."

Iago folded his arms and sarcastically said, "Thanks for lettin' me in on all this."

Sakuzy ignored the parrot and pointed over to Genie. "And Genie's coming because he can handle Jafar, seeing as we'll have to battle a genie WITH a genie."

Genie mock-saluted and donned the uniform of an army veteran. "Sir! Yes, sir!" he said, finishing his salute.

Aladdin looked at the rest of the group, then nodded. He looked down at the place where Carpet's "head" would have been and said, "Okay, Carpet…To Agrabah!"

Without another word, Carpet took off like a rocket. April and Ryan tailed behind him while Riku went after them, hanging onto a pterosaur-turned J. Scott simply adjusted himself to desert life and raced after them on foot. However, as soon as they were out of earshot, they failed to notice something stir in the sand behind them…

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sakuzy, Joyex, Donald, Goofy, Iago, and Genie were soon on their way. Genie had turned into a hiker with green camp leader garbs and marched them up a sizeable sand dune. Sakuzy and Joyex were gasping for breath as they slowly caught up to Genie, who had gone a sizable distance away from them. Donald and Goofy weren't having the time of their life either, and Iago was having the lighter part, having roosted on Sakuzy's shoulder.

"Don't worry, troops, we're on our way now." Genie said with surprising bravado, "Soon we'll find Jafar and kick his sorry…" Genie paused to think awhile, then turned to the rest. "Uh, where's his new hideout?"

Iago pointed a feather in the opposite direction. "The OTHER way, genius. On the other side of Agrabah."

Genie stopped dead in his tracks, a dumbfounded expression on his face. "Oh…" In a puff of blue smoke, Genie turned into a blue Homer Simpson and let out a loud, echoing noise, which could only be described as an "annoyed grunt" (1). "D'OH!"

Sakuzy sighed. WHEN would they ever get this mission accomplished?

Meanwhile, Genie simply shrugged, still in his Homer form. "Oh well. I have a faster way to go than just WALKING!" In another puff of smoke, the blue Homer was gone. Instead, it was back to Genie, who was now wearing a very stretched-out Batman costume. "To the Genie-mobile!"

(Cue corny superhero scene change)

Batman-Genie was in the front seat of a black, armored vehicle of sorts. Sakuzy was in the passenger seat while Joyex and the rest were in the back. Genie fastened his seatbelt and pressed a large, red button. Everyone was launched back into their respective seat with a scream as the so-called Genie-mobile kicked into overdrive and tore across the sands of Agrabah at over a hundred miles per hour. When Joyex spoke, he had to speak EXTRA loud in order to be heard.

"Who'd have thought the Genie could get the Batmobile?!"

Genie turned to Joyex in his seat and answered, "I got it from a friend of mine. Some guy named Bruce."

Before anyone could ask another question, Genie kicked back into overdrive, earning screams from Donald and Goofy.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Minutes felt like hours to Kairi as Carpet flew to Agrabah. Though her friends told her not to worry, she couldn't help it. What if Sora never woke up? The thought of the idea made her try to shake it out of her head.

"Don't worry." Kairi found enough strength to stop looking at Sora's unconscious form to look up at Aladdin. "If there's one thing I know about Sora, it's this—he always comes through." Aladdin assured her, "He got Jasmine back, didn't he?"

Abu jabbered a positive chatter as he nodded, eagerly. Kairi felt a little better and was about to thank them when suddenly, Carpet fell to the ground. Aladdin and Kairi tumbled across the sandy landscape until they screeched to a halt. Slowly, they got up and Kairi instantly found herself on top of Sora. She bit her lip nervously as she noticed a steady trickle of blood coming from his nose. She must have battered it when she fell on him.

"Oops." she said to herself, "If he wakes up, I'll tell him a Heartless did it…" It was the best she could come up with, anyway.

Abu spat sand out of his mouth just as Riku and J touched ground. The black pterosaur turned back into a human and darted to face something behind Kairi. "It's those Heartless again!"

Kairi turned and found out that it WAS the Necromancers again. A pair of them had shot them right out of the sky. The others landed as Aladdin took out his trusted scimitar, but no one had even moved when something moved under the sand and pulled a shrieking Necromancer under the sand. A few seconds later, the small mound was silent, causing even the remaining Necromancer to freeze on the spot.

Ryan paused, then casually asked, "What the heck was that?"

Kairi looked around, wildly, for the attacker. It was nowhere to be seen…or, that was what SHE thought. The Princess of Heart failed to notice the long, crystal object protruding from the sand. It moved like a serpent, but had no head. Instead, it had a pronged blade thing similar to a spearhead. The "spearhead" shifted to reveal a few more spikes and a small disc of sorts.

"WHOA!!!" Scott shouted, alerting Kairi to the thing's presence.

Ryan saw it, too and launched a barrage of solar blasts at the thing. Kairi ducked as the blasts soared over her shoulder and the object quickly disappeared under the sand again. Suddenly, something large began tunneling under the sand, causing everyone to dance around to avoid it. Suddenly, it all stopped.

"What the HECK was that?!" J's question was soon answered when the object under the sand sprung out behind the remaining Necromancer Heartless.

It was a giant, crystalline scorpion as long as an army tank and as tall as a rhinoceros with pincers that looked strong enough and sharp enough to snip through a Gummi Ship's wing: a Crystalli Stinger. Its tail was what was behind Kairi and it did to the Necromancer what it almost did to her. It impaled the Heartless on its blade-like tail and quickly disappeared back under the sand.

April, sensing a great danger to the unconscious Sora, quickly put him on Carpet. "Get him out of here!" she commanded the sentient rug.

Carpet saluted and flew off with Aladdin and Kairi close behind, both following on foot. Soon, the others went after them, but the Crystalli Stinger pursued them, often jumping out of the sand like a fish in water.

"WHY DOES THIS LOOK FAMILIAR?!" Ryan asked at the top of his lungs.

"Talk LATER!" Riku answered, "Move NOW!!!"

It was fortunate for Kairi that Agrabah was close by, but just as they reached its borders, the Stinger burst from the desert ground and landed on its feet, rather than tunneling back under. A panel opened up on the tip of its sting and with a high-pitched whine and a small explosion, a blast of energy erupted from the tip of the tail. The blast shot through the air, hitting part of the wall that was the entrance of Agrabah. It didn't hit anyone, save one. The blast clipped Carpet's rear and sent the flying rug spiraling to the ground and the unconscious Sora tumbling a few feet away from it. Carpet would have gone after Sora when a chunk of debris from the wrecked wall fell on top of it, trapping it.

The Crystalli Stinger scuttled closer to Agrabah, clanging its pincers threateningly. Suddenly, a Dark Firaga hit it smack dab in the face and it took a few steps back, shaking the dark fire off. Ryan gave Riku an odd look and asked, "WHY are we attacking that thing again?!"

Riku quickly took cover behind a large chunk of debris just as another blast of energy came from the Stinger, this time from one of its pincers. "We can't let this thing into Agrabah." he answered, "If we do, who knows what'll happen?"

Ryan, now getting the idea, began to launch his own assault on the Stinger with a blizzard of solar blasts. However, the bursts had about as much effect as the Dark Firaga: little to no effect on the Stinger's crystalline armor. The Stinger only flinched on contact with the bursts and emitted an eerie, metallic shriek.

Things changed slightly when the Stinger heard something coming for it and turned just in time to see a rhino charge right into it, head-on. On impact, the Crystalli tumbled sideways, being hit by force similar to getting hit by a car. It was J, who was more than disgruntled when the Stinger got back on its feet and turned to face him. J scuffed the ground with his front foot, then charged again. _Blasted bug…STAY DOWN!_

The Stinger had apparently learned from its previous encounter, because when J was a few feet from it, the crystal scorpion turned on its side and evaded. That, however, wasn't the extent of its plan. It used its sizeable pincer to grab J by his horn. It used its other one to seize him by the back leg and actually lift him clean off the ground. One flex of its crystal claw actually severed the horn and another flick of its limb tossed J all the way to the entryway of Agrabah with a CRASH. J reverted back to human form, lying in a heap as the Stinger quickly advanced on him.

"NO!"

The Stinger hadn't even taken one step forward when something large and hard landed on its head. It looked stunned, because April had dropped a sizeable rock from a good distance up. It opened up its left claw and, rather than a burst of energy, five energy missiles fired from it. They zoomed through the air, narrowly missing April, but instead, they hit the buildings of the city.

"Try to draw its attention AWAY from Agrabah!" Scott had no sooner said this when the Stinger dashed forward and seized him in its right claw. It then pulled him so close that the Aussie could see the parts that made up its face. Suddenly, with a war cry, Aladdin landed on the Stinger's back and dug his scimitar into its hide just below its neck. The Crystalli shrieked in pain and began to thrash around, trying to get its attacker off. It then succeeded when it rolled and landed Aladdin in the sand. It made to step on Aladdin when April darted under, grabbed Aladdin and flew out with falcon-like speed.

Amidst the chaos, Kairi had dragged Sora's unconscious form to a sheltered area, away from the Stinger. _Sora, this would be a pretty good time for you to wake up now…_she thought to herself.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

After a high-speed boost to the other side of Agrabah, the Genie-mobile arrived at a strange palace of sorts. It was tall, crimson and menacing even in the desert. Right at its gate was a pair of giant serpents made of ruby. The Genie-mobile screeched to a halt at the front gate and disappeared from existence, leaving a very nauseous-looking group.

"Well, we're FINALLY here." Sakuzy said, now a sickly green.

Genie looked offended, leaving his stretched Batman suit for his old look. "Look, it's not MY fault that there was a sandstorm, a bandit attack, and a college lecture!" he defended.

"You could've poofed 'em all away." Joyex suggested.

Genie simply gave them a look that suggested that he was thinking. "Good point, my half-hearted friend. I'll have to remember that next time." he said.

Sakuzy sighed at Genie's mediocre planning and walked towards the palace. But he hadn't even gone two steps when Genie stopped him in his tracks. "Wait, Sakuzy! We can't go in there yet…" Sakuzy turned to the Djinn, curious at what he had been saying. "WE NEED LUNCH!" the genie finished.

"Can't fight evil, psychopathic genies on an empty stomach, y'know." Joyex said in agreement.

Genie summoned a family-size picnic out of nowhere, complete with dessert and getting wide eyes and watering mouths from almost everyone. In the blink of an eye, Genie, Iago, Donald, Goofy, and Joyex began digging in…disgusting Sakuzy in the process. Genie then noticed that Sakuzy wasn't eating and held out a half-eaten drumstick. "Sorry. You want some?" he suggested.

Sakuzy's face began looking green as he simply waved his hand to show that he didn't want any. Donald shrugged, then said, "Fine, more for US."

Joyex continued to gorge himself, but then got a glance at the sand not far from them. He looked freaked as he pointed to an area mere inches from their picnic cloth. "Common picnic pests at twelve o'clock!"

As Genie looked at the immediate area, he saw a small trail of black things moving closer and closer towards them. Genie gasped in fright, then screamed, "ANTS! Leave THIS to the pros!"

Genie disappeared in a puff of blue smoke and outfitted himself with an exterminator outfit and sprayed the ants with a flame-thrower. Nothing happened, or at least to the ants. The flames suddenly swirled higher into the air as a cackle sounded through the air. The flames soon dissipated and in their place stood the sorcerer known as Jafar.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Jafar asked, stroaking his goatee.

"Uh-oh…" Genie said, popeyed.

"Yup, THIS is Jafar." Joyex said to himself, "Who else would be evil enough to set ants on a picnic?" Joyex zipped over to Jafar. "Anyway, I'm Joyex." he introduced, "Half-hearted Nobody Keyblader. My card."

Joyex handed Jafar a card, which the sorcerer blew to pieces, zapping Joyex in the process. Jafar searched the area and spotted a cowering Iago. In the short span of a second, a serpentine smile spread across Jafar's face. "Why, hello, Iago." the vizier said, coldly, "By the way, I'm STILL sore about the fact that you betrayed me."

Iago screamed and flew under Donald's hat, trembling underneath the fabric. Donald frankly pulled the hat off and pulled Iago out of it…with much trouble, too. "WHAT?! Can't a guy hide from his former boss in peace?!" the parrot squawked.

Donald pulled Iago so close to his face that they were beak-to-beak. "Listen, Iago." the duck growled, "I can tolerate YOU, I can also tolerate you BETRAYING us, but I CAN'T tolerate YOU IN MY HAT! WAAAAK!"

Iago turned to Goofy with a confused look and asked, "What'd he say again?"

Goofy shrugged. "Dunno."

Jafar pointed his snake staff and in a burst of red energy, he blasted Iago. The parrot flew through the air and splatted against Jafar's palace wall with a scream. "OWWW! THAT HURT!" Iago screamed, then skidded across the sandy ground.

Jafar turned his staff to the rest, then cruelly said, "YOU'RE next!"

Genie looked a little panicked, but then remembered something. "But wait!" he said, holding up a finger, "A genie CANNOT kill! Let's see you match this!"

Genie disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing in a costume to rival the mighty god of thunder, Thor. He took a bow and shot an arrow of pure lightning at Jafar. After that, he shot lightning from his palms again and again and again, catching him by surprise. On contact with the lightning, Jafar vanished in a puff of red smoke.

Genie panted after his very dramatic destruction of Jafar, but swiftly changed into a mock-superhero outfit and let out a triumphant laugh. "Who's laughing NOW?" he asked. Genie's question was answered when Jafar's laugh rang through the air and he reappeared, not a scratch on his body. "Apparently you."

"Don't you know already?" Jafar asked, "I'm INVINCIBLE!!!"

Sakuzy and Joyex summoned their Keyblades, Genie entered his Limit form, Donald took out his staff, and Goofy his shield. "Is that a fact?" Sakuzy challenged, "Well, we'll just see about that, now won't we?"

Jafar fired a blast, but Sakuzy blocked with his Keyblade as he began spinning it in a propeller fashion.

"WIND!"

Sakuzy's trademark Aeroga took effect and blasted Jafar. At first, Jafar was blown off-balance, but then he levitated himself and stopped the wind altogether. Suddenly, the wind took the form of scarlet clouds and the ground began to shake. The clouds rained lightning down on the group and happened so suddenly that Goofy virtually tackled Sakuzy to the ground in order to avoid part of it. Donald raised his own staff and shot a few lightning bolts of his own at Jafar. The bolts didn't seem to have much effect on Jafar, because he simply swatted them away with his snake staff.

Joyex, hoping for a distraction, aimed and fired his Chain Thrasher's blade at the vizier. Jafar had apparently seen it, because he turned and grabbed the oncoming blade around the middle. The half-hearted Nobody sighed as he saw what was coming… "Is this a running gag or someTHING!?!"

When Joyex finished the word 'some', Jafar began swinging Joyex around like a lasso and released him, sending him flying. The Nobody crashed into the scarlet walls, then slumped to the ground in a heap. Sakuzy sighed. JUST as they found Jafar, they have to FIGHT him?!

Crystalli Stinger

A massive Crystalli that is currently attacking Agrabah. It looks like a giant scorpion and can sweep through the desert sands like a ghost. It is also armed with claws, stinger, and several other weapons built into its already-lethal weapons.

_(1) In the Kingdom Hearts series, Return of Jafar, and the Aladdin TV series, Genie is voiced by Dan Castellaneta: the voice of Homer Simpson._


	177. Inner Space

Chapter 177: Inner Space

Sora's eyes fluttered open and studied their surroundings. It was no more than a dark nothingness, similar to a dream he had when his journey first started. Sora stumbled for a second, a bit surprised that he was still standing up...as though he had fallen asleep on his feet. _Wha? Where am I? _he asked himself,_ The last thing I remember is Mozenrath hitting me with that blast. Is this a dream? Or am I…_

"No, you're not dead…YET."

Sora turned on his heel and saw Mozenrath walking toward him, a malicious smile on his face and Xerxes on his shoulders. "MOZENRATH!" Sora flexed his hands, trying to summon his Keyblade, but nothing happened. He looked at his hand in confusion and tried again and again to summon the Key of all worlds, but the weapon didn't even try sparkling to life.

"Summoning your Keyblade HERE won't work, Sora." Mozenrath explained, "This is not the world you're used to."

Xerxes cackled, then said, "Yes…No fancy keys here, I'm afraid."

"THIS is your mind and you're trapped in it. I am in complete control here." Mozenrath said, flexing his gloved hand.

Sora simply glowered back at Mozenrath. "What are you going to do to me?" No fear showed in Sora's voice; only determination to remain strong in the face of evil.

Mozenrath simply flexed his gloved hand and pointed it at Sora, answering, "I'm going to send you into your worst nightmares…" Mozenrath snapped his fingers and the background melted to reform into a new one. It was surprisingly dark, so neither could see where they were. "Welcome, Sora, to the world in which you were NEVER born!"

The immediate area lit up to show that they were inside of a spaceship with the octopus-like aliens, Kang and Kodos. Both aliens stared at them with their single eyes and scratched their slimy, bald heads. "What the heck are YOU doing here?!" Kodos asked.

"Yes, this is OUR ship! Go get your own!" Kang said with a nod.

Mozenrath sighed in exasperation as Xerxes' jaw fell open. "Wrong world…" Mozenrath groaned.

"Yes. Wrong world…" Xerxes agreed.

Mozenrath snapped his fingers and he and Sora vanished again. Kang turned to Kodos and asked, "Who the heck was THAT?"

"Probably two people from a Disney/Final Fantasy crossover fanfiction that has no hope whatsoever of becoming reality." Kodos answered.

Kang slapped Kodos across the face with a tentacle and the latter rubbed the side of his face that Kang smacked. "That's ridiculous. Where do you get these ideas?!" Kang scolded.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Mozenrath and Sora materialized in the streets of Traverse Town; Sora could tell because the place was unforgettable. Sora's eyes darted around and he immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"Welcome, Sora, to the world in which you were NEVER born…" Mozenrath said, in a mock-welcoming voice.

Sora looked around, then asked, "Why Traverse Town?"

Mozenrath gestured to the world around them with his glove-free hand and smiled a very serpentine smile. "This is your friends' new home." he answered, "Since you weren't there to defend the islands, they were swallowed by darkness. Remember?"

Sora stared, wide-eyed at what could have been everyone's home. He almost forgot what had once happened to Destiny Island on his first journey. Suddenly, someone walked past: someone he remembered all-too-well. "Aerith?"

It WAS Aerith, alive and well, even though Sora saw Topaz hack her in the back and Cloud return her to the Lifestream. However, she simply walked past him without sparing a passing glance. Sora thought that she didn't hear him, so he repeated her name a little louder. "Aerith!"

When Aerith didn't answer again, Sora got so fed up that he stormed over to her. Her back was facing him, so he reached out his hand. "Aerith, I'm TALKING to you!" he said, trying not to shout. Sora made to put his hand on her shoulder, but he never touched her. His hand went right through her body like a hologram and he flinched in surprise, now starting to get a little frightened. "What the?"

Sora was lucky, because Aerith had paused to talk to Cid, who was outside his old Gummi Part Shop. "Cid…" Cid turned to face Aerith and cocked his head, as though asking "what?" On seeing Cid's curious look, she informed, "Another star has faded."

Cid spat out his toothpick and replaced it with a cigarette. He lit it, inhaled a good amount of its contents, then blew out a small plume of smoke. "That's the fourth one this month." Cid said, disdainfully, "If this keeps up, we're next. And to make matters worse, the only person who can help us is in Maleficent's grasp."

Aerith nodded solemnly, closing her eyes in the process. "The king…why did he have to get captured?" she asked, restraining angry tears, "If anyone could have stopped the Heartless, I know he could."

During this whole conversation, Sora kept moving his hand through Aerith, trying to touch her or anything to get her attention. "What's going on? Why can't I touch anyone?" he asked, now starting to get a little scared.

"You are not part of this world, Sora." Mozenrath answered, "No one can see or hear you, for you're just a ghost in this world."

Sora looked around, but Mozenrath was nowhere to be seen. He seemed to be speaking in his head. As he looked at the world around him, he saw Cid look past Aerith and quickly pull out his long, iron spear. "Let's get back with Leon and the others." he murmured, "The Heartless are comin' our way…"

Cid quickly sprinted off to another part of Traverse Town with Aerith in hot pursuit. As Sora looked in the direction Cid was looking, he saw the all-too-familiar shapes of Shadow Heartless. Their yellow eyes were unmistakable in the dark and neither were their slight shivering noise.

"Without the Keyblader to protect the worlds, more and more worlds are fading into darkness." Mozenrath told him, "But you'll find something…interesting if you follow them."

Sora, despite the unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach, went off with Cid and Aerith. The more he followed, the more familiar the place seemed to become to him. Suddenly, he realized that Cid and Aerith had entered a building: the same one that he woke up in where he found Yuffie and Leon for the first time. He walked right through the shut door like a ghost and saw Aerith sit on the edge of a bed. Footsteps heralded the approach of more than one person…three to be precise: Leon, Yuffie, and Vincent.

Aerith turned on their approach with a soft expression. "How is she?" she asked.

Sora didn't know who they were talking about, but he could tell the group was very worried about what was happening. "She's stable, but there's no telling if she'll regain consciousness." Vincent answered, his voice still very gruff and gravelly.

Leon shook his head. Even Yuffie, who was usually bright and chirpy, was somber and dark. "I'm afraid we've never seen anything like it." the ninja pointed out.

"The Heartless are the only explanation." Leon said, nodding slowly, "If anything like this has already happened, I don't blame people for attacking the Heartless."

Cid gritted his teeth, crushing the cigarette in his mouth like a piece of paper, then spat it out. "Wish Blader hadn't left." he grunted, "His buddy Petross would come in handy right now. Too bad the Heartless took him out."

Sora's jaw fell open. Blader had gone and disappeared while Petross had been…No. No, this couldn't be…

Soon, Sora's curiosity got the best of him and he went up the staircase that Leon, Yuffie, and Vincent came down. He slowly entered the room to see a single bed in the corner. But…what was that thing in the bed? Sora slowly walked over to it, his heart pounding like a jackhammer, ready for anything…or so he thought. The minute he was a few feet from the bed, his eyes widened at what he saw: Kairi, fast asleep and unwaking.

"No…" Sora choked, "This couldn't have…"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Back in the real world of Agrabah, the Stinger burst from beneath the sand and seized Scott in its sizeable claw before pulling the struggling Aussie underground.

"SCOTT!" April screamed.

An echoing shriek came from underground and Scott emerged from the sand with several bony spikes protruding from various parts of his body. Aladdin got a good look at Scott, then recoiled in disgust while Abu gagged. "That's gross…" Aladdin said, still somewhat surprised.

"Then, ya won't like seein' THIS!" Scott scrunched up his face and the spikes slowly retreated back into Scott's body.

Riku ran over with his Keyblade and deterred another attack from the Stinger. He and Scott began attacking it together, Riku with his Keyblade and Scott wrestling around with its tail, but neither had good results. "I thought you said you couldn't make extra bones!" Riku said, out of simple curiosity.

Scott dodged another attack from the Stinger and his trademark spike sprung from his wrist and he dug it into the Stinger, breaking the spike on contact. He stared at it until the Stinger's tail latched onto his jacket and hurled him back behind the wall of debris. After firing a few Dark Firagas to deter the giant scorpion, Riku quickly joined him.

J shook the cobwebs out of his head from the toss the Stinger had previously given him and raced over to Scott. He had one idea left...one that wouldn't work twice. But it was a good trick and, if it didn't work, then nothing would. "Scott!" he shouted, "Where do you have your drinks?!"

Scott ducked under the fire of the Stinger's lasers and answered J's question quickly. "Pocket!"

"Which one?!"

"Jacket!"

J quickly checked Scott's several jacket pockets and felt the one thing he was looking for: an aluminum cylinder. He quickly pulled it out to reveal an energy drink labeled "Mach 5". He looked around, then spotted Ryan just as he tumbled across the sand and landed on his seat. J raced over, avoiding the Stinger's fire, then thrust the energy drink into the kid's hand. "CHUG IT!" he barked.

Ryan stared at the can with wide eyes and then looked at J in disbelief. "Chug it?" he asked in surprise, "But, I don't know what'll happen if I…" J gave Ryan "the look" and Ryan stopped his objection in the blink of an eye. "Chugging it now."

Ryan snapped open the can of Mach 5 and chugged it in four or five gulps.

"That's it." J said in a commanding tone, "Go!"

As the energy drink took effect on Ryan, J's voice seemed to slow to a stop as Ryan's pupils expanded, comically. He jabbered nonstop for the span of ten seconds until time itself seemed to stop. (1)

Ryan looked at the battlefield as though he didn't have a care in the world and took in his surroundings. J was frozen, pointing at the Stinger and barking a command. He looked like someone from a military movie that had just been paused. Chunks of falling debris were frozen in midair with the dust it kicked up also stopped in midfall. Ryan looked around a little more, then walked, casually, between the line of fire. Lasers from the Stinger were also halted, comically, in the air. However, Ryan didn't exactly want to touch one, seeing as they were still burning hot.

When he got a good look at the battlefield, Ryan saw that Riku was sent flying thanks to a blast front from the Stinger's blast and sighed to himself. "Why can't I have super strength, too?" he asked.

Ryan took Riku out of midair and tried to gently place him on the ground. But Ryan was only thirteen while Riku was seventeen, so it wasn't exactly an easy task. When he finished, he dusted off his hands and went to save a few more lives. Suddenly, Ryan grinned, devilishly, and took J's sunglasses, leaving his blood-red eyes for all to see. The solar-freak placed the shades on his face before striking a suave-looking secret agent look and began walking through the marketplace. He walked over to the Peddler, who was apparently caught in the middle of a scream as a hunk of a building was about to squash him flat as a pancake. Ryan sighed, then pushed the frozen Peddler over to another area and grinned, again.

Ryan walked back to the battlefield with the necklace that he had wanted since they entered Agrabah and got another idea. He went over to the Stinger's pincer and raised a hand. With just one flex of his muscles, Ryan gave the pincer a good flick and a single crack formed on its crystal surface and slowly began to expand. Soon, Ryan noticed that time was starting to speed back up, so he quickly placed J's sunglasses back onto the said anti-hero's face and took cover.

Time slowly sped back up and when it was back to full throttle, the Stinger's right pincer exploded into several crystal shards. The Stinger looked at the stump that once held its claw, then shrugged it off and continued to open fire on them with its remaining claw and its tail. J growled in frustration and growled, "Stupid bug! DIE already!"

Meanwhile, Kairi was still with Sora, crying gently, even amidst the chaos. "Sora…we really need you now."

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Back in Inner Space, Sora was slumped over on the top of the building that everyone was staying in. He felt tears running down his face, but the only sign of crying was the occasional sniffle. If he wasn't born, Destiny Island would have been long gone, Kairi would be in her torpid state until she died, and many worlds would have belonged to the Heartless.

But then, things got worse. He perked up when he heard something: the main entrance fly open and Vincent say two simple words. "He's back…"

Sora cocked his head in confusion. _Wait…Who's he talking about?_

Sora saw Leon join Vincent, his Gunblade drawn and poised for battle, but soon saw the reason why their weapons were drawn. An army of Heartless had appeared on the main district and one sprang just as Vincent loaded his gun. The Heartless vanished in midair from Vincent's shot and another vanished with a single swing of the Gunblade.

Sora saw the two fight their way through countless Heartless until someone new appeared. He was clad in black armor with red markings on it and had an all-too-familiar weapon in his hand: a Keyblade--Unlocking of Hearts, to be precise. On his shoulders, the man wore a dark cape that flowed through the slight breeze. At first, Sora didn't recognize him, but suddenly recognized him when Vincent pointed Cerberus at the man and issued a single word.

"Riku…"

Sora's mouth fell open in utter shock. Riku was the BAD guy in this world? As he stared in disbelief, he saw Riku's mouth twitch into a smile of pure malice as he slung the Unlocking of Hearts over his shoulder. "Yes. Me." he said, coldly.

Leon turned from defeating a Heartless and slowly walked over next to Vincent. "Isn't Maleficent supposed to be holding your leash?" the former asked.

Riku laughed after a second's pause, then answered Leon. "I'm afraid Maleficent won't be pulling any more strings. Her usefulness to me has ended. Now the Heartless answer only to ME. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be taking the girl."

Riku took a single step forward, but Leon got in the way, pointing his Gunblade at him. "Over my dead body." he challenged.

Riku smirked, then calmly said, "THAT can be arranged."

As Sora watched Riku go into battle against Leon and Vincent, he failed to notice Mozenrath reappearing behind him, grinning wickedly. The necromancer knew that Sora's spirit was just bending to breaking point, he could FEEL it. He sneered as he held out his gloved hand to strike Sora's consciousness dead, which would give him complete control over the rest of Sora, when something blocked him. He was now pushing against a certain blonde person with two Keyblades, magic-enfused glove against Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Roxas had come out of nowhere to Sora's rescue.

"WHAT?!" Mozenrath roared in surprise, "HOW COULD YOU…"

Roxas grinned as he quickly deflected Mozenrath's blow with just a movement of his arms. Mozenrath fell back and Roxas quickly raised Oblivion to deliver an uppercut of sorts into Xerxes' chin, sending the eel to the ground with a dazed look in the eye. "Sora and I are one." Roxas answered, "If you mess with one of us, you mess with BOTH of us!"

Mozenrath raised his hand and tried to fire a blast at Roxas, only to see Sora's Nobody reflect it back at him with one stroke of the Oathkeeper. The blast hit Mozenrath square in the chest and sent him sliding back. Not wanting to waste any time, Roxas turned to Sora with a determined look. "SORA! NONE OF THIS IS REAL!" he told him, urgently, "Mozenrath wants to use you to take out all your friends!"

Sora's eyes suddenly snapped off the battle and saw Roxas deflecting Mozenrath's dark magic bursts, but unable to get a blow in. If none of this was real, how was he going to snap out of it? "What can I do?! I can't fight him!" Sora said, feeling abnormally helpless.

Roxas quickly crossed his Keyblades and sharply uncrossed them to deter Mozenrath's gloved hand, which had grabbed his weapons at the vertex. Again, he turned to Sora to answer his question. "You'll have to wake up!"

"How?!"

Roxas swung his two Keyblades wildly to deter a flurry of energy blasts from Mozenrath, but thought Sora's question over in his head in the process. He had one idea that could work, but wasn't entirely sure. "Do something that'll shock you awake! Not emotionally, but physically!" Roxas suggested, desperately. Roxas smiled and chose the first thing that would wake anyone from a dream instantly. "Jump off the building!"

Sora thought over what Roxas had just said, but couldn't exactly come up with anything better. He got to his feet, braced himself for anything, and sprinted for the ledge. If Roxas was right, he would wake up and break free of Mozenrath's control. If he was wrong…well, that was a risk he was willing to take. Mozenrath knocked Roxas away and noticed what Sora was doing. "NO!!!"

Mozenrath rushed for Sora, but Roxas jumped and seized him by the legs, preventing him from stopping Sora. Mozenrath roared in anger as the Keyblade Master reached the ledge and jumped off while Roxas smiled.

The wind whipped Sora's spikes around as the ground raced closer, getting faster with each passing second. He shut his eyes, involuntarily, as he was mere inches from the ground and braced himself for the impact…which never came. Sora opened his eyes to see that he was back in the black nothing where he came from, but he couldn't sense Mozenrath anywhere.

_Did it work? _he asked himself.

Sora's question was answered when a pillar of light appeared in front of him. He could feel something coming from it: a good feeling. He closed his eyes and walked into the pillar of light. He was going back at last.

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Meanwhile, at another part of Agrabah, Mozenrath was suddenly flung backwards as though someone had pushed him VERY forcefully, Xerxes hot on his heels. He pulled himself to his feet and roared in pure rage as he pounded the black sand with his hands. "I WAS SO CLOSE!" he roared in pure rage.

Xerxes flew over in an attempt to try and comfort his master. "Could've been worse…"

Mozenrath snarled at his flying partner and seized the eel around the neck, causing him to gag. "Silence or I will FRY YOU like the fish you are! UNDERSTAND?!" he asked, threateningly.

Xerxes nodded, hastily, and Mozenrath dropped him on the ground with a "plop".

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Sora's eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight of Agrabah and saw what he highly suspected was Kairi's chest. It looked like Kairi's chest…or at least her shirt, for Sora never really took the time to examine it. He let out a moan and he got a better look at Kairi, who was now staring at him with wide-eyed surprise.

"SORA!" she said, unable to contain herself, "YOU'RE AWAKE!" Kairi hugged Sora, who blushed in slight surprise that she had done it so quickly.

"IS THIS THE TIME?!" J asked over the roar of battle.

Kairi let go of Sora, who stared at J. For the moment, all three of them were behind a chunk of debris. There was a loud BOOM and sand flew over the rock's edges as though a strong wind had just blown. Both Sora and Kairi took cover, but only Sora asked, "Did I miss something?"

J's reply had more sarcasm than any other remark Sora ever heard. "Oh, nothing, really. You got blasted by that magic orb Mozenrath had, Sakuzy took a few of us to deal with Jafar, we were fighting a giant Crystalli scorpion thing, AND Ryan went hyperactive to simply damage it." the shapeshifter explained, "During all THAT, you were out like a light!"

Scott had Ryan's arm slung over his shoulder and he was carrying the kid through the crossfire. Apparently, the energy drink's side effects were kicking in: keeps you energized for a while, then leaves you drained. "Oh, thanks for the sarcasm, J! We're gonna end up as Crystalli Kibble!" Ryan said, VERY exasperated despite his condition.

Sora's mind had quickly formulated a plan. Ryan was the strongest in sunlight, he hadn't broken out a drive since he did it with Genie, and he wanted to make up for lost time. "Hey, Ryan! I need to try something with you…"

Ryan stumbled over, then began, "What is…" Before Ryan could even finish his sentence, Sora quickly put a hand on his shoulder.

"DRIVE!"

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Back with Sakuzy, things weren't going so well. No matter how hard Goofy smashed Jafar with his shield, or how many times Donald caught him with a spell, the sorcerer simply regenerated. Things suddenly got worse when Jafar turned into the gigantic, crimson genie that terrorized Agrabah twice in a row. When he did take the form, Donald and Goofy's eyes widened. The last time they had to fight him, they had to attack his lamp, which was nowhere to be seen.

"Surely by now, you realize you cannot defeat me with your LIMITED power." Jafar said, folding his arms across his chest.

Jafar lifted a hand and the ground split into a huge fissure with a pool of lava at the bottom, leaving Sora's great-grandson to deal with Jafar's genie form with Joyex and Genie alone. Donald and Goofy were stranded on the other side, only able to watch from the sidelines. However, Donald and Goofy had another trick up their sleeve…

"Thunder!"

Donald raised his staff and a spear of lightning shot down to strike Jafar in the chest. The dark djinn howled in pain, but it was short-lived, because Jafar turned on Donald and heaved three fireballs at him and Goofy. The fireballs spun together in a shuriken pattern and Goofy virtually tackled Donald to the ground to avoid the oncoming projectile. The flames missed them so narrowly that Goofy felt the heat crisp his shirt.

Meanwhile, Sakuzy had taken a momentary refuge behind one of the stone serpents as well as Genie and racked his mind for any plan that would work. Iago wasn't exactly much of a help, unless you counted buzzing around Jafar's head an attack. Speaking of which, Iago was darting around, but he wasn't just distracting Jafar: he was trying to find something…

Suddenly, a thought popped into Sakuzy's head. And if it was a cartoon, it would have been the part where a light bulb lit up above Sakuzy's head. "Hey, Genie! I have an idea!"

Genie leaned in close to listen, expanding his ear to have a good listen, then listened to Sakuzy's idea…

Joyex dove right underneath Jafar to avoid getting blasted by a fireball the size of a wrecking ball. The Nobody, however, didn't even have time to get up when Jafar pointed a finger down at him, ready to wipe him off the face of the earth. However, someone spoke to him, almost challenging to him.

"Hey, numbskull! Down here!" Jafar turned to the source of the voice, giving Joyex enough time to scurry away and get a good look at what was going on. Sakuzy was standing there, his arms folded defiantly. "So, you're wasting your time on a Nobody? And I thought you were pitiful before…"

A vein twitched in Jafar's temple as he slowly approached Sakuzy. "Pathetic boy! I am ALL-POWERFUL!"

"So all-powerful that you can't even kill ME." Sakuzy countered.

Jafar growled, then grabbed Sakuzy in his massive hand and began crushing him, much to Joyex's fright. "Sakuzy! NO!"

Jafar lifted Sakuzy to eye level and laughed before he spoke. "You will pay for your insolence, boy…with your LIFE." Jafar slowly strengthened his grip until Sakuzy was steadily turning blue…but it didn't stop. Then, with a "pop", it was revealed that Sakuzy was actually Genie in disguise. "WHAT?!"

"Gotcha!" Genie said with a laugh.

Jafar roared in pure anger at the sure fact that he'd been suckered. "You shall be sealed in another dimension for your insolence, you blue buffoon!"

Genie's look was just about as good as an accusing finger. "Jafar, everybody knows I'm a GENIE, NOT a baboon." he pointed out, matter-of-factly.

Jafar dug his long nails into Genie and the good djinn vanished in a puff of red smoke.

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The Negative Zone…

Genie fell through the strange air, screaming until he crashed into the strange world. It was a weird place where everything was various shades of a pinkish color or crimson. Genie inspected himself and his surroundings. "This is really weird. Almost like something out of that Twilight-y game about that Princess…" Genie said, looking around at the strange space he was in.

Suddenly, something emitted an ear-piercing screech and Genie looked up to see a strange creature flying towards him. It was more than six feet tall, had bird-like wings, and insectoid armor. It appeared human, but had clawed hands, two-taloned feet, and compound eyes. It did have a mouth, though it had sharp jaw extensions rather than teeth. The bug, named Annihilus, landed in front of Genie and gave him a snarl, causing him to scream.

"YOU DARE ENTER MY UNIVERSE?!" it shrieked.

Genie took a step back, then poofed himself into an exterminator uniform with a giant flyswatter. He began to jab at Annihilus with the flyswatter like it was some sort of sword. "Get back, you insectoid freak!" he barked, "BACK!"

Annihilus snarled at this apparent challenge of strength and issued his own. Genie was in for one HECK of a time.

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Iago darted across the fiery battlefield, his bird eyes searching wildly for the key factor in this battle. Suddenly, he spotted it and a toothy grin crossed his face as he swooped down and snatched it from the air.

Sakuzy swung his Keyblade at Jafar as he made some attempt to stall for time. Again, no matter how much he slashed through Jafar's chest, arms, or head, nothing would hurt him. Sakuzy blocked fireball after fireball as Jafar pressed his attack. As soon as he was sure he couldn't hold on much longer, Sakuzy swung his Keyblade down on Jafar's arm, which healed itself. Jafar smiled, then seized Sakuzy by the Keyblade arm.

"You cannot harm me, boy!" Jafar boasted, "No matter how many times you try to defeat me, I will simply return again and again! I am IMMORTAL! I CANNOT BE VANQUISHED!!!"

Jafar backhanded Sakuzy with inhuman strength, sending the futuristic Keyblader slamming into the outer wall of his palace. Jafar was about to finish him off when someone laughed. The laughter boiled Jafar to the bone as he turned to see Joyex, standing with Iago on his shoulder and his hands clasped behind his back.

"WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT, NOBODY?!" Jafar roared.

Iago's expression was just as smug as Joyex's as he beckoned behind his back. "I believe he's laughing about THIS." the bird answered.

Joyex took his hand out from behind his back to reveal a lamp as black as obsidian. THAT was what Iago was looking for and Jafar's face suddenly went from furious to fear and realization. "It can't be! That's…"

Joyex fingered the lamp with one hand while his other hand held the lamp by its handle. "A genie of the lamp is supposed to grant three wishes." Joyex pointed out, "Am I right?"

Jafar pointed a clawed finger at Joyex and snarled an objective at him. "I would NEVER grant a wish for the likes of a half-hearted one like yourself!"

Joyex flipped onto a piece of debris from the palace and sat on it like it was a throne. "You don't have a choice in the matter. Now, prepare to grant the most unpleasant wishes of your life!" Joyex cocked the lamp like a gun, then held out his index finger. "My FIRST wish: bring OUR genie back into this dimension!"

Joyex aimed the lamp at Jafar and a streak of red energy shot from the lamp's tip like the bullet of a gun. The instant it hit Jafar, the scarlet genie fell back as crimson energy began to surround his body. "My body!" he screamed, "My body's moving by itself!"

It was true. No matter how hard Jafar fought, his body moved without his mind's order. He raised a hand and fired a beam of pure magic into the air. It flew several feet into the air, and then vanished.

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Back in the Negative Zone, Genie was trying to fend off Annihilus with his flyswatter, thrusting it at him as though it was a sword. Annihilus snarled and would have grinned if he had the correct face as energy began to gather in a strange capsule of sorts in his chest. When the energy stopped gathering, a beam of raw power shot from the capsule and disintegrated the flyswatter in an instant. Genie looked at where his weapon used to be, then screamed as the bug-man grabbed him by the throat and lifted him clean off the ground.

"Prepare to be ANNIHILATED!" Annihilus screeched, holding up a clawed hand.

Genie prepared for the worst, but had just scrunched his eyes shut when he vanished in a cloud of red smoke. Annihilus opened and closed his hand, then screeched in fury as he looked around, wildly, for the intruder. "WHAT?!" he growled angrily, "Where did he go?!

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In a crack of lightning Genie fell back into his own dimension and landed in the sand so hard that he left an imprint in it. When he got out of the crater he created, it turned out that his exterminator uniform was tattered from his clash with Annihilus and he was clutching his head. "Boy, that was fast…" Genie said, dazedly.

As Jafar slumped over to catch his breath, Joyex held out his index and middle finger as he fingered the lamp. "My SECOND wish: return Agrabah to the way it was!"

Joyex aimed, then fired another blast that landed a direct hit. Jafar's body, again, worked against his will as several bursts of light shot from his palm. The buildings of Agrabah rebuilt themselves, chunks of debris returning to their places, even the dust shaken loose was put back where it was. After granting that wish, Jafar seemed physically drained, as though he had been forced to run a mile, but then Joyex held out his index, middle, and ring finger.

"And my THIRD wish…well, I don't have one. So, SEE YA! (1)" With a proud smile, Joyex casually tossed the lamp down the crevice and clattering down into its depths.

"NO!" Jafar screamed, "MY LAMP!!!"

The lamp tumbled and clattered, then fell into the lava. Jafar screamed in absolute agony as the lava began to melt his lamp into an unrecognizable mass of black gunk. As Jafar screamed, his skeleton seemed to light up like a neon sign. Jafar lurched forward in pain, then, in one final scream, he exploded into a shower of sparkles. The minute Jafar was gone, the crimson palace began shaking like an earthquake had just hit the area and the lava crevice pulled back together.

"What's going on?!" Sakuzy said, trying to remain steady.

"Without Jafar, the entire castle is basically falling to pieces." Genie explained, "Let's get outta here!" Genie poofed himself back into the stretched Batman suit and raised a commanding finger. "TO THE GENIE-MOBILE!"

(Insert corny superhero scene change here).

Sakuzy had an unconscious Donald over his shoulder, Joyex had Iago perched on his own, and Genie had Goofy. As they reached the original parking spot, they saw a note where the "Genie Mobile" used to be. Genie picked it up and read, "_Dear Genie, Sorry, but I must take back the Batmobile. Signed, Mr. Wayne._" Genie crumpled the note in his fist in apparent rage and cursed, "The jerk! He's always one step ahead of me!"

"Can't ya just poof us outta here?" Sakuzy asked.

"Good point…"

Genie snapped his finger and all of them vanished in blue smoke. Just in time, because a huge hunk of the ceiling fell and almost crushed them. Jafar was gone for good this time…

Annihilus

The insectoid tyrant of a bunch of bug-like creatures in a realm called the Negative Zone. He wields the Cosmic Control Rod, which basically makes him super-powerful and is also…a bit on the insane side. He made his first TV appearance in _Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes_ 2006.

(1) _This scene was brought to you from Over the Hedge._

(2)_ The scene with Jafar was brought to you by "Sonic and the Secret Rings" for the Wii. Enjoy._


	178. Exiting Agrabah

Chapter 178: Exiting Agrabah

Sora's Drive with Ryan was completed and the Keyblade Master was now clad in yellow clothes with orange embroidering and sun-patterns etched on his shorts. He summoned his Keyblade, which had changed again. Its blade was now golden flames with a sun on it and the Keychain was a miniature sun. _Solar Ray_ rang through Sora's mind. Sora felt Ryan's near-limitless energy pulsing through his body and he noticed that the ground was a good meter below his feet.

"Looks like I also got Ryan's powers when I did the drive." he said, explaining to himself, "Now then…"

Sora zipped forward towards the Stinger and swung his Keyblade, forgetting the fact that he was still a good distance away. Much to Sora's surprise, a wave of energy similar to Ryan's solar bursts, came from the Keyblade. It flew through the air like a boomerang and caught the Stinger full in the face. This attack seemed to be quite effective against the Stinger, which staggered back with a gash across its face. It saw Sora flying towards it and snapped at him only to miss by a mile as Sora flew very close to the ground and actually slid between its many legs.

The Stinger, confused as to what happened, scuttled until it turned to face the other way. It fired blast after blast at its moving target only to see Sora weave around them. Just as one of the blasts was about to hit him, Sora quickly did a somersault and the blast soared right underneath him, missing its target.

"Showoff…" Scott muttered.

Sora, recovering from his somersault, landed on the ground and took off like a bullet. He was starting to get the hang of super speed in a few minutes. Occasionally, he would pause to point his Keyblade at the giant Crystalli and pelt it with a bullet of pure energy. It was like his Drive with Vincent, only quite a bit more enjoyable. The Crystalli narrowly missed him on more than one occasion, then Sora felt something he hadn't felt before. He had been out in the sun for quite some time and his adrenaline was pumping through him. He felt a kind of energy pulsing through his veins and was about to get let out…soon. From Scott's stories about Ryan getting completely hyped up, Sora knew that THIS was going to be, quite literally, explosive.

Sora looked up to see the Stinger scuttling towards him like a crab and arch its tail. But just at the right time, Sora felt the energy burst out of him in the form of an orb of golden energy. The immediate are within five feet was engulfed by semi-pure solar energy and the rest of the group covered their eyes as the sunlight engulfed the area, kicking up dust. When the light faded, Sora and Ryan were separated and standing on what used to be sand, but was now muddy glass. Sora looked alright in Kairi's opinion, but Ryan looked a bit…disoriented.

"What happened?" Ryan asked, holding his now-throbbing head, "The last thing I remember is this HUGE pulse of energy coming straight at…"

Sora couldn't even answer Ryan's question when the dust started settling down. J emitted a very wolf-like growl as he saw something in the dust cloud--the Stinger was on its back, writhing in pain, but eventually righted itself. "Is that thing STILL alive?!" the shapeshifter asked in disbelief.

The Stinger shakily got back up on its feet and prepared to attack. The group prepared for the imminent attack as the Stinger sprung forward and looked ready to attack, full-on, but the attack never came, seeing as a milky-white foot landed on its head. The foot belonged to Quartz, who looked around at them. "Am I too late?" he asked.

The rest of the group's eyes were widened, but Sora managed to get out a reply as he pointed at Quartz's right foot. "No. You hit it on target."

Quartz looked down, then lifted his foot to show the Stinger, which was dead. "Oh, I HATE it when I step in these things…" he growled to himself.

Quartz reached down, then peeled the Crystal scorpion off of his foot. With a simple movement of his wrist, Quartz began spinning the Stinger around and around until let go, sending the remains flying into the sky and out of sight.

Aladdin and Abu stared at Quartz with both their jaws hanging open. "WHOA! He's HUGE!" Aladdin said, surprised at how big Quartz was in comparison to the Stinger.

At that time, Sakuzy, Joyex, Donald, Goofy, Genie, and Iago teleported right in front of them. Joyex waved at the giant Crystalli, which immediately got Genie's attention. "Hiya, Quartz!" the Nobody greeted, "When did YOU get here?"

"Just now, mate." Scott answered.

Genie snapped his fingers and, in an instant, he was the same size as Quartz, who took a step back, almost stepping on Iago. "WOW!" Genie said in amazement, "You are so COOL! Are you a Transformer? I can do it, too!"

Quartz shook his head, but hadn't even said his reply when Genie turned into a giant, blue robot. With a few shifts of parts, Genie was soon replaced by a sky-blue Big Rig. At that time, Quartz corrected the crazed djinn. "No. I'm NOT a Transformer."

The Big Rig had Genie's face on it, which instantly fell as he disappeared in another cloud of smoke and reappeared next to Scott, back in his normal form. "Hey, Scott!" Genie said, eagerly, "I finally found out where you're from!"

"Au…"

Genie, in an cartoonishly-obvious way, cut off Scott. "I didn't know why I didn't see it before! The strange accent, the hat, the crocodile boots!" Genie said, slapping a hand on his forehead, "It's so obvious that you're from…FINLAND!"

Scott stared, wide-eyed at Genie, then heaved a strenuous sigh in disbelief. It would have to do for now…

"Hey, guys! Look what I got!" Ryan said as he rummaged in his pants' pocket, then pulled out the necklace that he snatched during his caffeine-fueled rush. Then, to everyone's surprise, sand pulled free from the ground and gathered on the necklace. The sand began spinning and swirling until the necklace was covered with sand and its chain was absorbed into it. After a brief moment, the sand had taken the form of a heart.

J rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses and his statement dripped with sarcasm. "Once again, Ryan, your stupidity comes in handy…"

Ryan gave J a flat look as he asked, "WHY do you always insult my IQ level?"

Sora took the Heart from Ryan and pocketed it with the Lifestream Heart from Midgar and the Seed Heart from Ant Island. Something beeped and Sakuzy held out his Crystalli Radar.

"Well, would ya look at that?" Sakuzy asked, "Looks like Petross installed a communicator. Apparently we're needed back in Radiant Garden."

Quartz nodded. "Then we should get moving."

Sora noticed Donald and Goofy slumped over Joyex and Genie's shoulders. He looked ready to shout something, but Joyex stopped him. "No, they're not dead. Just out."

Sora sighed with relief as Quartz shifted into his Gummi form, earning stunned looks from Aladdin, Genie, Iago, and Abu. "See ya, guys!" Sora said, waving them off.

As Sora got onto the Gummi Ship, Ryan's head popped out of the main entrance and waved. "So long, Abu. Let's get together again sometime!"

As Aladdin, Iago, and Abu waved, Genie made a mock sob and waved a handkerchief at them as Quartz took off to the cosmos.

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The World That Never Was...

Mozenrath roared in rage as he placed his hand underneath a table and flipped it. The table slid a few feet and scared the living daylight out of Xerxes, who quickly hid under a chair, shaking like mad. "I DON'T UNDERSTAND!" the necromancer roared, "I HAD THE KEYBLADE MASTER RIGHT WHERE I WANTED HIM, BUT THAT MEDDLING NOBODY GOT IN THE WAY!"

"Well, cry me a river then." Mozenrath turned to see the all-too-familiar Green Goblin walking over, shaking his head. "You know what they say: 'Pride comes before a fall.' You got so overconfident that you left out that single detail. That's your fault, not Roxas'."

Randall walked over to join them and snickered slightly. "Let's see YOU try any better, Gobby. YOUR world is next."

"Hold this." Double G simply jammed a spherical object into Randall's hand before vanishing into his own world.

Randall stared after Goblin, then asked, "What the hey is this?" The thing in Randall's hand beeped and, as he got a good look at it, he saw that it was...a bomb shaped like a pumpkin. The lizard screamed in fright as the bomb went off in Randall's hand and exploded in a cloud of green gas.

Xerxes coughed as smoke filled the room, then choked out, "Stupid explosives. I should diffuse all of that goblin's bombs before he brings this whole castle down…"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Meanwhile, in the far reaches of space, the Crystalli Stinger's lifeless husk floated through space in a kind of slow spin. As it did this, it smashed right into the windshield of a UFO and earned groans from Kang and Kodos, who were inside.

"Oh, YUCK!" Kodos said, sticking his tongue out.

"Stupid space bugs…" Kang grumbled, "This'll take WEEKS to clean up."

Kang then pressed a button on the ship's dashboard and a pair of windshield wipers acted up. The wipers pushed the Crystalli remains off the ship and sent the Stinger hurtling through space again.

_That would be Ryan's Solar Drive. In this Drive, Sora's speed increases tenfold and he gains all of Ryan's powers: flight, speed, energy projection, the works._


	179. The Fourth Mural

Chapter 179: The Fourth Mural

Well on their way back to Radiant Garden, Kairi was walking back to her room for a good night's sleep when she happened to pass Sora. She waved to him as she passed, but he stopped as he walked past and said, mildly amused, "Hey, you're wearing the necklace I gave you."

Kairi stopped, then turned to him, not really able to hide the blush creeping across her face. She fingered the seashell necklace, smiling nervously. The day she got that necklace wasn't exactly one she would forget. She struggled to find words, but apparently, Sora had other ideas. "It looks good on you." he complimented, "Matches your hair."

Kairi could only turn slightly to hide her blush, but wasn't exactly the type to leave Sora hanging like that. "Uh…hehe…Thanks."

Sora smiled, and gave a quick wave before he continued on his way. Kairi hurried to her room, her heart beating like a jackhammer.

That night, as Kairi slept, she dreamt that she was back on her mural. Namine was at the center of it, ready to meet her. "Hello." the Nobody chirped.

Kairi waved as she said, "Hi. So…I can use the mirror again?"

Namine scratched the back of her head a little. "I suppose, seeing as the last time you did it with Roxas didn't go so well…" she answered.

_Enter flashback…_

_Kairi focused hard on Roxas' mural and fell, landing cat-footed on it to see Roxas himself. It was a first for Kairi to actually see the subject of the mural. Roxas had apparently heard her land, because he turned around and started. "KAIRI?!" he asked in surprise, "What're YOU doing here?!"_

_Kairi also flinched. She had only seen Roxas ONCE and it was pretty brief. It was during the time before Roxas was sealed inside Sora and Namine inside Kairi. Sure, the guy's hair was blonde and swerved up, but his face looked almost EXACTLY like Sora's. "Roxas?" She shook her head, then said, "Never mind, it's a long story."_

_Roxas shrugged as he asked, "Uh…Are you looking for Sora? If so, he's not here. He's probably on his own mural."_

_Kairi mentally sighed to herself as she answered, "No. Maybe some other time, but not now." Sora's would have to wait, she supposed, so she decided to look around Roxas' mural. It had Axel inside a blue heart and Namine in a red heart. So, Axel was like his brother and Namine was…_

_Kairi waved this aside as she took in the rest of the mural. It had Ansem the Wise, Riku, and Sora. There was also a HUGE chunk missing from the stained glass picture; it was almost completely white with a huge crack on it. She ducked down to get a closer look and ran a hand over the white glass. "What happened here?" she asked._

Roxas went over to inspect it with her. "I guess I lost a chunk when I was beamed into that virtual Twilight Town…"

_Kairi did notice a piece of black near the top of the erased part; possibly someone's hair, but it was small, only half a foot long and three inches wide. Roxas sighed to himself and seemed to think out loud and address Kairi at the same time. "I can't figure it out, but J seems to remind me of that place. All I remember is him and that…strange man…"_

_THIS was enough to draw Kairi's attention off the glass. She stood and turned to Roxas, a curious look on her face. "Strange man? Who're you talking about?"_

Roxas stood up and nodded. "He appears in my nightmares and keeps coming to attack me…or at least take me. He just…reaches." A nod from Kairi assured Roxas that she was paying attention. "I don't know much…but I DO know that he looks a lot like J, but with different eyes: they're green and soul-piercing…"

_Before Kairi could interrogate Roxas further, she was pulled back to her own mural. There to meet her was a very shocked-looking Namine. "Did YOU know about that nightmare person?" Kairi asked.  
_

_It took a while for her Nobody to answer, but she did after a few seconds' pause. When she did answer, it was VERY quiet. "NOW I do…"_

_End Flashback…_

Namine held out her hand and the mirror materialized into her grip. "So, which mural will you go to now, Kairi?"

Kairi thought long and hard before replying, "Riku's." In her opinion, Riku was an ideal choice. This trip would give her a chance to see what had happened…and to see if she could confirm something.

Namine held up the hand mirror as Kairi concentrated on her friend and the ground below her feet immediately shattered. When she landed in the black nothingness, an explosion of doves brought her to Riku's mural.

Riku's mural, like J's, was a deep purple with Riku at the mural's center. Just to the picture's left was a black-and-white picture of Ansem the Wise aka: DiZ, possibly indicating that the man was dead. There was herself and Sora, both in a heart, but different for each one. Sora's was the blue heart, but Kairi's was black. Adjacent to her and Sora were Roxas and Namine and an empty circle that had yet to be filled. She didn't really want to step on it for some reason.

"Strange…" Kairi said to herself, "Well, it was pretty obvious that Sora's like his brother. But why am I in a black heart? And what's this black circle?"

Suddenly, Kairi felt a presence and turned to meet it. It was Riku, who was more than surprised to meet Kairi here, of all places.

"What're you doing here?" Riku asked, showing a hint of surprise.

Kairi scratched the back of her head, nervously as she answered, "It's…complicated. I'd rather not go into details."

"O-kay…" Riku said with a slow nod, "I guess the better question is 'Why are you here?'"

"I…just wanted to find out a bit about you. That's all."

Riku sighed, then sat down on his mural. Kairi joined him, then uneasily asked, "Do you know why I'm in this black heart? Or at least what it means?" She pointed to her picture to try and emphasize her point.

Riku simply looked at the stained glass surface. He obviously didn't like talking about it, but since he knew Kairi wanted to help him, he obliged. "It's because I loved you…at one point, anyway." He admitted.

Kairi was shocked. Riku…loved her? She had suspected it from their earlier years, but hearing it right from the horse's mouth? THAT was a far different story.

"But why's the heart black?" Kairi asked, "I've seen red, blue, and green hearts. What's the black one symbolize?"

"It's because I've given up on trying to be involved with you." Riku answered solemnly, "Even before Sora gained the Keyblade, I tried catching your eye. But no matter what I said or did, Sora never failed to make you happy." Riku slowly shook his head. "I don't deserve you."

Kairi stared at Riku in shock. "Yeah, but you still tried to save me from the darkness. That's nothing to be ashamed of." She pointed out.

Again, Riku shook his head. "Yes. But while I was trying to save you, I didn't do the right thing." He corrected, "I wasn't trying to save you for anyone else's sake, I was trying to save you for my own pleasure. I almost KILLED Sora just to have you."

Again, Kairi was in shock and her head slowly dropped to look back at the glass floor. "But Sora was different. He sacrificed himself to save you…I guess that act brought me back to my senses. And I finally did something for someone other than myself that day."

Kairi certainly remembered that deed: Riku had stopped Xehanort's Heartless from killing Donald, Goofy, and herself. For a while, she was silent, but then she looked up at Riku and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I forgive you, Riku," Kairi said, softly, "For everything you've done. And by the way, Sora told me that you wanted him to take care of me." She pointed out. When Riku finally looked her in the eye, she smiled. "He's done a pretty good job so far." She joked.

Riku scoffed, which might have been a stifled laugh. "That's good to know." He said, a small smile on his face.

"And who knows?" Kairi asked, looking over at the black circle, "Maybe someone will come into your life and fill that hole."

Riku sat back up, getting out of his slump, then turned to Kairi. "Thanks." He said, a small, but true smile on his face, "I needed that."

"Friends?" Kairi asked.

"Friends."

With that, the two hugged each other, having set everything straight. Riku didn't see it, his eyes being closed, but the heart that had Kairi's picture in it turned from black to blue.

When the hug ended, Kairi stood up. "I have to go now." She told him, "It was nice to talk to you."

"Nice talking to you, too." Riku said with a nod.

_**This was a nice chapter, in my opinion. The mural was going to be Scott's, but when I tried, it didn't really accomplish much: just an unneeded introduction. THIS turned out a lot better, D-Dude says.**_


	180. Spy

Chapter 180: The Spy

Radiant Garden…

Sora and co. arrived in the city and they found that they were close to the East Side's base. "There's a first time for EVERYTHING, I guess…" Riku said, earning a weird look from everyone.

Then, as if on cue, Crescent appeared, seemingly out of nowhere and shouted, "Hey, guys!" Everyone jumped as the Ninja with a Mouth made his usual appearance. When he saw that they had jumped, he pointed at them and smiled like a kid after candy. "That's better! NOW you know how to react to my greetings…"

Sakuzy sighed as he caught his breath, then asked, "Why does Vincent want us THIS time?"

Crescent stared, wide-eyed, at Sakuzy. "Boy, do you catch on fast." the nin with a mouth said, "Yeah, Vinnie wants you back AND Petross has a little surprise for Sakuzy!"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Inside the base of the Restoration Committee, a piece of crystal about the size of your average VCR was next to the computer and shifted into a Crystalli barely a meter high and was very gangly and skinny. It had a head shaped like a very stretched-out hexagon, two pairs of eyestalks, and three fingers on each hand. It also had an extra pair of arms tucked into its chest, mouthparts that opened sideways and small wheels on its feet. It checked to make sure the coast was clear, then wheeled over to the computer. It popped its crystal knuckles, then began typing like crazy on the keyboard.

(We translate what this Crystalli is saying, because in reality, it is jabbering some unknown language.)

"_Let's see what the stupid organics have in store..._" it said, sounding VERY interested. As the Crystalli continued typing, the voice of Tron interrupted its process.

"Attention, current user. You are NOT allowed in this computer's mainframe!"

The Crystalli Spy seemed to get steamed at the program, but continued typing. "_Stupid program!_" it cursed,"_Let's see how he deals with THIS…_"

A spike sprung out of the Spy's right hand, then he stuck it into the computer's disk drive. He continued typing and he seemed to have found the thing he was looking for. "_Found the next Pure Heart! I must find this wizard and…_" The Spy screamed as he found what appeared to be a formula of sorts. "_A CURE FOR CRYSTALLI HOSTS?!_" it asked in terror, then growled,"_Oh, Lord Diamond cannot allow THAT…_"

The Spy pressed a button on the computer, instantly deleting something and a door unlocked. He slunk in with the stealth of a cat and set to work.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Crescent led Sora and co. into the Restoration Committee's base. Petross was taking a blood sample from Pearl, who winced at the sting as the serringe entered her skin. Sakuzy immediately cheered up at the sight of his girlfriend. "Maya!"

Pearl turned at the sound of Sakuzy's voice and, for the first time ever, actually smiled. She sprung off the table just as Petross withdrew the serringe and the two hugged. Sora smiled, sheepishly. He had left out the fact that he and Pearl had fought back in Midgar when he told Sakuzy what happened. He figured that it would cause more damage to their relationship, which was already shaken by the whole Crystalli deal.

J grabbed something, which Sora saw was a digital camera, from Crescent. "That's it! I'm ENDING this here and now." the shapeshifter said in pure irritation. J clenched his fist and the camera shattered in his grip.

Crescent handed J something and took off. J glanced at the thing Crescent handed him and shook his head before handing it to Scott. Scott handed it to Joyex and Joyex handed it to Ryan. "THE BILL?!" the kid asked in anger.

Petross heaved a heavy sigh and muttered to himself, "Things haven't been the same since Aerith died…"

Sora shook his head, then asked, "Why?"

Petross turned and answered, "Because I'm a doctor, not a healer. I do things anatomically, not magically."

Sora took in that fact and noticed the immediate difference. But then he decided that it was the right time to change the subject and did so with utmost haste. "So, Vincent wanted us back?"

"Yes, I did." Much to Sora's surprise, Vincent stepped out of another room and stood next to Petross. "We have something that could change our chances against the Crystalli." he explained, "The reason why we've been taking blood samples of Maya--we've just created a cure for Crystalli Hosts and replicated it several times."

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

The Spy entered a cold room filled with various vials of the same liquid. It emitted a low growl, then shifted its right hand into a machine gun of sorts. "_Let's get down to business…_"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sakuzy couldn't believe what he had heard. They had finally made a cure for the Crystalli Host? "A…a cure?!"

Sakuzy's response wasn't from rage or surprise, but joy. He hugged Maya and before she even had time to register what happened, he kissed her square on the lips. Ryan rolled his eyes, then jeered, "GET A ROOM!"

J punched Ryan across the face, sending him careening to the floor. He hated it when Ryan ruined sentimental moments like this…

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

The Spy cocked its guns, then opened fire on the vault of cures. Vials burst open, spilling their contents everywhere and staining the floor with the liquid inside.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and co. heard the noise of machine guns as Vincent quickly pulled out a radar he had replicated from Sakuzy. "There's a Crystalli in here! How'd it get in?!" he asked in surprise. Everyone turned to Crescent and Vincent immediately said two words to the Nin with a Mouth. "Crescent, explain."

Crescent scratched the back of his head. He was hoping to avoid this situation. "Well, I saw this strange crystal and brought it into the computer lab so Blader could scan it. Then I heard voices from inside it. I thought it was the repair man."

Blader slapped himself in the face, then exploded. "HOW COULD YOU MISTAKE SOME CRYSTAL THING WITH A REPAIR MAN?!"

Crescent turned to Blader and shrugged. "Either way, it's an emotionless robot who babbles and talks about stuff you hardly care about!"

Vincent scowled at Crescent, then ordered, "Crescent, you let that thing in, YOU deal with it."

Crescent looked ready to object, but Vincent fingered his gun and the ninja obliged immediately. He walked into the cold room to see the Spy, standing over the shards and cackling. "AHA!"

The Spy wheeled around and shrieked at Crescent. It immediately raised all four of its arms began firing all twelve of its claws at Crescent like a machine gun. The shrapnel shot right through Crescent, who jerked in pain before falling to the ground, dead for the moment. The Spy snickered, then slunk out of a window and ran out of sight.

At the same time, Petross opened the door after hearing the ruckus and he growled in rage at the sight of what happened. "SLAG!"

Petross ran into the cold room, stepping on Crescent and creating a series of crunching noises. "There goes my spine…and my kidneys gave out." Crescent groaned.

Petross didn't hear this, seeing as he stomped his foot in pure rage at what had just happened. "The Crystalli found out about the cure and destroyed them all!"

Ryan entered the premises and saw the mess of glass and strange liquid. However, rather than just stare, he simply said, "Not quite…"

Ryan reached into his hoodie pocket and held out a vial full of the same liquid that littered the floor. Petross looked dumbfounded as Ryan handed it to him. "Where'd you get that?" Petross asked, suspiciously.

"I found it on your desk." Ryan answered.

Petross stared, then pulled something out of his jacket pocket and held it out to show that it was another vial. "Well, I was wondering why one of the vials disappeared, so I got one out of storage."

Crescent got up and his injuries healed over from broken bones from Petross to bullet holes from the Spy. "That's a good thing, right?" he asked.

Petross turned to Pearl with a stern look on his face. "Good thing I kept one for testing and Ryan actually did something smart for us all. But the downside is…only two cures are available and the process takes a week to perfect."

No one had time to thank Ryan for what happened, because Blader zipped over to the computer and called them all over. "Bad news, Big Green." he warned, "That Crystalli wiped out the data we had on this cure: test results, formulas, even blood samples, too! MAN! This thing's good…"

Sora and co. stared at Blader, who wheeled himself around to face them, the stump of his right leg still somewhat disturbing. "How do you know it was the Crystalli?" Riku asked.

Blader turned in his chair. "The hunk o' space rock hacked the Space Paranoids in about ten seconds." he explained, "Even with MY hackin' skills, it'd take me about a year to do that!" Everyone simply stared at Blader, who continued typing on the computer. "Well, whatever that Crystalli did, it removed Tron as the MCP and injected some sorta virus into the system! No way I can fix it…Well, not without a good antivirus, but unfortunately, Tony just won't give me the stuff I need."

"So, I guess that we'll have to fix it manually." Sora said to himself, ready for another trip to cyberspace.

Blader looked at him, then scoffed. "Yeah, right. Why don't you just go into the mainframe and wipe it out?" he sarcastically asked.

Sora smiled, knowing exactly what to do…

Crystalli Spy

A smaller Crystalli made, not for open warfare, but for stealth. It seems to be one of the few sentient Crystalli and for a good reason: it has to be a good thinker to sneak around and steal stuff. It works, because it can sneak into most rooms unnoticed.


	181. Entering Paranoids

Chapter 181: Entering Paranoids

Sora and co. arrived at the Restoration Committee West Side's base, which was relocated to Ansem's old castle. The whole deal seemed strangely familiar to Kairi. As the door to the computer room opened up, Leon looked up from the keyboard and drew his Gunblade, obviously expecting an attack and scaring the wits out of Blader.

"WHOA! Easy, Officer Scarface!" Blader said, holding up his hands.

Leon took in who had just arrived, then sighed in relief as he lowered his Gunblade. "What is it?" he asked.

"A Crystalli broke into the East Side's base, destroyed all but two cures, and damaged the Space Paranoids." Sora explained, "We need to get in there!"

"We'll also need the emergency room." Petross added.

Leon cocked an eyebrow as he asked, "Why?"

Petross pulled Pearl close to him and put his large hands on her shoulders. "We're going to test the cure on Pearl."

Pearl felt tears running down her face, but not from sadness. FINALLY, she would be normal again! Leon turned to Sora. "Alright, you can get in there, but only three of you can enter at a time. Sora's going in; there's no doubt about that. But who else should go?"

Scott walked forward and nodded. "I'll be makin' that jump."

The other person who walked forward was Joyex. "I'll go, too. Sora's gonna need all the help he can get."

Leon jerked his head to the keyboard and said, "Well, get busy then. I'll take Pearl and Petross to the operation room."

The Key-bearer, the Half-Hearted Nobody, and the Aussie walked into the computer room and saw the computer and the red, circular digitizer that was the entrance to Space Paranoids. Sora walked over to the keyboard and typed a few keys. Nothing happened. Sora tried again, but still nothing happened.

"Oh, come ON!!" he growled in frustration.

Sora slammed the keys of the keyboard and Scott quickly removed the Keybearer from the computer. "Easy, Sora. Let me have a try." he suggested.

Scott took a good look at the computer and gave the dashboard a karate chop with his right hand (1), then did what Sora did. The red digitizer acted up immediately with a hum of some unknown energy. As Sora and Scott got into place, a laser fired from the digitizer and hit Sora, Scott, and Joyex. In just a few seconds, the three were pixilated and absorbed into the computer in a flash of blue lights.

When Sora had completely digitized, an idea sprung into Petross' mind and he turned to the others. "I know how we can prevent the Crystalli from hacking our network again!"

"You can?" Donald asked.

"How, Petross?" Goofy asked.

Petross took a seat, then asked, "Okay, remember when Diamond attacked Sora's ship?" THIS statement earned him hard glares from Sakuzy, Riku, and Kairi. All three were very worried about his survival. Petross raised his hands defensively, and said, "O-kay...stupid question." he said, apologetically, "Anyway, there is a chance that the crashed Gummi's computer mainframe survived. I need people to go check it out...namely, smaller members."

Then, at the wrong place at the wrong time, Riley Poole walked in. "Excuse me? Is this the lounge?" he asked, a steaming coffee mug in hand.

Petross smiled as he turned to J, Riku, and Riley. "You three would be cut-out for the job." he said, "Why don't you take Donald and Ryan with you, too?"

Ryan stared in disbelief at Petross. The last thing he wanted to do was go into a wrecked Gummi that looked haunted. "WHAT?!"

Petross would have continued there and then when a fair, female voice rang through the air. "What about us?"

Kairi turned just in time to see what, to her, looked like three fairies hovering towards them. One looked like an okay person, one was a Goth, and one looked bright and chirpy. They were none other than Paine, Rikku, and Yuna. The minute the three flew into the room, Petross sighed, then pressed his face into his large hand. Kairi, on the other hand, cooed, "Aww…They're so CUTE."

The Gullwings each had their own unique response. Yuna was pleasant, Paine…sarcastic, and Rikku was a bit gloating.

"Thank you." Yuna said, kindly nodding.

Paine kept her eyes closed as she said, "Charmed."

Rikku turned to Petross, putting her hands on her hips, then said, "At least SOMEONE likes us! I guess SOMEONE can take advice from her!"

Petross' expression seemed to say "What did I do to deserve this?" as he glanced up at the ceiling in disbelief. "If it'll make you three happy, you can go find the mainframe, too."

Blader turned to the rest upon them hearing the reactions from both Gullwings and Petross. "Petross hates the Pixie Chicks…" he explained, "Especially ol' blondie there."

Rikku seemed offended by this and looked ready to murder Blader, but J stopped her by pinching her scarf between his index finger and thumb. Rikku struggled like a bird that had been caught, but J's grip was true. When Rikku tired herself out from trying to free herself, J let go and got a good look at Yuna and Paine. "Hey." he said to them.

Yuna squinted at J, taking in his appearance, then recognized him and happily waved. "Hi, J!" she greeted happily, "How long has it been?"

Though no one could really tell from behind the shades, J's eyes were closed in thought. "Hmph. I'd rather not know."

"Well, there's something we can agree on." Paine said, ALMOST cracking a smile.

"We can strike conversation later. Right now, we've got work to do…" J made his way toward the exit with a tuckered-out Rikku in his fingers as Riku, Riley, Paine, and Yuna followed him to a place at the Great Maw.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Space Paranoids…

Sora materialized into the virtual world that was the Space Paranoids and took in the dark blue program armor that most users wore. He saw that he still had his usual blue circuitry lines and his strange helmet.

"G'day, Sora!"

Sora turned on being addressed to see Scott with armor similar to his own and light blue circuitry. His hat became his helmet, like Goofy's when he entered the Paranoids and his all-too-familiar boots were made of the same material as his armor.

"O-kay, THIS is bizarre…" Joyex was looking at his armored hands with gray fingers. It was apparent that he had never been to Space Paranoids before, as he looked at everything from his shoes to his arms.

"You get used to it. I've been to the Paranoids a lot, so hardly anything surprises me." Sora said, almost boasting.

"NO."

Sora turned to the source of the voice to see a floating orb of digital matter. As Sora watched, the orb flew in closer to him and seemed to bounce around slightly in midair. "Who are you?" Sora asked it.

The orb paused, then morphed into a golden diamond before replying. "YES."

Scott stared at the thing, then asked, "Wait, a sec…Can ya say anythin' besides 'yes' and 'no'?"

Another pause and the orb turned red and sprung spikes before replying, "NO."

Joyex shrugged. "Well, at least it can't lie. Do you know what's wrong with the system?" he asked.

Again, the orb turned into a golden diamond. "YES."

Scott smiled and nodded as he suddenly got what was going on. "Right then. Can you take us to someone who could help?"

"YES."

The orb bounced, excitedly, then flew off in another direction with Sora, Scott, and Joyex close behind.

_(1) Ol' Family Touch. Always gets my computer running._


	182. Programming

Chapter 182: Programming

Sora and co. followed the floating orb to an area where three programs were fighting some unknown enemy. One was Tron, the other looked similar to him but different in some way, and the last one was female with red circuitry lines. She had a staff, unlike the other two.

"TRON!"

Tron caught his Identity Disk, then turned to and recognized him. "Sora!" Tron turned and quickly dodged an attack from one of the things that they were fighting. They appeared to be strange Crystalli. Their bodies were crystalline and wire-frame patterned the same color as an emerald. They had a single, red eye on their headless bodies, six legs covered in a sort of armor, and they scuttled around like a crab.

"What are these things?!" Sora asked, a digital Keyblade materializing in his hand.

The other male program readied his Identity Disk, then answered Sora's question. "Who cares?!" he asked, "Let's just scrap 'em!"

The program who just spoke threw said Identity Disk at one of the crystal things, or Crystalli Viruses, and it split in half before exploding into pixels. Sora and Joyex summoned their Keyblades and Scott made for bony spikes to spring from his arm, but something different happened instead. Out of each forearm came a blade of pure plasma the color of a summer sky.

Scott jumped slightly at the blade coming out of his wrist. "Crikey! THAT'S weird." he said in surprise, "But hey, can't complain…"

Scott rushed in and began hacking through the Crystalli Viruses with his laser blades. He was more than surprised when one of them scuttled to the side like a startled crab to avoid the swing of Scott's blade. When Scott swung again, the Crystalli Virus moved one of its armored legs and the laser sword bounced off on impact. Scott barely had any time to respond when the Virus' eye began to glow brighter and brighter. Suddenly, a burst of red energy shot from the eye and caught Scott full in the chest, sending the Aussie hurtling backward.

Sora and Joyex charged at the Viruses and began hacking at them only to see virtual sparks fly off on contact with their legs. Joyex improvised by clambering on top of the Crystalli Virus and jammed the Chain Thrasher into the top of its head. The Virus shrieked, then crumpled and vanished in a shower of pixels. Sora deflected the Virus' shots and smashed its head with his Keyblade only to see it shake the pain off, then continue firing away. Tron and the other male program threw their identity disks at the Viruses only to see sparks litter the ground as they bounced off its armor-plated legs. Sora deflected another shot, then went over to Tron.

"TRON!"

"Affirmative!" Tron held out his Identity Disk, which began to emit a bright, white light. He threw it at Sora, who picked it up on his Keyblade and flung it at several viruses, which disintegrated. Joyex swung his Keyblade down and sliced one in half before throwing it in a Strike Raid to take out two. The female program grabbed a rod and a Light Cycle immediately appeared. She revved it up, and ran over any of the survivors of the Limit Break. Scott arrived back and his blade vanished back into the depths of his forearm(imagine lightsaber sound effects).

Tron strapped his identity disk back onto his back and sighed in exhaustion. "Thank you. If that kept up, we would've been de-rezzed for sure." he thanked Sora.

Scott looked confused as he said, "I 'ave no idea what de-rezzed means, mates, but it can't be anythin' good."

"NO."

The male program sighed at the sight of the strange floating orb. "I thought I lost that thing during the LAST time I was in this crazy computer!" he grunted.

Sora turned to the male program and asked, "You're a user?"

"Of course. My name's Flynn." the guy replied, "I helped design this world. And that thing that's floating around you is Bit."

"YES." Bit said, turning into the gold diamond again.

"At least he's honest and helpful." Scott said, tipping his hat.

"And this is Mercury." Tron introduced, gesturing to the female program, "She's an athlete…particularly with the Light Cycle as you just saw."

Joyex had a strong feeling that he was talking about the bike thing she was riding on. "Yeah." he said, "We got that."

"YES."

Sora turned to Tron and asked, "I understand that something's wrong with the system…"

Tron nodded. "Yes. Something hacked into the computer mainframe. I tried to lock him out, but he infested the computer with those new viruses."

Flynn butted in and also explained, "And it basically removed Tron as the MCP."

"As well as that." Tron said with a nod, "And if an MCP isn't placed again, the system will collapse."

Their eyes bulged open. HOW long was this trip gonna be to begin with?! Tron turned to Scott and Joyex. "And who are your new friends, Sora?"

"These are my friends, Joyex and Scott."

"G'day!" Scott said with a wave. Tron and Mercury seemed confused by Scott's statement. The said Australian sighed in exasperation. He NEVER had these problems with any User. "It means 'hello'. It's part of the Australian accent." he explained.

Sora turned to Tron to try and break this subject. "Anyway we can fix this?" he asked.

Flynn replied, "Yeah, we just need to get Tron back as the MCP. The Solar Sails aren't too far from here, so we just have to fly there."

The air was suddenly filled with a loud noise and when they looked up, they saw several Crystalli Viruses floating through the air, using their legs as some sort of method of powered flight and spinning them like a helicopter rotar.

"I think we'll have to chat things up later." Joyex said, urgently.

Bit

A small, digital being who has omniscience in the computer system. Despite its knowledge on the system, it can only say 'yes' and 'no'. At least it's honest. It first appeared in _Tron_ 1982.

Flynn

A user from Radiant Garden. He was the person who designed the Space Paranoids and was already beamed into it once while trying to prove that he was the person who designed it. He's somewhat sarcastic, but smart and willing to do the right thing. He first appeared in _Tron_ 1982.

Mercury

Another program who is a super athlete in the Light Cycles. She's often seen with Tron and Flynn and uses a lance rather than an identity disk like most programs. She first appeared in _Tron: Killer APP_ 2002.

_Tron's Antiviral Assault._


	183. Restoring the System

Chapter 183: Restoring the System

Sora and co. were riding on the Solar Sails with Tron, Mercury, Flynn, and Bit. As an interesting side note, Joyex had gotten a sudden habit of chasing Bit and trying to use him for baseball practice. Sora kept staring off into space and every time someone addressed him, he quickly snapped out of it, but without a clue as to what they were talking about. Scott chuckled and adjusted his hat while Tron simply stared at Sora in confusion.

"Any idea as to what Sora is thinking about?" Tron asked.

Scott nodded and Tron beckoned for him to continue. "I'd wager he's thinkin' 'bout Kairi." Scott answered.

Tron scratched his digital chin as he asked, "Kairi? The Princess of Heart who used to reside here? What does Sora share with Kairi?"

Scott smiled as he tried to whisper an answer to Tron with just six words. "Sora has a crush on Kairi."

Apparently, Scott's whisper was still too loud because Sora perked up and whirled on him. "I do NOT!"

Bit hovered over to Sora and its reply appeared to indicate Sora was trying to bluff. "NO."

Scott grinned as he replied, "Don't let Kairi hear that. I know that ya do."

Bit's response was to Scott this time. "YES."

Sora was about to make a response, but hadn't even said a word when Scott held up his now-digital finger to stop him. When Sora huffed in defeat, he let Scott go on. "Sora, from what I've seen, you care about Kairi very much. You have..." Scott counted off every detail on his fingers. "Crossed the universe multiple times just to find her, carved out yer heart to give back her own, defeated great evil to keep her safe, and came back for her in the end."

Scott took a spot next to Sora and added, "You've also recently risked life and limb on an island of monsters to find her, saved her from a murderous psychopath, punched your fellow comrade, and even promised never to leave her after seeing what could happen if you were torn apart."

Scott stopped counting on his fingers, then chuckled slightly. "And we can't forget what happened at North Pole and on Kairi's birthday. First time was tradition, but the second time had nothing involved."

Sora couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How do you know all this?"

"Because the bug in your pocket can't keep his recordings a secret." Scott explained, stifling a chuckle.

"YES."

This time, Sora whirled on Bit and furiously asked, "Will you just SHUT UP?!"

Bit started, then slowly hovered away with a "YES."

Flynn grinned as he saw Sora's problem with the Bit. "Having problems with him?" he asked, "I know I did when I was first beamed in here."

"I can believe it…" Joyex agreed.

Scott put a hand on Sora's shoulder to show compassion. "Look, mate, if you're not ready, then you're not ready. All I can say is that you should try to tell her how you feel before something happens that can never be undone." he advised.

Scott gave his friend a warm smile, but then tensed up and sprung to his feet and small laser cannons sprung from his wrists. Sora looked past Scott to see the Aussie fire at several Crystalli Viruses floating towards them. The blasts hit one, sending it hurtling to the ground...or whatever it was below them. Joyex pulled out his Chain Thrasher and fired the blade at an oncoming Virus. The blade shot right through its chest and he used it to pull the Virus closer. He jerked the chain out, then kicked the virus into the abyss below the Solar Sail.

The Viruses, however, didn't turn out to be helpless. They opened fire, some blasts narrowly missing the Solar Sail, others simply rocking the ship and trying to intercept its track. Sora quickly summoned his Ultima Weapon Keyblade and brought it into a Virus that had gotten too close. Result: the Virus got a huge gash in its face, then fell, lifelessly to whatever was below. At that same time, Scott was now using the laser swords on his wrists to reflect the Virus' lasers back at it, batting them back like he was in a batting cage. After the fifth one went down, Scott gave a very satisfied grunt.

"Now, let's…" Scott never finished his sentence, because he had suddenly stopped moving. A split second later, he vanished in a burst of pixels.

"SCOTT!"

Joyex turned on the spot to see that Scott had disappeared. Mercury turned to Bit and asked, "Bit? Was Mr. Highflier de-rezzed?"

The Bit turned into a scarlet, spiky ball. Normally, that meant a very negative answer, but in this case, it was quite positive. "NO."

Joyex turned to face Mercury, but it was difficult because he had a struggling Virus tangled up with his Chain Thrasher. The Virus tried every means to escape, one of which involved shocking Joyex with some form of generator in its head. "There's…OW…that doubt…OW…put to rest…YEEOOOWWW!"

Joyex grabbed the tip of his Keyblade and began pulling on it and the hilt until the chain tore the Virus in two. Sora got a very clever idea as he raced over to a Virus that landed on the Solar Sail's brig and hit it with his Keyblade like a baseball bat. The Virus rocketed forward and hit another one, knocking both of them off and automatically de-rezzing them.

Flynn quickly opened a panel in the Solar Sail's main controls. He saw the energy inside it, then placed his hand on it. He thrust out his other hand and another rail materialized leading off to the same destination. As the Solar Sail neared the path, Mercury took the rod in her hand and belted a Virus over the head with it. It shook its head, but hadn't even recovered when the female program brought her staff into a horizontal swing and batted it right off the Solar Sail.

At that moment, the Solar Sail switched to the adjacent path that Flynn created and rode on it instead. This path, however, turned out to be the faster one: fast enough to outrun the other remaining Viruses. Tron pulled Flynn away from the control program and the latter slumped forward, apparently half-conscious and delirious, judging by his comment. "Could someone tell the dude with the jackhammer to knock it off?" he asked.

Sora looked confused, but shook it aside and asked, "How did you do that?"

Tron propped Flynn into a sitting position and Flynn answered, "A beam of energy can always be diverted." Flynn turned to Joyex, then deliriously asked, "When do we get there, mom?"

"Okay, THIS is weird…" Joyex said, uneasily.

Thanks to the newly-accelerated Solar Sail, the trip to the I/O tower, where the MCP used to reside, took a lot less time. When they entered the tower, they found it completely devoid of any activity. It was just a big room with a huge hole in its floor. Joyex scratched his head, then turned to the others. "Strange…I was expecting an attack, at least. Y'know, when hundreds of Viruses to appear and create this HUGE, super-Virus thing."

While Joyex was saying this, Sora looked very frightened and kept pointing behind the said Nobody. However, he didn't notice.

"Joyex?" Tron said, FINALLY catching Joyex's attention, "Behind you."

Joyex turned, then stood there with his mouth agape to see hundreds of Viruses spawning from the hole where the MCP used to reside. As they watched, The Crystalli Viruses turned into millions of pixels, then merged together to create a new being. It looked like a ten-foot high octopus with four arms coming out of a single head and a mouthful of jagged teeth in the center of its head. Its arms were long, jointed in many places, and terminated in four, long talons like digits on a hand.

All Joyex had to say to this digital behemoth was, "Oh man, I hate it when I'm right."

Sora and Joyex summoned their Keyblades, but hadn't even thought about moving when the Crystalli Terminator Virus (CTV for short) lashed out with one of its tentacles and whipped Flynn and Tron a good sixty feet away from where they started. The CTV advanced, using its tentacles to pull itself across the digital landscape. Mercury quickly dove away just as the CTV took a swing at her and she felt the wind of the swing.

Sora and Joyex sprung at the Crystalli Terminator Virus, but apparently the octopus look-alike had anticipated this. The Virus' arm swung down and slammed Joyex into the ground with a CRASH. However, this defensive move provided an opening for Sora to jump into the air and stab his Keyblade into the Terminator Virus' face. The CTV groaned in pain as it bucked violently, trying to get Sora off its visage.

Tron recovered just in time to see the CTV seize Sora in its tentacle and toss his fellow user off, sending the Keyblader tumbling. Tron, seeing an opening, threw his Identity Disk at its face like a discus. The disk hit the CTV smack-dab in the face, but the Virus suddenly began to change upon getting damaged. The CTV's arms grew longer and stronger; so strong that they could actually lift it off the ground rather than drag itself. Its face began to twist into a much uglier form and huge tusks sprung out of its mouth as its whole body doubled in size.

Tron barely had time to catch his Identity Disk on its return trip when the CTV lashed out with a tentacle, seized him by the ankle and jerked him up into the air. It moved the program over its gaping maw of sharp teeth, but something interfered...namely a Thunder Spell. The bolt of lightning hit the CTV right between its scarlet eyes and it howled in pain, releasing Tron in surprise. The Thunder Spell had come from Sora, who recovered from getting tossed just in time to save Tron.

"Guess this won't be as easy as we thought…" Sora said to himself, then got an idea. "MERCURY!"

"Affirmative!" A bar of light appeared in front of Mercury, who gripped it in both hands. In several flashes of light, the security program was sitting in a motorcycle made of what appeared to be digital matter. Mercury revved up the Light Cycle and Sora jumped onto it, riding it like a surfboard. The Cycle flew forward and sped around the Terminator Virus, which swung at it only to miss by a mile. Sora brought his Keyblade into the CTV's arm, which had just returned to supporting its owner, and completely severed said limb. The arm's remnant flipped around like a fish out of water, then disappeared into digital matter

"There's THAT part…"

The CTV, however, was far from down. Digital matter began to gather in the severed arm's stump and the arm grew back in seconds. To make matters worse, an extra one had grown just behind it, giving it five limbs.

"Oh, that is gross…" Joyex said, staring in awe at what had just happened.

The CTV reached out with its newly-formed arm and actually caught the Light Cycle. Just as the creature lifted it clean off the ground, Mercury and Sora abandoned ship. The CTV squeezed the Light Cycle in its claws until it exploded into pixels in its claw.

Back on the battlefield, Joyex extended his Keyblade to a sizeable length, then began swinging it round and round like a lasso. He lashed it forward and said Keyblade whipped around the CTV's "head" and Joyex began tugging it closer. The CTV, however, didn't exactly want to budge, for it bucked like an angry bull in protest.

A plan sprang through Flynn's head as he shouted, "Joyex! Take that chain off and aim for the legs!"

Joyex stared at Flynn, then shrugged before retracting his Keyblade and whipped Chain Thrasher around the CTV's legs; all five of them. Then, with an almighty heave, Joyex pulled the Chain Thrasher so hard that the CTV fell to the ground with a CRASH. The CTV thrashed around on the ground, slowly slipping free from the Chain Thrasher binding its legs, growling in frustration. Flynn turned to Sora and nodded.

"Tron!" Sora called, "Let's do it!"

Sora ran forward and began scaling the Mega Virus, starting with its tentacles. Tron threw his Identity Disk at Sora, who slammed his Keyblade into it. The Disk flew down at the Terminator Virus' head and the combined force of it getting thrown and smashed was enough to create a sizeable wound in the CTV.

However, like the last time it got injured, the Crystalli simply mutated further. ANOTHER tentacle sprouted from its body that was free of the Chain Thrasher and spikes sprouted down the CTV's back. Its free tentacle lashed out at Tron only to be pinned down by the Ultima Weapon Keyblade. The CTV jerked free of the Keyblade as one of the tentacles wriggled free and made to grab Sora. It seized him around the ankle and made to eat the Keyblade Master there and then. It was more than surprised when Mercury came out of the blue and jammed her lance right between its eyes. The Terminator Virus howled again and would have jerked her off if Flynn didn't throw his identity disk at its arm. Sora fell free of the arm and landed next to Flynn, who was now gathering energy in his whole body.

"FLYNN!"

"Let's do it!" Sora took his Keyblade and pointed it at the CTV, who had now just broken free of the Chain Thrasher's grip on it. Flynn fired the energy from the circular patterns on his chest as a beam of light came out of Sora's Keyblade. Both blasts flew through the air and hit the Terminator Virus smack dab in the face just as it got to its feet like a giant, crystal spider. Two holes were blown through the CTV's face and it staggered around, blindly until it accidentally fell into the hole with a roar in defeat. In a burst of light and pixels, the CTV exploded inside the pit and the system cleared itself.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Tron leapt in the air in victory, then turned to Sora, who beckoned to the pit. "Well, what're you waiting for?" Sora asked with a smile.

Tron smiled before taking off on a full sprint and jumping into the hole like an Olympic diver. Sora turned to Joyex, then said, "Well, Joyex, it looks like its time to get goin'."

Joyex nodded. "Sure thing, Sora."

The two fellow users looked around, but found that there wasn't a terminal in sight. "Perfect. And we came in just outside the Gaming Grid." Sora groaned, "We'll have to cross the entire Space Paranoids just to…"

"I don't think so." Flynn countered.

"NO." Bit said, retaining the form of crimson spikes.

Sora and Joyex turned to stare at Flynn in time for them to see him hold out his hand and concentrate on something. Then, to their astonishment, a wire-frame portal of sorts appeared in front of them. Joyex's jaw dropped in utter disbelief. "How did you do that?!"

Flynn gave a cocky smile as he explained, "Some Users in this world have these powers. I created this world, so I have total control over it."

"YES."

"Thanks, Flynn." Sora made to leave, but then asked, "Wanna come back to the User world?"

Sora held out his hand, expecting Flynn to take it, but the fellow user shook his head. "Pass. I've got unfinished business here. I'll leave when it's all cleaned up."

Joyex shrugged. "To each his own…"

Sora and Joyex waved to Mercury, Flynn, and Bit, then walked through the portal and into the User world.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and Joyex rematerialized into the User World and their eyes widened at what they saw. "WHAT THE HECK?!" they both asked.

The entire base was a wreck; it looked like a rhino had rampaged through it. Scott was standing over a corpse with a purplish blue robe and Riku and J were looking exhausted and covered in what appeared to be blood.

"Did…we miss something?" Sora asked, hoping for an answer.

Crystalli Terminator Virus

Otherwise known as the CTV, it is the result of combining a hundred Crystalli Viruses. Whenever it appears to die, it mutates and gets stronger, using its tentacles to attack from a distance. It took the power of the MCP just to destroy it.

_Mercury's Lightspeed Cycle and Flynn's Ultima Energy._


	184. The Android

Chapter 184: The Android

_Full credit to Captain A for this idea._

_To explain what happened to Riku, J, Riley, Ryan, the Gullwings, Donald, and Goofy, we need to go back a while…_

In the Great Maw, everything was dark, so no one noticed what lay at the bottom of the great pit. A small, red light flickered to life and the thing it was attached to stirred with the sound of moving machinery.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Riku and co. arrived at the Great Maw and Riley peered over the edge of the canyon. "So, your old ship's down there?" Riley asked, starting to back away from the ledge.

Riku nodded. "Yeah. The ship used to be used by the Crystalli, so it should give the Space Paranoids some sort of immunity to them (1)."

"Well, let's get part of that mainframe, then!" Rikku said, eagerly.

Most of Riku and co. went down there, except J. He felt something here…something familiar; and this place didn't exactly have good memories…

_Enter flashback…_

_At the Great Maw, J, Scott, and Ryan were fighting a strange man at the wreck of a Gummi Ship, or at least that's what some people would call him. He was certainly far from human. The "person" had spiky, jet-black hair and a pair of sunglasses. He was clad in a black, leather jacket, boots with little spikes on the top, and a metallic left arm. J drop-kicked the person and the impact of his foot in that person's face broke his sunglasses. One eye was electric-green and the other one was...there was no other eye. Instead, it was a mechanical replication of one (like John Silver back on Treasure Planet) with a red, electrical device that served as a spare eye._

_Ryan flinched at the sight of the mechanical eye and said, "Man! I can see why you were shades!"_

_The Android clenched his teeth, then held out his organic arm and something flew out of the Gummi at Ryan: a metal pipe. The pipe wrapped around his throat and J's eyes flashed as he remembered the girl the Android choked to death. J growled, then charged the Android before jumping in the air for a flying kick, breaking his focus on the pipe and releasing Ryan. The attack was short, for the Android caught J out of midair and spun him around in a circle before tossing him. J rolled on contact with the ground and almost collided with Ryan, who was currently melting the pipe around his neck._

_Scott sprinted over, claws springing out of his fingertips, and he began to tear at the Android's face with them. The Android's wounds were scarlet, but no blood came from them, for there was no blood to shed. The half-robot simply drew back his metal hand and threw a punch that sent Scott flying into the sky. The Aussie flew up a good ten feet in the air and landed with a CRASH. He got up, gingerly and looked back at his opponent._

_"Strewth, if I hadn't reinforced me bones, that would've hurt MUCH more…" Scott said to himself, wincing in pain._

_Ryan grabbed Scott and flew at the Android, who was fighting J hand-to-hand. Ryan let Scott go and the Aussie flew forward and planted his crocodile-skin boot into the Android's face. The Android, however, seemed unfazed by the attack, then grabbed Scott's leg and threw him into the shapeshifter, knocking the two into the wall. Ryan flew forward and threw a barrage of solar orbs at said Android, all of which exploded on contact with their target. Ryan smiled in victory, but when the smoke cleared, the Android was still there, virtually unharmed._

_The Android then spoke in a silky, dark, British voice. "You think mere sun energy can destroy ME?!" it asked, "I am the evolutionary superior among the next phase of evolution!"_

_As the Android spoke, his wounds began closing up, coagulating, and healing over in seconds; like a zipper being zipped back up. J thought fast as he rolled Scott off him. If they couldn't beat him like THIS…how, then?_

_Ryan zipped forward and threw a punch at the Android, but it was both brave and stupid. The Android caught the punch and twisted Ryan's arm before throwing the solar-powered superhuman away like a rag doll. Scott made a bony spike come out of his wrist and began jabbing at the Android, using the spike like a sword. "IF YOU TOUCH RYAN AGAIN, I'LL DESTROY YOU!" the Aussie roared._

_Scott's blows didn't seem to be causing any damage to the Android, due to its healing factor, until the said cyborg grabbed the spike and pulled it and the Aussie's arm closer to him. Scott was so close that he could hear the inner mechanisms of the Android's robotic eye working. "Not if I destroy you, first…" the half-machine said, coolly._

_J ran forward and delivered a kick to the Android's face. He then noticed at Ryan was…glowing? J acted without even realizing the plan as he found a way to take this guy down, once and for all. He kicked the Android closer to Ryan and turned to Scott just as the Android began levitating pieces of metal debris._

_"HIT THE DIRT!"_

_The two ducked just as Ryan's Solar Explosion acted up. Ryan screamed as all the energy of the sun he had gathered burst from his body in a burst of yellow light. The Android screamed in pain and surprise as he was engulfed by the light. (The orb of light was so big and bright that Kang and Kodos noticed it from space and put on some sunglasses with only one lens.)_

_When the light faded, the Android was on the ground, motionless, and his mechanical eye flickered before it faded. Ryan, on the other hand, was…a little pale from the exploding experience and looked close to collapse. Scott stood up and let out a sigh. "This guy's done for good this time…hope ya can rest in peace, Michael, me ol' mate…" the Aussie said, towering over the motionless being._

_J stood over the motionless thing that had once been a human. It pained him to think that this machine that had claimed the lives of so many people was once an innocent person. J heaved the inactive Android up until he could have stood, if he wasn't "dead". "There's no honored burial for this guy, so this is the only way to get rid of him."_

_J turned to the Great Maw and heaved The Android into the canyon. The robotic creature spun around, limply, as it raced to the ground below and fell into the chasm with a dull 'thud'._

_End flashback…_

J shrugged the memory off before clambering down the canyon wall like a professional rock-climber. Still, he couldn't shake the fact that someone was here…someone he remembered.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Riku glanced around at the bottom of Great Maw. It couldn't have been TOO hard to find a crashed Gummi Ship, and it wasn't. Riku saw the devastated remains of their old Gummi a few miles away. One of the wings had fallen out, an engine had been blown up (special thanks to Diamond), and it was tilted on its left side slightly.

"Ryan, Gullwings, Riley, you guys get the mainframe." Riku said, taking charge of the mission, "J and I will scope the place out; make sure that Crystalli didn't infest the place."

"Sure thing!" Yuna said with a cheerful nod.

Paine quickly shot a command at Ryan, catching him by surprise. "Give us some light, shorty."

Ryan grumbled, darkly, about wringing Paine's neck before creating a solar ball in his hand, creating enough light to see what was in front of them.

When they reached the entryway of the ship, Riley took a look at the wrecked spacecraft and asked, "O-kay, who wants to be the first one to head into the S.S. Titanic?"

Everyone paused for a bit, then Ryan walked in with his sun ball out. The salvage had begun.

The inside of the Gummi was similar to the interior of Quartz, but with several differences. The insides were charred, dirty, and dark, giving a haunted feeling to it. At some times, Riku was expecting either a Crystalli or a Heartless to leap out behind him. It was that instinct that summoned Way to Dawn to his right hand. J, on the other hand, was not letting his guard down. His scarlet eyes darted around the dark hallway as though searching for something. He didn't know why, but he still felt like he was being watched.

Riku walked over to him and asked, "What's going on, J? You look more edgy than…"

Riku never finished his sentence, because something hard slammed into the back of his head and sent him careening, into the metallic wall. The user of darkness had not noticed the robotic hand raised behind him, nor did he notice the small, scarlet light focused on the back of his neck. J wheeled around at the sound of the impact to see the familiar jacket, hair, and eye of The Android.

"WHAT?! YOU!" J said in surprise.

The Android cackled before replying in a crude, light English accent. As he spoke, he flexed his mechanical fingers, admiring them as though they were some sort of living creature. "What's the matter?" he asked, "Afraid of ghosts?"

J made several convulsions before changing into the black Utahraptor he used back at Kauai and Halloween Town. He emitted a loud, high-pitched screech that would chill anyone to the bone…but not the Android. _YOU WISH! _J mentally snarled.

J stalked around the Android, trying to find a weakness in him, but the Android matched him move-for-move. And just as J sprang out of simple anticipation, the Android thrust his fist into the raptor's chin and sent it tumbling to the ground with a dazed-sounding growl. J changed back as he rolled over to Riku, who slowly came to and saw what the robotic being had done to his comrade.

"J, who is this guy?!" he asked in a hiss.

J staggered up, using the wall to help him regain his balance and answered, "He's an old enemy that Scott, Ryan, and I defeated a while ago. I guess Quartz's landing woke him up again."

J turned to search the area, trying to find his enemy, but in this dark environment, things weren't going to be easy at all. His opponent was a master of stealth, unlike times when he wasn't a sentient being. Before then, the Android was as subtle as a train wreck: simply barging in, destroying its targets, and leaving without another sound. Now, he was a master of stealth and of the one-hit kill. It was a wonder it could hide in the dark; the scarlet eye would be a dead giveaway, so he would have a hard time hiding with it.

J kept his eyes and his ears peeled for any sign of the stalker and it was a good thing he did; his ears caught the all-too-familiar sound of a gun loading. J quickly ran in the direction he was facing and a barrage of bullets pelted the area where he had once stood. The Android's metal arm had shifted in order to form a machine gun, but was nothing like Barrett's back at Midgar. It had only one barrel and produced several bullets from it alone. Bullets ricocheted off the metal walls, momentarily lighting up the dark room with the sparks they created on contact.

J growled in rage and within seconds, had turned into a big male lion and pounced at the Android, who had taken that moment to try and reload his gun. The Android grabbed the big cat by the mane, which roared in anger, trying to tear its opponent open with its three-inch claws. J landed one strike on the Android's chest with a fistful of knives and ripped open the monster's chest, exposing ribs.

The Android got ticked and began to tighten his grip around J's neck, slowly strangling the lion, but was least expecting Riku to run forward and impale him with Way to Dawn, which he had obviously expected to end the fight there and then. It didn't, though. The Android lurched in pain, but glared up at Riku with both his green eye and his mechanical one in what could only be described as disgust.

"Well, well, well…a young Keyblader?" he said, mildly interested, "Too bad it'll take MORE than a key-shaped sword to stop me."

The Android's face turned to one of mild amusement as he held out his organic hand and clenched it into a fist. A hunk of the Gummi Ship tore itself free of the ceiling and hit Riku across the face. Riku went rocketing away and Way to Dawn dislodged itself from the Android, still in its owner's grip. The gaping wound that the Android had endured suddenly started to repair itself. Within seconds, the wounds from both Riku's Keyblade and J's claws had healed over completely.

"Now, it's serious…" Riku thought out loud.

Riku ran forward as J pounced at the Android again. A few moments later, both of them were slammed into each other and sent into another part of the Gummi. J reverted back to his human form and shook the cobwebs out of his head.

"By the way, this guy can learn." J warned, "So, every moment we spend only makes him know how to beat us better…"

"Thanks for the heads' up, JERK." Riku said, sarcastically.

The Android grabbed J by the leg and began tugging him backwards. J swung his foot forward, causing the Android to fly into Riku, who caught him with a Dark Firaga. The two then darted behind a piece of debris as the Android regained his balance. "This isn't a game of hide and seek, you two…" the half-machine said, coldly, "I smell you…"

Riku wheeled over to J and asked, "How'd you beat this guy last time?"

J's response was immediate, for he remembered the battle as though it had happened yesterday. "We had Ryan use one of his explosions on him, but where…"

An idea had instantly sprung into J's head and he immediately went into action. He made several convulsions and had transformed into a three-ton rhino. He charged at the Android and slammed into him, full-force, catching him by surprise and charging right through one of the ship's walls. Riku ran after him and caught up in time to see the Android on J like a bucking bronco. He thrust out his hand and shot a Dark Firaga into the Android, sending him into the main power room. Riku then got what J was thinking and jumped out of the way as the rhino burst through the door and slammed into the Android…or, so he thought. The Android grabbed J by the horn and began straining every muscle in his body to hold the beast back. Then, with a strenuous heave, the Android rolled the rhino to the ground.

"Heh." the Android said, brushing dust off his jacket sleeve, "Didn't even break a sweat…"

Riku jumped into the air and hacked the Android in the back with Way to Dawn, but he suddenly realized that it would take more than a blade to harm the half-robot. The Android turned on Riku and brought the back his metal hand slamming into the side of Riku's face. The blade-like edges on his knuckles cut into Riku's face, leaving four cuts on Riku's cheek. He then picked Riku up with his organic hand and reared back his metal hand. Riku pulled away from the Android's grip just as the mechanical monster threw its fist forward, denting the panel of metal on the wall. The Android turned his arm into a gun, then opened fire after Riku, who quickly took cover behind a piece of machinery. He could hear the bullets missing him by inches and ricocheting off the metal surface of the machine.

Suddenly, a metal panel flew off the machine and wrapped around Riku's midsection, snapping his arms to his sides. He had forgotten about the Android's magnetic prowess. The Android smiled as he approached, his metal arm at the ready. "I'm going to enjoy this." he said, a serpentine smile crossing his face, "It gives me pleasure to see someone die…"

Suddenly, a now-human J tackled the Android and slammed him into the metal wall of the ship. However, it was over shortly after it began as J went over to a lever and shifted it to an upward position. The Android shook the cobwebs out of his half-robotic brain, then snarled as he searched for his opponent.

"Hey, scrap metal! Over here!"

The Android whirled to see J standing just ten feet in front of him and gritted his teeth upon being insulted. "I'd watch your tongue while I still had one, boy." he snarled, "I'm the next step of evolution: your evolutionary superior!"

"Well, 'evolutionary superior', come and kill me then!" J challenged, beckoning his opponent to bring it on.

The Android, not able to take any more, charged, forgetting about magnetic power and the gun in its arm. He wanted to see the brat die by his hand. He seized J in his organic hand and was quite surprised by the fact that he hadn't done anything to resist him. "Say 'hello' to my victims for me…" the Android hissed loud enough for Riku to hear.

The Android pulled back his fist, but just as he had thrown it, J had transformed into a tiny spider and a tiny voice sounded in his robotic brain. _Tell them yourself!_

The Android barely had time to register what was going on until he realized what he punched. It was too late. The Android had lodged his metal arm into the main power generator and screamed as electricity began pulsating through his body. He jerked his arm free and stared at it as it sparked a little more, but suddenly his mechanical, red eye exploded like an overpowered light bulb. The Android screamed in more pain as he clutched the place where his eye used to be and soon clutched his head as the electricity short-circuited his robotic brain. The half-robot jerked around violently as his brain functions died down, then gave a choking scream before falling to the ground, and lay there motionless.

At that time, Riley, Ryan, and the Gullwings walked into the room. "Hey, guys, what's with all the ruckus?" asked Rikku.

"I could hardly hear myself think." Paine added.

Ryan suddenly spotted the emaciated body of the Android and jumped back a bit. But upon realizing he was dead, he relaxed a bit and gave J a curious look. "Did we miss something?"

J brushed off a bit of blood from under his eye as Donald and Goofy walked in through the main entryway. "What'd we miss?" Donald asked.

Goofy held out some flashlights and said, "We thought that these would come in…" Ryan caused a sun ball to appear in his hand and it instantly caused Goofy to re-think his opinion. "Oh, uh, Sorry, Ryan. Kinda forgot about that."

J scowled at the Android—the person (he used that word in its lightest terms) who took several innocent lives was gone for good. J shrugged as he answered, "I don't think you want to know."

"So, did you guys get the mainframe?" asked Riku.

Riley reached into his back pocket and took out a small device. "Got it. Now can we please get out of here before something ELSE tries to kill us?"

Riku sighed, then asked, "Can someone get me free of this thing?"

"Sure." Donald said, raising his staff. Fire singed the metal and ice cooled it. Riku sensed that the metal had become very weak now, and so he flexed moved as much as he could and the metal band cracked and broke in two. After a quick roll call, the troop started the journey back to the Restoration Committee's HQ.

The Android

A half-mechanical monster that exists only to kill. It can control magnetism and has mechanically-enhanced strength. For the reason of hunting down people with powers, he was brought back from the dead and given robotic capabilities. He was deactivated by J, Scott, and Ryan, but was brought back after Quartz landed. However, he met the same sticky end and won't be coming back…for now, anyway.

_(1) How Riku knows that the ship used to be in the Crystalli's possession…I dunno…_

_The voice for the Android that I've chosen is Greg Ellis. He did Cait Sith in Advent Children, but also did some villain named Drax on "Legion of Superheroes."_


	185. Curing Pearl

Chapter 185: Curing Pearl

When Riku and co. left the Restoration Committee West Side's base, the operation on Pearl began almost immediately. Petross was now in a white lab coat and was wearing a mask over his mouth and nose. The Restoration Committee's medical officer pulled out a serringe and sucked the cure's yellow contents into it, but reached into his own coat and pulled out an anesthetic.

"You'll have to take some of this." Petross advised, "Otherwise the operation would be VERY painful…"

Pearl nodded in understanding. "Go on. The Crystal's…here." Pearl lifted some of her hair to show a hunk of pearl lodged in the back of her neck just below her head.

Petross readied the anesthetic, but couldn't help but sigh in exasperation. "Removing a piece of crystal from someone's spinal column…just call me the miracle worker…"

Petross set Pearl facedown on the operating table and injected the anesthetic through her arm. Pearl winced, but the pain ended almost immediately. The anesthetic was certainly strong, because she was getting very dizzy. In just under a minute, she was out like a light. Petross injected the cure into Pearl and walked over to a computer screen. He grabbed what appeared to be an arcade joystick and everyone stared at him. He removed his mask, then stared back at them.

"What?" Petross asked, "I was good at video games back in the day."

The screen flickered to life to reveal a magnified bloodstream and what could possibly have been the tiniest robot any of them had ever seen. It looked a bit like a small submersible, only without any robotic arms and had a single eye in its front. Petross then pointed to the computer as he explained. "That cure placed a probe inside Pearl's body." he said, "I found out that if we remove the crystal from a Crystalli Host too suddenly, it would kill them. But if I slowly destroy the roots that connect the crystal to their body, they'll survive. Now, for the tricky part…"

Petross tilted the joystick slightly and the probe moved forward, exploring the bloodstream until it had reached the vessels in Pearl's neck. There, just a little while's away, was a tangle of crystal spires connecting to her spinal column. As Petross guided the probe closer to a root in Pearl's neck and began moving the joystick with extreme concentration. He then heard a crunching noise, but put it aside. He heard it again, but waved it away with a slightly irritated look. He heard it again and he wheeled to see Sakuzy strangling Crescent, who had a tub of popcorn.

"CRESCENT!" Sakuzy burst, "THIS IS A HIGHLY DIFFICULT OPERATION WITH MAYA'S LIFE AT STAKE! JUST KNOCK OFF THE POPCORN MUNCHING!"

Crescent gagged as Sakuzy continued strangling him, but managed to choke out, "Fine, I'll stop!" Sakuzy dropped Crescent, who stood on his feet with an angry look on his face. "What was all THAT about?!"

"You were being distracting!" Sakuzy answered irritably.

Petross sighed as he tried to get their attention. "Can you two just quit it?!" he growled at them.

It didn't work, for the two still argued a bit.

"Oh yeah?" Crescent challenged.

"Yeah." Sakuzy answered.

"Yeah?"

"YEAH."

Petross pointed a large finger at them and roared just two words, but they were said with enough ferocity to scare the wits out of them. "SHUT UP!" Sakuzy and Crescent both started and did exactly what Petross said, albeit with frightened stares. Petross regained himself, then returned to his joystick. "Thank you."

Petross' focus was astounding as he maneuvered the probe a little closer to the crystal root. When he was close enough, Petross pressed a small, red button on the joystick. A small laser burst from the probe's small eye and hit the root. In an instant, the root suddenly disintegrated, getting washed away through the bloodstream.

Kairi, who had decided to watch, cheered, "YES! You got one!"

Petross motioned for Kairi to be quiet with his hand, then returned his focus to the computer. "Don't be happy yet." he told her, "One down, fifteen more to go…"

Crescent folded his arms and sighed, somewhat nostalgically, "Wish I brought a magazine for this…or Yuffie."

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Crystalli Homeworld…

Amethyst roared in pure rage as he took a nearby crystal spire and chucked it halfway across the room he was in. "No! No! NO!!!" he roared in pure rage, "THEY'RE CURING PEARL!"

Diamond groaned in irritation as he clenched his diamond fist. Amethyst had been complaining about this all day. Aquamarine and Topaz were sparring with Aquamarine hammering his arm blades against Topaz's sword with extreme ferocity and strength. However, when Aquamarine heard Amethyst's tantrum, he stopped the sparring and turned to him with a hard expression. "I heard you the FIRST hundred times, Amethyst!"

Topaz dispelled his sword, then folded his arms as he rolled his single eye. "And it is getting old…fast."

Opal suddenly got so close to Amethyst that their noses almost touched. "What we're trying to say is 'stop throwing a tantrum and shut up already'. Get it?" she said, getting closer every second.

Amethyst only scowled at Opal, but hadn't even said a single word when Diamond rose to his full height. "Pearl has betrayed us for the last time." The Crystalli Tyrant said in a quiet, murderous voice. One bewildering second later, his tone had gone to a VERY distinguishable growl. "Amethyst, Aquamarine, Topaz! Opal, Peridot, Turquoise! Move to Radiant Garden and prepare to attack. I have no interest in prisoners…KILL them. ALL of them!"

Turquoise had been meditating this whole time and opened her eyes as she stood and brushed back part of her black and white hair. "About time. I only had fun in Halloween Town…" she said, darkly.

Peridot rolled her eyes and groaned in disappointment. "Why do we have to take the Goth woman?" she asked, disappointedly.

Turquoise turned to her fellow Crystalli, an abnormally fierce look in her light-blue eyes. "I'll pretend like you didn't say anything. And you should be lucky, because if I wasn't pretending, you'd be dead by now."

The six hosts Diamond addressed stood up and vanished in lights of their respective color.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Radiant Garden…

Petross had been moving the joystick very carefully and disintegrated root after root. It wasn't easy, however, for the roots were all in different places of her spinal chord and that meant having to travel through a labyrinth of blood vessels. He pressed the button again and the particle beam the probe emitted dissolved another root.

"Okay…only three more to go and we're done…" Petross said, tensely.

"Uh…Petross?" Kairi asked, "If all you do is insert that probe, then what's the liquid part of the cure for?"

Petross answered without even turning to face Kairi. He had to remain focused on his task, after all. "The liquid helps counteract the crystal's control over the immune system. If there was no liquid, Pearl's body would destroy the probe in minutes."

"Makes sense." April said with a shrug.

Sakuzy was sweating profusely as the surgery was nearing its end. Just three more roots and he would have Maya back. However, at that moment Riku and co. walked into the base, Riku and J covered in blood. April looked weirded out by this as she asked, "What happened to you two? Did you step on a landmine?"

Riku rubbed the side of his face, still able to feel the place where the Android had punched him. "Trust me. You don't wanna know."

Riley walked through the door and took out the small device from his pocket. "Here's your little lucky charm."

He tossed Blader the device. At the moment, Blader was sitting on a chair, waiting for either the surgery to be done or for Sora to get back. He was caught by surprise as the device whizzed through the air and he fumbled with it before finally catching it in both hands. "Whew, that was a close one." Blader said in relief, "Well, at least we can't get anymore Crystalli buggin' the system…"

Blader walked over to a computer in the immediate area, then installed the device. He had just finished downloading the program when suddenly, CRASH. The door almost flew open and was enough to stir everyone out of their state of calm. Leon pulled out his Gunblade as he said, "I guess that the Crystalli aren't exactly happy with us curing Pearl."

Leon and Vincent readied their weapons as J began popping his knuckles. With another BANG, Aquamarine burst through the doors, unarmed. They all stared at him as he summoned his arm blades and charged at Petross, who thrust his fist into the bald Crystalli's arm-blades. The result was to send a vibration through both of their bodies. Aquamarine was the first to recover as he charged again, but just as Petross threw his fist forward, Aquamarine jumped away from the oncoming attack and brought the heel of his boot into Petross' forehead.

"I'll show YOU what happens when you mess with the Crystalli way!" Aquamarine roared.

Aquamarine took his arm blades and stabbed down for a killing blow, but Petross caught them both by the flat side. Though Petross was, by far, the strongest member of the Restoration Committee, he was straining to hold them up. A combination of adrenaline and Crystalli-enhanced strength ensured that. "SOMEONE! WORK ON THE CURE!" Petross strained as he pushed against the arm blades.

Riley immediately set to work and jerked the joystick violently in an attempt to get the hang of it. He wasn't doing a good job; the probe kept bumping into the walls of the blood vessel. _Okay, I'm toast…_

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

J, in the midst of the chaos, immediately caught something out of the corner of his eye. He quickly changed into a falcon and flew over to the first Crystalli he saw--Peridot. He got there very quickly and changed back in midair, landing on his feet, then facing his opponent. Peridot eyed him, then recognized him.

"Hey, I know you…" she said, stroking her chin, "You're that cutie back at Beast's Castle."

If J was supposed to be complimented by this, he wasn't. "Don't waste your time. I believe you called me a 'freak' back at that castle."

Peridot snorted, then shrugged. "Forgive and forget, that's what I say. Now, how 'bout we start over?" she asked, holding out an offering hand.

J took a step forward, then another and another, forcing Peridot back a few paces. "You're ticking me off, Peridot. YOU'RE GOING DOWN!!!"

Peridot quickly summoned her tiger-claws as J turned into…well, a tiger. Peridot swung her claws down at J's head, who caught it in his jaws and began showing Peridot his own fistful of knives. He shed dark-green blood with that strike alone, but it didn't matter how much he did; it simply healed. Peridot grinned, then sharply drew her claws out of J's mouth, shedding red, human blood. J changed back, in pain and with a mouthful of blood. Peridot then brought her foot slamming into J's face and sent him on his back. She then got on top of him, then brought her face so close to his that they almost touched.

"Let's face it, J, your heart is that of a caged beast that only wants to get out." she said with enough tone to rival Maleficent herself, but then added, with a voice like poisoned honey, "But it doesn't have to be that way and I COULD help you there…"

Peridot then did something that haunted J for his life—she kissed him square on the lips. J's scarlet eyes widened, then scrunched as his anger welled up to a very dangerous level. Much to Peridot's surprise, he planted his gloved fist into the side of her face. Peridot went careening to the floor and as she staggered back to her feet, she saw J brush something off his mouth. It was either blood or he wanted the awful taste of the kiss off his lips.

"You're going to PAY for that one!" J said, quietly and dangerously.

J charged and Peridot hadn't even registered what he was doing when she found J's gloved fist slamming into her face again. She had recovered just in time to seize J on the shoulder and attempt to run him through with her claws. However, J's reflexes were better than she thought, because he had seized her wrist and had barely held it back. The tips of the claws were dyed red with blood, though. As they struggled in a test of strength, J moved to the side and let go, causing the claws to get caught in the wall. Peridot, however, pulled them out with relative ease and slashed at J again and again. J ducked under one and sidestepped another, but one brushed his cheek and left three small cuts on the side of his face. Peridot used that opportune moment to slam her foot into J's gut and send him tumbling backward.

"How'd you like that, 'cutie'?" she asked, coolly, showing off her claws.

J slowly got to his feet, his red eyes burning like open flame. "That all you got?" he challenged.

Peridot charged again and swung at J only to see him duck under the blades by leaning back and catching himself with his hands. He then flipped to his feet and sharply kicked her in the chin before landing back on his feet. Peridot staggered back, then jumped in the air and spun in a pirouette, becoming a living saw blade and narrowly missing J, ruffling his shoulder-length hair. She threw what would have been a glancing kick only to be intercepted by J's forearm. He maneuvered her leg away, forcing her to spin the other way, then smashed his open palm into her midsection, forcing her back a step. As she took a moment to regain her footing, J convulsed again and had taken the shape of a black raptor. He emitted a rattling snarl, then began to circle her.

Kairi was in deep combat with Turquoise, the Crystalli she met at Halloween Town, and brought Flowering Strength into Turquoise's forearm-blades. She parried it seemingly without effort, then maneuvered away from an oncoming swing from the said Keyblade. All this while, Turquoise had been moving with the grace of a dancer and when Kairi charged in a one-handed swing, the Crystalli simply jumped clean over her. When she turned, Turquoise spun on her heel at a full three-sixty-degree angle in an attempt to decapitate her there and then. Kairi, however, ducked under it and made to jab her Keyblade into Turquoise's stomach only to see one of her forearm blades come down and pin it to the ground

"THIS is the best you can do?" Turquoise asked, her dark tone showing the slightest hint of amusement.

Kairi quickly jumped away from an oncoming chop from the arm blade, leaving her Keyblade on the ground. She held out her hand and the Flowering Strength reappeared back in her hand. When she had her weapon back, she charged again, this time catching Turquoise across the face with a swing of her Keyblade. Turquoise staggered back as Kairi answered her question, a slightly smug expression on her face. "Nope."

Elsewhere, Opal was holding her own in battle against more than one person. She was armed with her jagged-bladed, dual-sided sword and was holding off both Leon and Vincent. Leon was battling her weapon-to-weapon while Vincent was leaping around the room, shooting at her wildly. Opal, however, was able to parry both Leon's strikes and Vincent's bullets with her sword alone. Leon would come at her from any direction: behind, above, below, and the sides. Opal came back at him with equal force, blocking him even when he jumped in midair and attempted to get in a blow of her own. Leon, however, ducked under, parried, and jumped over her attacks with almost-equal ease. And out of all the shots that Vincent fired, only one actually hit her, but it failed to slow her down in the slightest. As her wound healed over, it pushed the three bullets out of her body.

"When will you Crystalli just call it a DAY?!" Leon asked, irritably, as he took another swing and Opal parried, not with the blade of her sword, but the hilt.

"When you're all DEAD." she answered.

Opal spun her sword, then parted it into two separate weapons. She used one of the swords to parry Leon and one to deflect a shot from Vincent. She may have had a healing factor, but getting shot still hurt like heck. Then, with a slight twinkle in her eye, she spun and dislodged Leon, which sent him rolling to the ground in an instant.

Blader quickly got out of the battle to managed to get over to the main computer. He typed rapidly on the keys and spoke in a hurried tone, "Oh, come on, come on…"

Crescent and Sakuzy went over with both curious and "come on" expressions on their faces…well, maybe not Crescent. "What're you doing, Blader?" Sakuzy asked.

"Gettin' yer buddies outta the Space Paranoids, that's what!" Blader answered, "We need backup!"

Opal had apparently heard this, because the instant Blader said "backup", she didn't just deflect a shot from Vincent, she reflected it back at him. Vincent sprang away, but foolishly gave Opal enough time to reunite her two blades, then point it one-handed at Blader like an accusing finger.

"Not if I can help…"

Blader, caught by surprise, pressed his elbow on a bunch of keys and in a burst of pixels, Scott Highflier reappeared right where Opal's right hand was, his bony spikes extended. Opal felt a piercing pain in her right hand and slowly looked at the place where the spike was extending with her eyes wide in surprise. The bony spike had penetrated her right palm and went right through the crystal that was in it.

Opal coughed violently, hacking up blue blood, then slumped into Scott's chest and didn't move an inch. April flew away from the chaos and looked at the scene with a disgruntled look. Scott's eyes quickly darted between his girlfriend and Opal before grinning, sheepishly. "Uh, hehehe…This isn't what ya think…"

Scott withdrew his spike, then threw Opal's body off him, but didn't retract his other spikes. She was dead for sure now, not even lifting a finger as a trickle of blue blood trickled down the corner of her mouth. Sakuzy looked at the scene in awe. "Scott, you killed a Crystalli!" he said in surprise.

"I did?"

Sakuzy nodded. "Yeah. Petross said that if a Crystalli Host's crystal was removed too suddenly, it would die."

Before Sakuzy could explain anymore, something chopped multiple times and Crescent stood and stared wide-eyed in pain. Then his head, torso, arms, and lower body all fell into separate pieces from the body. It was surprisingly similar to what happened in an erased time line. "Oh, (censored)."

The person who did the deed was Topaz, who stared, indifferently at the scene. "Opal was always the weaker one; using her brain to see rather than her eyes. She deserved…" he said in a somewhat-scolding voice.

Three bullets suddenly blasted through Topaz's gut and the golden Crystalli hadn't even recoiled when Leon slashed through his torso with the Gunblade. Topaz had barely gotten back up when suddenly, something spun through the air and clipped his shoulder, shedding golden blood. As he watched, Yuffie caught her shuriken and landed with the grace of a cat all in one jump.

"THAT'S for Aerith!" Leon growled at Topaz.

"Yeah, you miserable pirate would-be." To try and emphasize her point, Yuffie threw her shuriken again only to see Topaz catch it in one hand, then throw it away. Topaz then brandished his sword in both hands and charged.

"Way to go, Yuffie…" Leon said, sarcastically.

He quickly jumped to the side as Topaz brought his broadsword down in a vertical slash. Yuffie, on the other hand, stepped back, then ran up the full length of the blade and Topaz's arm and kicked him in the face. Topaz seized her by the ankle while she was in midair, then spun her around before tossing her like a boomerang. He turned suddenly to Leon and sharply brought his broadsword to intercept the Gunblade.

Both pushed against each other, but it was becoming apparent that Topaz was more physically able than Leon. However, Leon was cleverer than Topaz thought and maneuvered the broadsword's blade to the ground before bringing the Gunblade across Topaz's chest. Topaz roared in pain, then snarled like an enraged tyrannosaur.

"I'm afraid that's the last mistake you'll ever make, Mr. Leonhart." he said, coldly.

Sakuzy summoned his Eagle Feather and met Amethyst head-on, seeing him coming up from behind. The two clashed sword-to-scepter, both of them clenching their teeth. Amethyst, however, spun his scepter away and began to unleash a blizzard of magic bursts. Sakuzy sidestepped, deflected, and even reflected a blast back at Amethyst. However, he was at a very dangerous disadvantage: Amethyst's weapon was longer than his and he could strike from well beyond the reach of his Keyblade. _Oh, crud…_he thought to himself.

At that time, Ryan zipped around Crescent and put the nin with a mouth back together. He shook himself to put a bit of feeling in his once-severed body parts, then popped his neck. "Thanks, little man." he said with a wave.

Ryan stared at the ninja that was now running off into battle, then put his hand on his head, as if measuring himself. He shrugged before joining Leon in fighting Topaz.

Sakuzy once again parried a horizontal strike from Amethyst, then hopped into the air to avoid a sweep and delivered a solid strike to Amethyst's side. Amethyst staggered only to regain his balance and charge again. He thrust his scepter forward and a blast narrowly missed Sakuzy's ear. Before Amethyst could try again with a larger blast, Riku hacked Amethyst in the back with Way to Dawn. It went perfectly, because Amethyst had taken his attention off of Sakuzy, who raced for the operating room.

_That anesthetic will be wearing off any minute now. _he thought urgently,_ I have to cure her before it wears off…_

Sakuzy arrived at the operating room to see that Aquamarine and Petross were still in pitched combat. Aquamarine had forgotten about his arm blades completely and was now exchanging blows with Petross like they were professional boxers. Sakuzy soon saw that Riley was out cold at the computer screen: probably Aquamarine's doing. Sakuzy took the wheel and the joystick in hand and began using it with a extreme haste.

"NO!"

Aquamarine would have charged there and then, but he only met Petross' fist in his midsection. He fell to the floor, then flipped to his feet and tried to get at Sakuzy only to have Petross tackle him like an NFL linebacker and bring both of them to the ground. As they wrestled around on the lab floor, Petross shouted, "SAKUZY! HURRY!!!"

Sakuzy had reached the remaining three roots and hastily pressed the button. The small beam shot right through the root and disintegrated it into a fine powder. He had just steered into place and blasted another root when Turquoise spun around with the elegance of a dancer to meet him. "I don't think so…" she said, darkly.

Turquoise swung and her right forearm-blade locked with the Eagle Feather Keyblade and she quickly raised her left to block an oncoming Flowering Strength. Sakuzy and Kairi both teamed up on the Goth Woman Crystalli, using their swiftest and strongest moves against her, but none touched her. Every attack they made met Turquoise's forearm-blades and she often repelled them by spinning through the air and attempted to decapitate them.

The two ducked under her and she would have caught them there and then if something didn't strike her blade, throwing off her aim. She looked around to see Vincent opening fire with his handgun. Bullets often hit her blades, but did pelt her in the arm, midsection, and leg at the same time. Eventually, she caught onto his strategy and made one of her own, staying between Vincent and Kairi so that he couldn't fire without the risk of hitting her.

While the battle continued, Sakuzy turned to the only person that was in the room at the moment. "Crescent! You need to get rid of the last root!"

Crescent turned on being addressed, then put a hand on his chin, thinking it over. "Hmm…I need to consult a mop…" Crescent pulled a mop closer to him before turning to Sakuzy and answering, "Sorry, no-can-do."

Sakuzy finally snapped as he roared, "FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, CAN'T YOU DO SOMETHING FOR ANYONE BESIDES YOURSELF?!

This stopped Crescent right in his tracks. He turned to Sakuzy with a look of comic rage on his face. "WAIT! 'Something for anyone besides yourself'?!" he asked, "WHO saved your sorry behind from those Chopper Heartless? Crescent. WHO saved your lousy ancestor in the Carnival of Chaos? Crescent! And WHO saved your sorry behind on a regular basis every time you've been here? Crescent, Crescent, CRESCENT!"

Crescent clenched his fists as he asked, "And do I get ANY appreciation?! Any, need I say…LOVE?!"

Sakuzy then made an offer that he knew Crescent probably wouldn't turn down. "Do it and you can use my Keyblade for the rest of the day."

"Done."

Crescent took the wheel, maneuvered the joystick and pressed the button, only to get hit by Vincent's shot. The laser went astray and hit the wall of the vein the probe was in. Crescent ignored the pain, then took a bit more careful aim and fired, frying the last root. He turned to Sakuzy with his hand out, but was interrupted when Petross was kicked away by Aquamarine and crashed into the medication table with a CRASH. With another crash, Blader flew through the door and skidded on his back, his shield creating sparks on the ground. He quickly got to his feet and turned to Crescent.

"Now listen up, ya lunar lunatic. You got the roots, but you still need to get the crystal out!" Blader said, urgently, "Do it gently, like a loose tooth and…" Crescent walked over and quickly pulled out the crystal from Pearl's neck. Blader stared at it, then blinked in disbelief. "Well, I was hoping for somethin' a little more subtle, but that'll do…"

Amethyst sprang into the room, then saw Crescent with the crystal in his hand. The purple-clad Crystalli Host snarled in absolute hate as he wheeled to Sakuzy and pointed his scepter at his throat like a threatening spear. "You…" he growled, "YOU TOOK HER AWAY FROM ME AGAIN!" he roared, having never been this angry in his life, "I'll make sure you DIE for that!"

Someone tapped Amethyst on the shoulder and the purple Crystalli wheeled over to see…Petross, who had gotten back up to his feet. Petross grabbed the said Crystalli's head in his sizeable hand and pulled him closer to him. "I don't think so…"

Petross heaved Amethyst into the air, then threw him out the window, breaking the glass and sending the Crystalli plummeting to the ground. At that same moment, Aquamarine rose above Pearl and raised his arm-blades. "You may have cured Pearl, but she won't live to tell about it!" he growled.

Aquamarine almost brought them down when Blader brought his shield ramming into the Crystalli's side and sent him skidding a few feet back. Aquamarine snarled, but then Blader moved aside to show Petross putting on a pair of brass knuckles. "Now, where were we?" the medical officer asked, sounding very dangerous-like.

Petross charged and Aquamarine raised one of his arm blades to try and shield himself from Petross' fist. THAT proved to be a mistake, because the minute Petross' fist made contact with the weapon, Aquamarine went flying backward and his blade had a huge dent in its center. Another punch from Petross and Aquamarine went crashing through the building wall and landed outside to join Amethyst.

As Amethyst lay there in a crumbled heap, Aquamarine heaved himself back to his feet. That punch probably bruised a rib or two, and the fall didn't help anything at all. "I believe now is the time for a tactical retreat." Aquamarine said, more to himself than anyone, "We've got a soldier down…"

Amethyst staggered back to his feet, then both he and Aquamarine vanished in a flash of light; greenish-blue for Aquamarine and purple for Amethyst.

J had turned into a thirty-foot-long anaconda and was currently constricting Peridot, wanting nothing more than to crush the Crystalli like a coke can. He was going to make her pay for what she did to him, but her breathing hadn't even slowed down when she vanished in jade-green light. The thirty-foot snake flopped to the ground, then hissed in slight disappointment as it turned back into a human. However, this had happened in more than one place, because all the hosts vanished in their respective colors, except the dead body of Opal.

Scott rolled Opal onto her back, then gently propped up her head and held it. Her eyes were closed, as though sleeping, and a small stream of blood trickled out the corner of her mouth. "What have I done…?"

J couldn't believe this. Before Scott even knew what was going on, J had punched him across the face.

"OW!" the Aussie exclaimed, "WHAT?!"

"Scott, Opal would have killed YOU, you know that?" J asked sternly.

Scott didn't turn to J; though he had turned to face him, he didn't meet his eyes. He had never killed a person before, because the Android was far from human and more machine than man. "It's different, J. If she had just been able to fight back…"

J suddenly seized Scott's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Then she would have done everything in her power to kill you." he reasoned, "What you did may not have been pleasant, but it was RIGHT. I know, because I've killed before to save my own life."

Before Scott could reply at all, Joyex and Sora appeared in a flash of pixels and took in the room, which looked like a rhino rampaged through it.

"Did we miss something?" Joyex asked, curiously.

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Sakuzy walked over to Pearl's still-unconscious body and rolled her onto her back. She was still silent, as though she were just sleeping. Sakuzy placed a hand on Pearl's shoulder and gently shook her. "Maya?" he whispered, "Maya? You okay?"

Pearl stirred slightly before taking in a deep breath, as if she were waking up. She sat up and put a hand on her forehead, feeling the anesthetic's aftereffect. She then opened her eyes and Sakuzy saw that her light-gray eyes were slowly turning a shade of aqua-green. Her hand went from her forehead to the area on the back of her neck and felt a small hole barely as wide as a nickel.

"It's gone…" she said, a smile slowly creeping across her face until it threatened to split open her face, "The crystal's gone!" She looked at her fingertips to see that her blood was no longer pink, but scarlet like any other human's. Oddly enough, this sight made her absolutely overjoyed when it would have worried another person.

Pearl, still completely overjoyed, looked to her right to see Sakuzy smiling at her. In an instant, Maya's face broke into a smile as she hugged Sakuzy, tears of joy streaming down her face. "It's gone!" she said, crying tears of joy, "It's really GONE!"

"I know, Maya." Sakuzy said, coaxing her to look him in the eye, "Welcome back…"

The two then began kissing in full knowledge that they were in full-view of the entire room. J sighed, but it was swallowed by rage. He would KILL Peridot for kissing him. The two stopped kissing and Sakuzy had a dreamy look on his face before they started making out again.

On seeing THAT, Ryan finally lost it. "WOULD YOU GUYS GET A ROOM?!" he shouted, tugging at his hair.

Maya suddenly grunted in pain, clutched the back of her head, then fell back onto the operating table, unconscious. Sakuzy looked worried, but Petross put a hand on his shoulder and explained. "Don't worry, she just needs time to recover from the surgery. Besides, we have to get that hole in her neck all stitched up."

Sakuzy sighed with relief. She was still alive. Blader tapped Sora's shoulder and the brunette Key-wielder turned to the one-legged shield-user. "What's up, Blader?"

"Not to raise alarm or anythin', but…THAT LOUSY SPY HACKED OUR COMPUTER AND FOUND A PURE HEART'S LOCATION!"

Sora's eyes widened in surprise and stammered, "WHAT?! How?! Where?!"

"To answer all your questions—Yes. When he hacked the computer. And it's in the little book that Beardy's got." Blader said with a nod on each answer.

It took a while to figure out, but there was only one bearded guy that all of Radiant Garden knew: Merlin. And Sora had a good idea on what the "little book" was.

"The Hundred-Acre Wood?! I've gotta go! I won't let that Spy get the Pure Heart or hurt anyone there!" Sora, without another word, took off as fast as he could with Sakuzy looking at the place he was headed.

Sakuzy sighed, then chased after him, calling, "Hey, wait up!"

Sakuzy ran after Sora and J turned to the rest. "I guess I'll be the person who helps to clean this place up…"

_Aquamarine's fighting style, brought to you by "The Incredible Hulk" starring Ed Norton._


	186. Pain of the Spy

Chapter 186: Pain of the Spy

Sora and Sakuzy bolted into Merlin's house to see the book was wide-open, not to mention the whole place was ransacked. Someone had been here already. "Oh no…we're too late!" Sora grunted, stamping his foot, "And if that's the case, we've got no time to lose!"

Sora went over to the open book and looked into it as though focusing on one part of the page. Suddenly, a very bright, green light enveloped Sora. When the light faded, Sora was gone. Sakuzy sighed. "Why must I be tormented so?"

Sakuzy went over to do the same thing and was immediately sucked into the book. When he saw the world they had apparently been warped to, he found that both he and Sora had shrunk and got put on a kid's pop-up book.

"Welcome to the Hundred-Acre Wood, Sakuzy." Sora said, gesturing to the place around them.

Sakuzy looked around, then turned to Sora. "Wow…It's a pop-up book."

Sora turned to a house made of sticks that had apparently popped up and Sora ran to it with Sakuzy in hot pursuit.

Hundred Acre Wood…

Sora reappeared at a part of the Hundred Acre Wood where Eeyore's house stood. Upon further investigation, he noticed that Sakuzy wasn't there. "Hold on a sec…Where'd Sakuzy get to?" he asked to no one in particular.

Sora would have gone searching for Sakuzy there and then when a voice interrupted him. It was deep, dull, and surprisingly monotonous. "Hello again, Sora. I guess you won't be here for long, though…"

Sora turned to see the ever-gloomy donkey, Eeyore. He waved to Eeyore before running over to him. Meanwhile, the Spy scuttled over to the area where Sora had previously been like a crab and peered around the house of sticks at him. "_Found the Key-bearer! Beginning extermination no…_"

The Spy rolled and hid under Eeyore's house as he recorded his mission log, but didn't finish his sentence. At that moment, a shadow above the house started getting bigger as was the sound of someone screaming. The Spy looked up and shrieked in fright as something fell on top of the house of sticks with a CRASH, causing it to fall apart immediately. The thing that fell on the house was…Sakuzy.

"Ow…not gonna get used to that in a hurry…" he strained.

Eeyore sighed at the destruction of his house…which happened on a regular basis. "Well, that's a disappointment." he said, gloomily.

Sakuzy kicked himself up and began massaging his back. "I think I landed on a rock or somethin'…" he strained as he popped his vertebrae back into place.

Sora walked over to Sakuzy with Eeyore walking next to him. "Sakuzy, this is Eeyore." he introduced, "Eeyore, this is Sakuzy."

Sakuzy grinned in an embarrassed manner as he looked at the wreck that used to be Eeyore's house. "Hey. Uh…Sorry about your house." he apologized.

Eeyore sighed, then said, "Oh, don't mind it. Happens all the time."

Sakuzy looked ready to reply, when something emitted a slight purring noise and a blur of orange and black pounced on him. It was the incredibly bouncy tiger named Tigger (1). "Hello, Sora! Glad to see ya again!" Tigger greeted, happily.

Sakuzy tried wriggling out from under Tigger, but it was difficult. The guy was heavier than he looked. "I'm not Sora." he said, still trying to get his attacker off.

Tigger pressed his nose against Sakuzy's face, taking in his detail and causing Sakuzy to question his sanity. On seeing that it really wasn't Sora, Tigger backed off a bit and apologized, "Oh, sorry 'bout dat."

Tigger searched the area, then bounced off Sakuzy and jumped on Sora. While Sakuzy seemed irritated by Tigger bouncing on him, Sora seemed to enjoy it by the way he laughed. "Good to see you, too, Tigger! Anyway, the guy you just pounced on was Sakuzy. He's a friend of mine."

Tigger bounced back over to Sakuzy, who had sat up and thought he was going to bounce him again. The stuffed tiger, however, stopped in front of Sakuzy and began shaking his hand with extreme vigor. "Hiya, Sakuzy!" he eagerly greeted, "I'm Tigger. T-I-double 'guh'-er! That spells Tigger!"

Tigger then whooped, happily before dancing around, singing. "_The wonderful thing about Tiggers, a Tigger's a wonderful thing! Their tops are made of rubber, their bottoms are made of springs! They're bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy! FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN! The wonderful thing about Tiggers is that I'm the only one! I'M the only one!"_

As Tigger began bouncing away to parts unknown, Sakuzy muttered something about the last four lyrics. "Thank goodness for that."

When Tigger bounced away, he landed on the remains of Eeyore's house and the Spy with a very notable CRUNCH. Strangely, the Spy screamed out loud and nobody noticed. Sakuzy got up, dusted himself, and turned to Sora. "C'mon, Sora!" he said, "We can catch up with your stuffed animal friends later. Now, we've gotta find that Spy and the Pure Heart."

"Good point. Let's go."

Sora and Sakuzy walked away as the Spy got up, disoriented. He shook his head before stalking away. Fortunately, this was a big place with few inhabitants, so it wouldn't be too hard to avoid attention. "_Well, this shouldn't be too hard._" the Spy muttered,"_The inhabitants are complete idiots and it should be easy to find the Pure Heaaaarrrrttt!!!_"

The Spy screamed the last part, because he fell down a hole in the ground, leading to an underground tunnel. The Spy shook the cobwebs out of his head and staggered to gain his balance. "_Oh, who in their right mind would dig a tunnel here?_" he asked in disbelief.

The Spy's question was answered when he heard someone approaching and immediately shifted into his crystal form. The Hundred-Acre Wood's own Gopher walked into the chamber where the Spy was and noticed the crystal on the ground. Whenever Gopher used his S's, he whistled. "Oh. Well, it looks like I missed one." the burrowing rodent said, tilting his miner's helmet.

Gopher picked up the Spy's crystal form and carried it away. It may have been nothing, but he could have sworn he heard a moan in what could only be exasperation. Soon, Gopher reached a huge pile of crystals he had probably found in the tunnels that were his mines. He heaved the Spy onto the pile, then put on a miner's helmet and took a pickaxe before walking away to his tunnels' darker depths. The Spy shifted back into his normal form and began to dig his way out, using his claws.

"_Stupid miners, hate the whole lot of them!_" it snarled to itself.

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Rabbit was tending his garden when he saw Sora and Sakuzy walking past. "Oh, welcome back, Sora!" he greeted with a wave, "I see you're back with a friend."

Sora went over and smiled at his tidy friend. "Hey, Rabbit! How's your garden doing?"

Rabbit sighed in exasperation and answered, "It's doing just fine. Would be doing a lot better if Tigger and Gopher weren't always destroying it. Every year, Tigger bounces through it and Gopher tunnels under it…speaking of which…" Rabbit pointed to a patch of dirt, which was slowly raising higher and higher. "Oh, he's not going to wreck my garden THIS time!"

Rabbit pulled out a shovel and raised it above his head as something almost poked its head out.

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The Crystalli Spy had barely poked its head out of the ground and managed to gasp, "_FINALLY! I'M…"_

The Spy didn't finish his sentence, because the moment his head poked out, he was hit on the noggin by the metal head of a shovel and sent into the ground again. The Spy yelped in pain as he fell back under his tunnel and landed on top of Gopher's pile of crystals again. He lay there in a crumpled heap, then staggered back on his feet with tiny, Crystalli Jets zooming around his head (as opposed to birds in cartoons).

"_Why does this world hate me?_"

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Rabbit sighed in relief as he turned to Sora and Sakuzy. He had been in front of the mound when the Spy came out, so they didn't exactly see what it was. Now that his job had been taken care of, he set aside his garden and began the hard work of filling in the hole. He turned to the two as he started filling it up and struck up conversation.

"Well, what is it you two want?" asked Rabbit.

Sora scratched his head, a bit unsure on how to put the current situation. "Uh, yeah. Rabbit, have you seen anything that looks like it was made of crystal?"

Rabbit popped the head of his shovel into the ground, and thought about this for a while. But in the end, he shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm afraid I haven't seen anything like what you described."

Sakuzy and Sora took a deep breath, then sighed in disappointment. However, they managed to smile and waved as they walked away. "Oh well. Thanks for the help anyway."

Rabbit waved to Sora and Sakuzy. "See you later, boys. I hope you come by sooner and not later." Rabbit then returned to his work, but soon stopped to inspect his shovel. "Oh, this shovel's no good. I'll need a bigger one to do this job…"

While Rabbit was off getting a new shovel, the Spy forced himself out of the hole with a sizeable dent in its head and covered in dirt. He skittered off like a spider, then inspected himself. "_Why ME?!_" it groaned.

The Spy got to his feet and darted away faster than anyone could register, and often took time to clean himself up.

_(1) One of my favorite characters from Winnie the Pooh. I've liked him since I was little and still do. Hard NOT to like that hyper, bouncy, pain-in-the-butt for Fuzz-butt tiger._

_Well, I'm gonna enjoy this. Full credit for tormenting the Spy goes to my little brother, Lunatic121._


	187. Defeating the Spy

_Mrfipp: Oops! Sorry, my bad!_

_Captain A: I agree, man. Hundred Acre Wood's supposed to be the PEACEFUL world._

Chapter 187: Defeating the Spy

Sora and Sakuzy zipped through the Hundred Acre Wood, trying to find the Crystalli Spy. As Sakuzy explored the area with Sora, he took in the Wood's lush, green landscape. However, he forgot ONE thing: to look where he was going. He regretted it, because Kanga hopped, headlong, into Sakuzy. Both fell to the ground as Sora immediately rushed over to help her get back up.

"Uh, sorry, Kanga." he apologized, "It's my friend's first time here…"

Kanga dusted herself off, then smiled at Sora. "Oh, it's okay, Sora. I wasn't looking where I was going, either." she looked down at her pouch and asked, "Roo? Are you okay, honey?"

At that moment, Roo popped out of his mother's pouch and rubbed his head. "I'm okay, but I think I dropped the crystal I found."

Sakuzy cocked an eyebrow, then crouched down to Roo's level and asked, as softly as he could, "Where do you remember losing it?"

Roo hopped out of Kanga's pouch, then pointed the opposite direction of where he and his mother were headed. "I think I dropped it a while back there." he answered.

Sakuzy ran off, but was more than polite enough to turn back and say, "Thanks, little guy."

Sora stared off after Sakuzy, then apologetically smiled at Roo and Kanga. "Sorry I couldn't stay longer, but I've got stuff to do." he apologized, then got to his full height and took off after Sakuzy.

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After Kanga and Roo, Sora happened upon a familiar inhabitant of the Hundred Acre Wood: the smallest member. "Hey! Piglet!" he called.

The timid creature turned on Sora's voice with fright at first, but suddenly recognized him as a friend. "Oh, hello, Sora. Am I glad to see you!" he said, happily. Piglet gave a running jump and landed in Sora's chest. He stayed there for a while, then got a good look at Sakuzy. "And who are you? Are you new to the Hundred Acre Wood?"

Sakuzy sighed, then explained. "Uh, no. Sorry, but this just isn't my home. I'm Sakuzy; a friend of Sora's."

"Oh, well, have either of you seen Pooh Bear?" Piglet asked, still nestled in Sora's chest.

Sora paused suddenly, then had an idea. It was a long shot, but it might pay off…"Why don't we see what Owl knows?" he asked, "He's usually pretty good at finding things…"

Piglet hopped down from Sora's arms, then pointed in one direction. "Okay. Owl's house is in that direction…" he directed.

Piglet then hurried away with Sora and Sakuzy in hot pursuit. He may not have looked like it, but Piglet could be very fast when he wanted to.

Owl, it turned out, didn't happen to be much help. When Sora, Sakuzy, and Piglet arrived at his tree, he was already there to greet them. "Why, hello, Sora! It's a pleasure to see you back again!" he said in a jolly voice.

"Hey, Owl. Uh, look, we were wondering if…"

Owl didn't give Sora much time to finish, because he raised a feather like an index finger and said, "Oh, curiosity, the true essence of mankind. Sora, my lad, I'm just the person to talk to. Now…"

Owl then went onto a long lecture on knowledge and the stories of his family. It was so long that Sora fell asleep while Sakuzy didn't even notice the thing that went into the house, broke a few things, then quickly exited.

"And this really reminds me of the time…" Owl said after a VERY long monologue, but Sakuzy finally snapped from boredom.

"As interesting as this story seems, we've gotta go." Sakuzy stood up, then dragged a still-snoozing Sora away, followed closely by Piglet.

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The Spy was having the WORST time of his entire life. Everywhere he turned, he got injured in some way. First, that kid kangaroo picked him up and decided to take him on a VERY uncomfortable journey. So much bouncing around and he had finally slipped free when the mother collided with that kid…

With Piglet, the Spy had walked into the jittery pig's house in search of the Pure Heart and apparently didn't know his own strength. The instant the Spy slammed the door, the chandelier landed on him with a crash. He managed to sneak past a very bored trio and got into the scholarly Owl's treehouse. However, he was least expecting several dishes to fall out of a forgotten cabinet and smash on his head. He eventually got out of there, limping in agony.

"_WHY MUST I BE PUT THROUGH SUCH AGONY?!_" The Spy wandered through the wood, then noticed the cliff that led to the Spooky Cave. The Spy scratched its "chin" as it hummed in curiosity. "_Maybe the Pure Heart's in there…_"

The Spy slunk towards the cave with greedy anticipation, but failed to notice that a certain bear had taken notice and followed him with equal curiosity.

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Sora and Sakuzy slumped over next to a tree, completely exhausted and drenched in their own sweat. They had pretty much sprinted the whole way through the whole wood, so both were short on breath. "Sakuzy, we've been running around this place for HOURS. The Spy could be anywhere…" Sora pointed out.

"Thanks for reminding me…" Sakuzy said, sarcastically. He then summoned his Eagle Feather Keyblade and held it over him and Sora. "HEAL!"

Sora felt his energy return as green light enveloped both of them. Sora saw Piglet running towards them with what could only be described as a very frightened demeanor. "Sora! SORA! SORA!" he called.

Sora turned in surprise and asked, "Piglet? What's up?"

Piglet stopped before the two and waved his arms, frantically, as he tried to explain what happened. "Sora! I-it's Pooh Bear!" he said, his voice jittery, "I-I saw him following s-something shiny that was going to the Sp-Spooky cave!"

Sakuzy perked up and ran off towards, what he hoped, would lead him to the cave. Sora paused, then called over to him. "The Spooky Cave's the other way!"

Sakuzy raced back to Sora and Piglet, then apologized. "Oh, sorry."

Sakuzy ran the other way, followed by Sora, who had to give Piglet a piggyback in order for the little guy to catch up. _That thing could be dangerous and Pooh went after it? _Sora cursed himself,_ I've gotta do something!_

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Spooky Cave…

The Spy entered the cave to see a great chamber with various giant crystals inside it. He looked around, then saw something embedded in one of the larger crystals. "_Pure Heart located! Beginning extraction!_"

The Spy held out his third and fourth hand and they morphed into miniature machine guns. He opened fire on the crystal, but did no damage whatsoever and all of its crystal-based ammunition bounced off. "_WHAT?! This usually works, so why isn't it working NOW?!_" The Spy growled, then glowered at its gun arms."_This lousy, piece of…_"

Suddenly, someone addressed the Spy in a calm, pleasant voice. "Excuse me, but what are you doing, Somebody I Don't Know?"

The Spy started, then looked over its shoulder to see none other than Winnie the Pooh, waving at it. The Spy growled, then got an idea with a malevolent look in his eye.

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Sora and Sakuzy ran into the cave with Piglet and went as far as the cave would go. Sora turned to see Pooh, who was waving at the Spy like it was his best friend. "POOH!"

Pooh stopped dead in his tracks; he had actually tried to get closer to the Spy. Upon hearing the voice, Pooh turned to Sora and waved at him, too. "Oh, hello, Sora and Friend-of-Sora's." he said, pleasantly, "Would you know who this is?"

Sakuzy turned to the Spy, who had his two upper arms aimed at Pooh, claws at the ready. Sakuzy returned his gaze to Pooh with a flat look and asked, "Pooh, are you stupid enough not to realize that you're in trouble?"

The Spy immediately noticed Sakuzy and screeched at him before jumping onto his face. Sakuzy staggered back in surprise as the Spy started beating him with its fists. "AAAHHH! HOLY KINGDOM HEARTS!!!" he screamed, "GET HIM OFF ME!!!"

Sakuzy pulled the Spy off of his face, but it still continued to struggle like a disgruntled housecat. The Spy actually landed a glancing kick on Sakuzy's forehead before Sakuzy threw the Spy onto the ground. The Spy screamed in surprise as it skidded across the ground, then pulled itself up to its full-height and changed targets. However, it quickly pointed its claws at Sakuzy and fired them like bullets, quickly regenerating them in a matter of seconds.

"Oh boy…"

Sakuzy ducked away from the bullets and had just ducked behind a rock when Sora gave the Spy a good kick from behind. The Spy tumbled forward, then sprang back to its feet and changed targets. It leaped onto Sora and began clambering all over him like a squirrel on a tree. Sora struggled to get it off, but this thing was both hard to hold and FAST.

The Spy got into Sora's face, then wrapped its three-fingered hands around his throat and began throttling him. Sora pushed against it, struggling for air, but he certainly wasn't expecting the Spy to smack him in the forehead with its little fist. Sora finally seized the spy by the head, pushed it off, then threw it against the wall. The Spy landed against a crystal like a fly on a windshield, then slid to the ground. It popped its neck back into place, then raised its four arms. All four of its arms sprung out with all weapons ready--machine guns, spikes, and anything else that made them look like Swiss-Army Knives. With a battle shriek, the Spy advanced on Sakuzy, ready to kill, but Sora raised his Ultima Weapon and pointed it at the Spy.

"BLADE!"

A spear of pure-white energy shot from Sora's Keyblade like a bullet from a gun and fired at the Spy. The Blade Spell hit it smack-dab in the face, spinning it in a full circle before revealing that half of its face was cleaved off. The Crystalli Spy staggered around in pain, then emitted two VERY audible words in English. "Oh, shoot…" The Spy fell over and didn't move anymore.

Sora stared at the motionless Crystalli and said, "Well, THAT was fast. That Blade Spell probably wouldn't have killed a Soldier."

Sakuzy could only shrug. "What can I say? Spies have never been the strongest Crystalli. They're made for SNEAKING, not fighting."

Pooh turned to Sakuzy and tapped Sakuzy on the knee. On seeing that he had Sakuzy's attention, Pooh pointed to a crystal and suggested, "I think that the Spy was looking for THAT, Friend-of-Sora's."

Sakuzy looked over to where Pooh was pointing and saw a heart shape in the inner parts of the largest crystal in the cave. "Wow, thanks." he said, then knelt down to eye level with the bear and added, "And by the way, my name isn't 'Friend-of-Sora's', it's Sakuzy."

Sakuzy walked over to the Pure Heart encased in the crystal and summoned his Keyblade. He summoned the Eagle Feather and began carving through the diamond, using his weapon as a pickaxe. Each strike chipped off a piece of the crystal a little bit at a time.

The Spy suddenly came back to life with just enough time to look over at the Future Keyblader and stare in disbelief. "_He can do it…Oh, crap._" he cursed. The Spy then slumped to the ground and died for GOOD this time.

Sakuzy had made a small hole in the crystal and inserted his hand to extract it. Sakuzy grabbed something, then held out his hand and pulled out the Pure Heart, which was the color of a summer sky. Sakuzy turned to Pooh. "Hey, uh, thanks for the help." he said, a little unsurely.

Sakuzy held out his hand and Pooh eagerly shook it. "You're welcome, Sakuzy."

Sakuzy turned to Sora and tossed the Pure Heart to him. "I take it that it's time to go back to Radiant Garden, huh?" the latter of the two asked. Sora turned to Pooh, then said, apologetically, "Sorry I couldn't stay longer, Pooh. But I've got work to do."

Pooh looked a little crestfallen, then looked up at Sora and used the begging face that Sora couldn't resist. "Sora, can't you stay longer?"

Sora thought on this for a while, then smiled at Pooh as he rubbed the bear's fuzzy head. "Sure. Why not?" he asked.

Sakuzy sighed in exasperation. He certainly hoped that this wouldn't take too long…

_Well, this world was pretty short-lived…_

_Yes, I answer all questions at the top now._


	188. Manhattan

Chapter 188: Manhattan

Manhattan…

Sora and co. arrived at the next world after the Keyblader and his descendant came back with a Pure Heart. Upon exiting the ship, Sora found that this world seemed to be a big city, even bigger than Midgar, and had skyscrapers that towered over any other they had seen. The minute Ryan got out of the Gummi Ship, he flew into the air and whooped.

"WOO-HOO! GLAD TO BE BACK IN NYC!" Ryan flew up even higher and grabbed onto the tip of a weather vane. He then began singing a very obvious choice of song, but was VERY off-key. "_Start spreadin' the news! I'm leavin' today! We're all a great, big, part of it! NEW YORK!_"

During the last note, windows shattered and car alarms went off. People leaned out their windows to complain. "Hey, buddy! SHUT UP!" one guy said.

Ryan, within seconds, had found himself getting pelted with tin cans and other pieces of garbage. However, he was half-expecting to get hit in the face by a golf shoe, bottom-first. "OW! Now why would you throw GOLF shoes at people?!" he asked, disgruntled. Ryan continued to dodge thrown objects until he took off and landed back with the group.

"THIS is why I never let Ryan near a karaoke machine." J pointed out.

Suddenly, before Ryan could retort to that, several Heartless came into existence. They were tall and lanky with dark green skin and burning-yellow eyes. They also had sharp claws, a mouthful of jagged teeth, and looked like something directly from Halloween Town. Sora summoned his Keyblade and charged, but the Goblin Heartless he was aiming to personally slay leaped above Sora and landed on his Keyblade before tossing a small device into the air. It emitted a short cackle, then jumped off as the device exploded in his face. The force wasn't enough to kill him, but it sent him hurtling through the air as though he had been in a catapult. Sora got back up and was joined by Riku.

"Mind if I give a hand?" asked Riku.

He summoned his Way to Dawn, but before they had even done anything, someone came out of nowhere, swinging on a rope of sorts and kicked the Heartless away. The man landed on the ground and pressed his two middle fingers against his palm and jerked his wrist forward. A web flew out of the man's wrist and nailed the Heartless, pinning it to the ground and struggling like a fly that was to be a spider's lunch. When the Goblin Heartless were stuck to the ground, Sora and Riku made short work of them with just a few strikes of their Keyblades.

Before they could do anything else, however, the man came back to land in front of them and four Heartless surrounded him. One dashed at him from behind, but apparently he saw it coming because he jumped into the air to avoid it. He then brought his fist slamming into it from behind, turning the Heartless into black smoke and a pink heart. One chucked an explosive at the man, but he saw it coming and made an impressive jump to avoid it and the Goblin Heartless ended up blowing up one of its fellows. The man landed between the two, then jumped in the air and slung a web at the last two Heartless. Rather than trap them, the webs latched onto their heads. And as the man landed on the ground, he pulled the two webs, yanking the Heartless off their feet and bashing their heads together. Both vanished completely on impact.

It was now that Sora and co. could finally get a good look at their savior. He was a pretty muscular man, having the build of an athlete, and was wearing red and blue tights. Areas that were red included below the knee, the belt and above, and the forearms. Parts that were blue were his sides, above the knee, and on his biceps. The red parts of his tights had black webs designed onto them and the eyes of his mask were large, sharp, and silver in color. The man made the same hand-sign to summon web again and a web shot out and latched onto a building. He took off, the web reeling him in, then swung away after dropping a note. Everyone stared at the guy who saved them.

"Who was that?" Kairi asked.

Goofy noticed the note that the man dropped, then ran over and picked it up. He unfolded the paper, then read its contents out loud. "Hmm…let's see…'Courtesy of your friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man.'"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

Sora could only shrug. "I dunno…"

_Several black spiders crawled around, leaving webs that spelled out the word "Manhattan". More spiders swarmed over the words and the webbing was gone in seconds._

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and co. were walking through the streets. J, Scott, April, and Ryan weren't attracting attention, seeing as they mainly walked around in casual wear. However, Sora, Kairi, Sakuzy. Joyex, Donald, and Goofy were getting strange looks left and right. Sora turned to the others who were getting looks that suggested that they were weirdoes.

"Maybe we should change clothes…" Sora suggested, looking down at himself. He certainly stuck out here.

Kairi couldn't agree more. "How about we try that store?"

Sora saw that she was pointing to a clothes store. For once in his life, the Keyblade Master was glad to see this kind of shop. Joyex shrugged. "Never thought I'd say it. But let's go shopping."

Sora, Kairi, Sakuzy, Joyex, Donald, and Goofy then walked into the clothes store. When they came out, Sora was wearing a red T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers that were actually his size (for a change). Kairi had a pink tank-top and a pair of purple shorts, not to mention a black choker. Riku had a black long-sleeve shirt, crimson sports pants, and a pair of black sneakers. Sakuzy kept his scarf, but got an indigo hoody jacket and a pair of black sweat-pants.

Joyex came out with a black shirt, a trench coat, and a pair of ragged jeans that tore right at the knees _(Like the Hulk's)_. Donald came out with a gray jacket and hat that made him look like a newspaper reporter, and Goofy came out…in his casual wear.

Sora looked himself over, taking in his new wardrobe. "Hmm…I could get used to this." he said, stretching out the bottom of his shirt a bit.

As Sora and co. walked the streets of Manhattan, the only stares that came at them were for Donald and Goofy…who were completely oblivious to it. They were either ignoring it or thought they fit in perfectly. A guy on a bicycle stared at Goofy and crashed, headlong, into a taxi, forgetting to pay attention to where he was going.

Kairi looked around and said, "Well, this place seems peaceful enough…"

Kairi's statement was soon corrected when two guys wearing ski masks burst from a store and rushed around the corner of a building. Joyex turned to Kairi on seeing the scene and asked, "You were saying?"

Sora and co. darted over to the corner with their weapons out, but hadn't even turned the corner when they noticed that the robbers were no longer there. As their weapons flashed into nonexistence, Sora heard a strained grunt and looked up. There, strung up on the lamp post, were the two burglars, bound tight and suspended in the air by a web.

"O-kay. I take it that this guy's quick to act…" Sakuzy said, referring to their savior at that alleyway.

Sora suddenly noticed that a bag the two burglars were carrying was on the ground with a note webbed to it. The Keyblade Master took the note and unfolded it. "It's the same note that we got the last time." he said, looking up from it, "'Courtesy of your friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man'."

"The main question is 'who is Spider-Man?'"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and co. were in the office of a newspaper press called "the Daily Bugle". The manager turned out to be a man named J. Jonah Jameson, who was possibly the strangest man Sora had ever seen (the exception being Crescent). Mr. Jameson was a middle-aged man, clad in office attire, that had black hair with graying temples and a mustache. He also had a cigar in his mouth.

At the moment, Mr. Jameson was at his desk and reading a newspaper, possibly from a rival press company. "Who is Spider-Man?" he asked, "He's a CRIMINAL! A MENACE! A VIGILANTE! WHAT'S HE DOIN' ON THE FRONT PAGE?!" Mr. Jameson threw down his newspaper and blew a puff from his cigar.

Ryan turned to the others and asked, "Why're we here again?"

Sora answered Ryan out of the corner of his mouth. "To find out who Spider-Man is…"

Scott wasn't exactly listening in on the rest of the group, because he had turned to Mr. Jameson with an angry expression on his face. "C'MON, YA BLOKE! 'E'S A HERO!"

Mr. Jameson spread out the newspaper he had and said, "Well, look at the picture. He's fleeing the scene."

Scott held up the picture that showed that Spider-Man was slinging away. "He's not fleein'." the Aussie defended, "He's probably off to save somebody else."

J turned to Sora and whispered under his breath, "I only know Spider-Man by reputation, but he's Scott's favorite hero_._"

Sora nodded in understanding, then turned to Mr. Jameson. "We checked out the newspaper stands with your paper and they were all sold out." he explained, "Every single paper."

Mr. Jameson stopped criticizing Spider-Man right there, then held out his hand as though envisioning something. "Front page, Spider-Man. And get a decent picture this time."

"Well, we don't 'ave cameras on us." Scott filled in.

Mr. Jameson seemed disappointed, then burst out in a VERY fast-paced voice, "Fine, then INTERVIEW people about Spider-Man! Make sure they're easy to write down and don't make any spelling errors!"

Sora and co. then exited the building. Pleasing THIS guy was going to be anything BUT easy.

J. Jonah Jameson

A somewhat obsessed newspaper editor. He has an extremely short temper, is quick to act, fast to talk, and is often picky about the flow of work at the Daily Bugle. He first appeared in _Spider-Man_ 2002.

Spider-Man

A local superhero in the world of Manhattan. Little is known about him other than his powers, which include amazing agility and strength, combat skills to blind the eye, and web-slinging powers. He always seems to leave behind the same calling card. He first appeared in _Spider-Man _2002.

Goblin Heartless

The Heartless of Manhattan. They mainly attack in groups and use EXTREMELY powerful explosives when ready to attack. They may not look like it, but they move LIGHTNING-fast.

_I like Mr. Jameson in the Spider-Man movies. He's funny. And J.K. Simmons made him a VERY likeable character._

_Y'know, it's kinda strange. Four people on Kingdom Hearts II voiced Spider-Man at one point. First, you have James Arnold Taylor (Jack Sparrow and Timon) who did him in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. Next, you have Quinton Flynn (Axel) who did him in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Then, you have Sean Marquette (Pence) who did him in Ultimate Spider-Man. Finally, you have Christopher Daniel Barnes (Prince Eric) who did him in the Spider-Man 1995 cartoon series._


	189. Mysterio

Chapter 189: Mysterio

Sora and co. went across Manhattan, each one in their own directions and interviewing people about Spider-Man. Each was armed with only two things: a notepad and a pen or pencil.

Sora had to interview a pair of people who had previously seen him and spoke in thick, Indian accents. "This is not a man. My brother saw him building a nest in the Lincoln Central Building."

Kairi ended up interviewing a local dog-walker who seemed a bit more sensible than the previous men. "I think it's human. Looks like a man, could be a woman…"

Scott got a lighter side of the work, because he got to interview a pair of men who were really impressed with the guy they were looking for. "He throws out his hands, ropes shoot out, and he climbs the ropes just like a spider web."

Riku had actually ran into a couple that were inspired by Spider-Man's work. "The webs are his sign. I see 'em and I'm like 'Spider-Man was here!'" the woman said, dramatically.

The man nodded as he said, "The guy protects us, y'know! He protects the people!"

Some people didn't have as much luck, though. As April found out, one police officer thought that Spidey was simply a joker in a costume. "Ah, some kinda freaky-Lou or somethin'. Wackadoo."

Ryan interviewed some guy who kept the interview short, sweet, and to-the-point. "He stinks and I don't like him!"

In another part of the city, Joyex had found himself doing one thing he never thought he'd do: interview a few punk women with piercings and cigarettes. "Guy with eight hands…sounds hot." one of them said.

Sakuzy rolled his eyes at the woman he interviewed; she was just interested in the stuff Spidey wore. "He's got those tights and that tight little…"

Donald and Goofy had the time of their life, because someone down in the subways had actually sung a song about Spider-Man all the while playing the guitar and wearing what looked like a country singer's outfit. It was so catchy to them they couldn't help but bob along with the rhythm. "_Dresses like a spider, he looks like a bug. We should all just give him one big HUG. A-Look out! WOO! Here comes the Spider-Man!_"

J, on the other hand, was just walking around on the streets. This place reminded him of Radiant Garden. He felt slightly homesick, but it was quickly choked with a snicker as he, once again, thought about how far they came.

"I've been with this band of weirdoes for weeks and not one of them has died." J then found something out about what he'd just said. "And I'm not the person who should be talking about weirdoes…and I'm also talking to myself. What next?"

J suddenly heard an alarm and turned to a convenience store to see what looked like the weirdest costume ever. J then criticized himself for asking the taboo question.

The man who broke out was inside the store, wearing a misty, glass ball over his head, a purple cape around his neck, an emerald-green suit, and yellow gloves and boots. He stood over the cash register and emitted an echoing cackle with two sacks of loot clenched in his fist. "HEHEHE…This is just TOO easy." the mystery man said in a low, echoing voice.

"I should just ignore this…" J groaned to himself, but then said, "Should, but won't."

J ran towards the person, then came to a halt just behind him. J placed his hands in his pockets as the person turned to face him and cocked his head, which still looked like he had a fishbowl over it. "What do you want, kid?" he asked, somewhat-dramatically.

J didn't really react to the insult, but simply stayed as cool as a cucumber and answered, "I'd like to know the name of my so-called 'destroyer'."

The man dropped the bags of loot, then put his clenched fists on his hips. "My name is Mysterio, the MASTER of illusion. Now, this is none of your business, so just run along."

J shook his head as he answered, "I'm afraid that's out of the question." J glanced at the bags and cocked one of his eyebrows at Mysterio. "Bet that'll keep you in the lap of luxury for a good bit. Anyway, I don't look like much, but I'm tough. So, how about we resolve this in a nice, peaceful…"

J reared back his fist, but just as he brought it into Mysterio's midsection, it fazed right through it. J stared in surprise, then waved his hand through "Mysterio" to see that it was no more than a combination of light and color. Mysterio cackled again, then faded away and THREE more of him appeared in his place as a purple-colored mist started to fill the store. J sighed.

"Why am I not surprised?" J quickly turned to sneak into a more silent place, turned into a wolf, and walked back out. _I guess I'm lucky that THIS bum drove all the other customers away…_

It was true, save for J and a bound and gagged cashier, the entire store was deserted. That and the mist provided excellent cover for him. J began sniffing. There had to be some form of scent around here, because these clones were no more than holograms…he found the scent alright. He followed the smell to another room and saw Mysterio in it, trying to sneak out through a cloud of mist. He snarled and changed back as he charged. J then ran towards the fishbowl-headed supervillain.

"Don't say I didn't warn you!" he said, quickly.

J threw a punch into Mysterio's midsection as the said villain turned to meet him. J's fist collided with Mysterio's stomach and the villain was sent, immediately, to the ground. J looked at the Mysterio in surprise, which was followed by a look of disappointment. "Well, THAT stinks! I only got one punch in. And why am I talking to myself again?"

"Maybe it's just you."

As J watched, the all-too-familiar Spider-Man swung into the room through the doorway and landed, cat-footed on the floor. "Thanks for beating Mysterio senseless for me. I was coming when the cashier started the silent alarm."

J looked over at the groaning Mysterio on the ground, then turned to Spider-Man. "Don't know why you tried tracking him down to begin with. I'm outta here."

J then walked away without another word, leaving Spidey to deal with Mysterio.

Mysterio

One of Spider-Man's enemies who uses special effects to try and confuse his enemies. He originally ran around in a Spidey outfit to try and frame the arachnid superhero once, but it didn't pan out so well. J met up with him and beat him senseless...with just one punch. He first appeared in _Spider-man 2: the game_ 2005.

_I based Mysterio off of the Spidey 2 video game. In that, he has high HP, but you can take him out with one punch. Because of THAT, I lost all the respect I ever had for the guy…_


	190. Green Goblin

Chapter 190: Green Goblin

Sora and co. reassembled after the interviews (J refused to talk about his encounter with Mysterio) at the Daily Bugle. As they headed to the office, (Mr. Jameson's office, to be precise) Sora and J made their reports to each other. "Well, most people seem to think that Spider-Man's a hero." Sora reported.

"And I have actual proof…" J also reported.

Sora stared, dumbfounded, at J. "What?"

J ignored him as he pushed the door open, but the two of them were more than surprised to see that someone had the same idea. Mr. Jameson was with someone a year or two older than Riku with a camera around his neck, a blue jacket, and jeans. He looked like a pretty likeable person, but Mr. Jameson was looking through a couple of photos the guy had brought with him.

"They're crap. Crap, crap, mega-crap." Mr. Jameson said as he went through the pictures, "I'll give ya a hundred bucks for all this useless junk."

"I'd like a job here." the guy said.

"Freelance, that's good. At least I have a decent photographer here, the ones that recently joined were a trio of weirdoes, a duck, a dog, some emo, a kid, an Australian punk and his girlfriend, and two other weirdoes with weird names." Mr. Jameson relayed, "'Sakuzy and Joyex'. What kinda names are those?"

Sora and co. walked in as Mr. Jameson was saying the last two sentences and the pony-tailed Nobody replied, "Ours of course. What else would they be?"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and co. walked out with exasperated looks on their faces. "I still can't believe that guy." Kairi said, irritably, "He's still convinced that Spider-Man's a bad guy."

"And I still can't believe that guy didn't return my left shoe…" Joyex complained. Indeed, the Nobody was walking with his left foot in nothing but a sock. How it got off, nobody knew.

Suddenly, the person Mr. Jameson was talking to ran over to them and handed the shoe to Joyex. "You…uh…left your shoe at the office." the guy explained.

Joyex took his shoe and as he hopped on one foot, trying to fit it back on, he said, "Thanks." Joyex finally shoved his shoe on and the person held out his hand, which Sora took.

"I'm Sora."

The guy nodded, politely, then said, "My name's Peter Parker. I'm…Spider-Man's unofficial photographer." To make a point, Peter handed Sora a newspaper. It showed Spider-Man standing in front of Mysterio.

J cocked his eyebrow as he took the paper. "Strange. I don't remember seeing you at that convenience store." he said, suspiciously, "And if memory serves, I was the one who knocked him senseless…"

"Read below the picture." Peter said, pointing at part of it.

J scanned the page before reading aloud. for the first few words, he sounded agitated. It was obvious Mr. Jameson had written this part out. _"...Spider-Man and Mysterio probably would have gotten away, if it weren't for a civilian with a black jacket, who refused to give his name."_

Sora stared, open-mouthed at J, then asked, "YOU stopped Mysterio?"

J shook his head. "All I did was punch him and he was on the ground, but that's beside the point."

Scott tore up the paper as he growled, "How can that bloke do this?!"

"I agree with Scott." Ryan said, "How can that guy bash Spidey, but give an emo like J credit?"

J punched Ryan in the face for reasons yet to be explained (most likely for the "emo" part) and earned him a stare from Peter. "I guess he has issues with the kid?" he asked Sora.

"If you only knew…"

Peter then changed the subject and suggested, "Hey, if you need a place to stay, I have a place."

Sakuzy scratched his head. This guy was the first person who didn't stare at Donald and Goofy without looking like they were part of a freak show.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Peter opened the door to a loft of sorts and some of the people went over to inspect the place. It wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. "I guess what's mine is yours for a while." Peter said, showing them around.

Ryan zipped over to the large window. "Big windows…PERFECT!" he said, eagerly.

Ryan looked ready to jump out the window, but Scott dashed over and grabbed the hyper-freak in a full-nelson. He then hissed into Ryan's ear, "_Not NOW, ya little bloke! Ya can't go paradin' your powers around like THAT._"

Ryan stopped, then understood the point. "_Yes, sir._"

Scott released a now-calm Ryan walked away, humming the original, cheesy theme song of Spider-Man. Peter walked away and J turned to Sora.

"We need to scout out the entire area for the Pure Heart or Crystalli activity." the shapeshifter advised, "It won't be fast, which is why I'm taking Ryan. The other person is Scott. He's one of the best trackers on the team."

Scott shrugged. It had been a while since he had had some good action on this journey. "Well, mates, time to move out."

Scott, J, and Ryan then jumped out the window. Ryan took off, J turned into a falcon, and Scott clung to a building with gecko-like pads on his fingers and began climbing around the buildings. Sora watched until the three vanished from view. He then noticed that April was okay with the whole thing and very thankful that Peter wasn't there…

"Hey, April?" Sora asked, catching her attention, "You seem fine with Scott leaving."

April flipped her head of brown hair back, then turned to Sora. "I've learned not to worry too much." she explained, "After he went to Camp Greenlake, I knew he'd come back for me."

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

A man with red hair and a tuxedo was slumped onto the chair. The board of the company HE started basically kicked him out. One of the members leaned forward and said, "You're out, Norman."

The guy, Norman, remained silent, then asked, "Am I?"

The man, Norman Osborn, stood up and stormed out of the room. He paused, then opened his eyes as he turned to some green flames that appeared and began speaking in a lower, more snarling voice. "Maleficent." he greeted, "I need some help…"

Maleficent appeared as the flames cleared and slowly slunk forward like a shadow. She cocked a thin eyebrow as she asked, "So, this is what you look like without the armor?" she smiled a serpentine smile, then said, "I prefer this look by far, because NOW you don't look like you're wearing a cheap Halloween costume."

Norman ignored Maleficent, then held out a hand as though expecting her to put something in it. "I'll be needing the Heartless and some of those SPECIAL bombs. Could you oblige?"

Maleficent stroked her chin with a long, red nail, then slowly nodded. "Of course. But you only get two of the bombs. Make them count."

Maleficent summoned two bomb-like devices with purple circuitry that looked like pumpkins. Norman took them, then pocketed them as he cackled a very quiet snicker.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Later, Sora and co. thought that they would visit a festival. Peter was there, said he had work to do for the Bugle. For the moment, he was snapping pictures for the Daily Bugle. He turned his camera to see a woman around his age with red hair talking to a boy around his age, too, with dark red hair, then stopped snapping. Sora noticed, then put a hand over his eyes to keep the sun out as he tried to look at what Peter Parker was looking at.

"What's up there, Peter?" the Keyblade Master asked.

Peter turned, slightly startled, and faced Sora. He shook his head, then lied, "Nothing. Just trying to focus my camera…"

Peter turned to the left slightly, then snapped a picture. Sora, however, couldn't shake the feeling that the guy was hiding something as he walked away from him. Suddenly, Sora spotted something in the sky; it started out as a small dot in the sky, but suddenly got closer to reveal that it was some sort of flying device that left a trail like a sky-writer. It looked a bit like a giant, purple bat with blade-like wings and several hidden compartments inside it.

Sora looked at said vehicle, wondering if it was some part of the festival, but suddenly noticed something: there was someone riding on it… "Wait a second…" he said suspiciously.

Sora's suspicion paid off, because a cackle emitted from the pilot and the flying vehicle fired two green missiles from its front. The missiles raced through the air and part of the building Peter was near a second ago exploded in a cloud of superheated gas.

April turned to the sound of the explosion, expecting to hear Scott's voice to shout "Strewth!" or "Crikey!", but none came. _Oh, right…_she reminded herself.

As the festival turned into utter chaos, Sora looked up and noticed the attacker was circling that particular building. "Donald! Goofy! Get me up there!" he called to them.

Donald and Goofy pulled out their weapons (thankfully, they didn't discard them) and Donald thrust his staff into the air.

"WIND!"

The gust of wind lifted Sora clean off the ground and he flew straight up like a rocket to land on the balcony. By now, the attacker was so close that Sora could see his physical features. The attacker had green armor that fit his form perfectly from head to toe and a mask that looked like a goblin with sharp fangs and yellow eyes. He was riding on the vehicle like a surfboard and had something clenched in his face. Sora soon found out what it was when the Green Goblin faced a group of people that had gotten shaken up from the explosion.

"OUT, AM I?!" The Goblin threw the thing in his fist to reveal a bomb that was shaped like a jack-o-lantern with purple circuitry designed into it. It rolled over and flashed for a few seconds before bursting in a flash of green light. The people screamed in fright and in an instant, they had been turned into Shadow Heartless and vanished into the shadows.

The minute the Goblin cackled at his success, Sora had had enough; he swung his Keyblade at Green Goblin, who simply raised his hand and grabbed it just below the key's teeth. With another cackle, the Goblin jerked Sora toward him and flung him off the balcony, but not before saying, "And Maleficent said you were a threat…"

Sora went in a free-fall and would've met a very messy end if April hadn't saved him. She had flown up to Sora and angled him out of the fall since catching him would have been worse than dangerous. Goblin flew after the two, but was least expecting something to pound into his face: a red-clad foot of sorts. Goblin fell a good distance to the ground and his glider flew straight through a balloon. Said balloon had machinery under it that was quickly collapsing and to make matters worse, there was a kid under there that wouldn't move, even in the face of danger.

Kairi suddenly recognized the one who had thumped the Green Goblin and was currently ready to save the kid. "It's Spider-Man!" she said, excitedly.

It was true; the red and blue suit of the wall-crawler was unmistakable. Spider-Man swung over on his web and seized the kid around the middle as he got him to safety. Goblin rose to his feet from his fall to see Sakuzy and Joyex pointing their Keyblades at him.

"Game over, buddy!" Joyex said, his Chain Thrasher at the ready.

Goblin threw up his arms in mock-defeat as he said, "I surrender!"

Goblin had no sooner said this when Sakuzy made to swing at him, but the Goblin brought his green-clad fist into Sakuzy's gut and sent him flying into a nearby car, denting the hood (and earning one heck of a complaint from the owner). Joyex fired his Chain Thrasher at the Goblin, who grabbed the blade just inches from his mask. Joyex's expression was completely flat as he said, "Yup. Running gag."

Goblin swung Joyex around like a lasso and once he reached peak speed, he threw the Nobody at a lamp post. Joyex crashed into it and his Keyblade's chain comically bound him to the lamp post. Joyex sighed, then shook his head in defeat. "How do I get myself into these situations?"

Spidey had noticed the Goblin, swung over to land in front of him, and threw a punch at him. More amazingly, the Green Goblin caught it in the palm of his hand. Even with his Spidey-strength, the Goblin matched him.

"Impressive!" It was then that Double G brought his green-clad boot into Spider-Man's midsection, sending him skidding over the refreshment table and crashing into the lamp post Joyex was chained to. The lamppost tilted, then fell over at an angle, sending Joyex crashing to the concrete floor.

"OW! Why me?" he groaned.

Sora summoned his Keyblade and charged at Goblin. This time, the Ultima Weapon smashed the Green Goblin across the face and earned him a snarl from said goblin. "HOW ABOUT WE TRY THIS AGAIN?!" the Keybearer challenged.

Sora brought his Keyblade down on Goblin again, but apparently he was smarter this time. The Goblin grabbed the weapon between his hands and heaved the Key up and it lodged itself in the ground. Sora thrust out his hand and it appeared in his hand again…a few seconds too late, because Green Goblin's glider returned to its master and the villain jumped on top of it as it flew away.

The Green Goblin flew over to Spider-Man, going very close to the ground, and a compartment opened up in his glider. As Sora and Spider-Man ran for it, the compartments revealed a pair of barrels that opened fire with the force of a machine gun. The bullets left a trail of sparks behind both of them, but both managed to get away in their own unique way. Sora dove to the left to avoid them while Spider-Man took to the air with a single shot of web.

Green Goblin tailed Spider-Man as he landed on one of the many balloons and made to rescue someone currently trapped on a crumbling balcony. Spidey bounced to help him gain momentum, then jumped…only to be intercepted by the Green Goblin, who heaved him up into a window, which shattered. As the two wrestled around in close combat, Sora threw his Keyblade in a Strikeraid that struck Green Goblin in the back. Said Goblin howled in pain, allowing Spidey to escape and end the fight there and then. Spider-Man did so by smashing his fist through the glider's underside and pulling wires out, short-circuiting the vehicle and causing it to fly out of control.

"WE'LL MEET AGAIN, SPIDER-MAN!" the Goblin roared.

Sora huffed, then looked at Spider-Man as he swung away. However, he suddenly noticed that he had a young woman in his right arm. Looks like he had managed to save one more life…

Peter Parker

The Daily Bugle's (and Spider-man's) unofficial photographer, Peter is a gentle soul and a bit on the quiet side. He seems to have some currently unknown actions for one girl, and he also has a little secret of his own. He first appeared in _Spider-Man_ 2002.

Norman Osborn

A power-hungry businessman who tried an experiment on himself and drove him...a little nutty. He was recently kicked out of his business, Oscorp, due to the fact that the board wants to get rid of competition. He first appeared in _Spider-Man_ 2002.

Green Goblin

An insane supervillain who has some connection with Norman Osborn. He's allied himself with Maleficent in order to get more power for his…other side. He uses a variety of high-tech weaponry including a high-tech glider and pumpkin bombs. He first appeared in _Spider-Man _2002.


	191. Two in One

Chapter 191: Two in One

Meanwhile, with J, Scott, and Ryan, the three were scouting around the city for any signs of the Pure Heart or Crystalli activity. Ryan kept zipping around in the sky, J was a bloodhound and sniffing around, while Scott was trying to find any trace like an animal tracker.

"How I'm supposed to find signs here, I 'ave no idea…" Scott mumbled to himself.

Scott's crocodile-skin boot suddenly went further down than his other one and he looked down to be left in pure shock.

The Aussie had found a deep imprint in the concrete: one with three "toes" of sorts, making it look like the elongated form of a rhinoceros' footprint. Whatever made this footprint must have been MASSIVE.

"Bloody Nora…" Scott said, staring at the depression in the concrete.

J and Ryan quickly took notice of the footprint Scott found and tried to speculate on what could have made it. "If any creature is heavy enough to leave a footprint like THAT in concrete, it's probably NOT human." J said.

Suddenly, Ryan remembered one thing about the Spider-Man universe. "Uh, guys?" He asked, "I think I might know what might've…"

Ryan didn't even finish when the brick wall behind them exploded. As the dust cleared, the three saw what must have made that footprint.

The culprit was a large man, more than two meters tall and more muscular than any man they had ever seen, even more than Petross. The man was wearing a full-body suit of sorts and a headset of his had two horns and a pair of mean-looking eyes. His face, however, was right where the headset's mouth would have been. His body bulged with muscle and his feet were an exact match to the footprints in the concrete.

"Well, well, well, who have we here?" The man in the rhino suit asked.

The man spoke in a low, growling voice, but he also sounded somewhat dull-witted. Scott didn't run from this guy, instead, he simply stood up and asked, "And who might YOU be?"

The man stomped his three-toed boot and created a similar imprint in the ground to the one Scott just found. He lowered his head, then answered, "Call me Rhino!"

The thug known as Rhino charged the three, who quickly moved aside. But when Rhino charged past them, he smashed into the opposite wall and created a gigantic hole in its side. Scott smirked at the villain's clumsiness, but it quickly vanished as Rhino turned on them.

"RHINO?!" Ryan gasped.

Scott sighed quickly, then sprouted a spike from his forearm. "Ryan, now's not the time to panic…"

Ryan turned with a confused expression on his face. "Panic?" asked the hyper-freak, "No. Rhino is one of my FAVORITE SPIDER-MAN VILLAINS! Think I can get his autograph?"

"Not unless he breaks you in half first…" J answered.

The shapeshifter quickly moved away as Rhino charged and threw out his fist. The fist smashed into a car and the impact forced one of the car's doors to bend so suddenly that it fell off its hinges. Scott jumped onto Rhino's back and made to plant his forearm spike into the big lug's back, but the minute the spike made contact with the gray bodysuit, the bony growth snapped. Scott stared for one second too long, because Rhino reached behind him and tossed the Aussie forward. Scott skidded across the ground, then landed in a heap as Rhino laughed at him.

"That all ya got?" Rhino asked with an edge of cockiness, "It'll take more than a mere spike to hurt MY suit!"

Rhino charged and looked ready to grind Scott into paste, but a sun-blast hit him full in the face. As Rhino recovered, Ryan zipped over to him and made a face. "Bet ya can't catch me!" he teased, being very sure to shake his tush at the brute.

Rhino didn't answer. Instead, he emitted a very ticked-off roar as he scuffed the ground like a bull. Ryan immediately took that as a sign to get running, then took off with Rhino in hot pursuit.

J looked at Scott and asked, "Do you think it was wise to leave the little hyper-freak to deal with a seven-foot brute?"

Scott waved this aside. "Don't worry. Ryan knows how to keep his cool, think up a strategy, and keep himself from explodin' again." he replied.

"So, what you're TRYING to say is that he's dead." J suggested.

Scott could only shrug. "Basically, but I won't give up me hope fer the little guy." He had no sooner said this when a blast of electricity shot from nowhere and blasted the Aussie's hat clean off his head. The blast had missed him so narrowly that some of Scott's hair was singed. "ME HAT!"

"Well, it's seen a lot." J said before "eulogizing" Scott's hat, "It was a good hat." J then shouted with less aggression than he'd use for Ryan, "GET OVER IT."

A split second later, ANOTHER blast of electricity was fired at J, who dodged just in the nick of time. "Alright, who's trying to kill me THIS time and why?" J asked, coolly.

Someone slowly approached from the shadows and revealed his true face…sort of. It was a man, judging by the build, but he was wearing a green suit that covered his whole body from head to toe. Personally, J thought that it was some sort of dumb Power Ranger costume.

"And you are…?" asked J.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Ryan was dashing through Manhattan as if a rhino was chasing him…which was basically what was happening: the solar-powered hyper-freak was being pursued by Rhino. He threw some blasts to try and stop the behemoth, but he just covered his face and continued pursuing him.

"Strange…That usually works." Ryan said, turning back and continued to run like crazy.

Ryan then took his feet off the ground and took off into the sky, but not being able to ascend, so he just flew just a foot away from Rhino's horn. Ryan threw blasts and tried to do the same thing.

"You just can't take a hint, short-stack!" Rhino snarled.

"First Crescent, now THIS guy…" Ryan muttered, darkly.

Ryan quickly flew through an open window of a restaurant and thought he had lost him this time...that is until Rhino smashed right through the wall. A guy was observing this and looked at the bottle of barbecue sauce he was using on his sandwich. "I've gotta go easy on the hot sauce…" the guy mumbled, tossing the sandwich over his shoulder.

Ryan and Rhino then ran into a bowling alley, sending the patrons screaming and running in various directions. Suddenly, one of Rhino's giant, gray hands batted the kid out of the air and sent him sliding across the alley's smooth floor. Ryan shook the cobwebs out of his head, then turned to a bowling ball stand, still lying down as Rhino approached.

_If I know my cartoons…_Ryan thought as he shot a small blast of solar energy right at the stand's support. Without the support, the stand toppled over as Rhino approached. His hoof-like foot stepped on a bowling ball and…smashed right through it thanks to his massive weight. "TV, WHY HAVE YOU BETRAYED ME?!" Ryan demanded, spastically.

Rhino had finally caught Ryan right where he wanted him, but suddenly was panting for breath as though he had run a mile. Rhino quickly went over to a fountain, then chugged all the water he could.

"Perfect time for a victory…" Ryan growled, but he then remembered something… "Drink."

_Enter flashback…_

_J was drenched in sweat after running as a dog for a while. Ryan zipped over to him, a curious look on his face. "J?" Ryan asked, confused "What's with the Niagara Falls look?"_

"Dogs can sweat in only one area--their paws." J explained, sounding like he swallowed a zoology book as always, "So, they overheat easily."

_"Oh…" Ryan said._

_End flashback…_

Ryan then grinned as he got an idea--Rhino's entire body, except his face (for air circulation), was covered in that armor-like suit, which meant that nothing could penetrate it, including sweat. So, Rhino's face had to sweat for his entire body. He found out something about his powers recently that could help--if he went HOT, not bright. He discovered this when he caused a milkshake to explode…Donald had gotten a faceful of the stuff. Ryan then blew a raspberry at Rhino and kicked his shin…something he quickly regretted.

"OUCH!" Ryan said, hopping on one foot. The kick to Rhino's armored shin almost broke the kid's toe.

Ryan quickly took off at high-speeds, returning to the first chase between the two. He had to wear Rhino out if this was going to work…

"I wanna smash you with my head!" Rhino roared as he pursued his target.

Ryan was running like crazy, letting his arms squirm, comically, behind him. He then began zigzagging, which was causing Rhino to follow his lead and lose more energy to try and cover that much distance. Ryan then glanced back and grinned at Rhino's suffering. Ryan then did a back-flip and landed on Rhino's shoulders.

"A'ight, Jolly Grey Giant," he said, playfully, "Let's see how much heat you can take!"

Ryan placed his hands on Rhino's face and they began glowing a bright yellow. Rhino roared in pain and Ryan turned down the heat just enough to make Rhino to break out into a sweat. Rhino tried to thrash Ryan off, but it only made him do that much more work until he completely exhausted himself. Rhino wobbled, then fell onto the ground with an all-mighty CRASH. Luckily, Ryan jumped off of Rhino's shoulders and smiled at what he did.

"And back to Mr. Anti-Hero and Aussie!" Ryan said to himself. He then took off to get back to J and Scott.

Rhino, on the other hand, groaned in defeat. "How could a squirt like him be that strong?" he asked, then flopped back to the ground.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

"Electro." snarled the person in the rubber suit, "And you're going DOWN!"

"And why would that happen?" J asked, keeping a cool head.

"You came to MY turf!" Electro roared in response. Then, much to their surprise, he removed the rubber mask and gloves to reveal that his skin shone like a lemon-yellow neon sign and was generating electricity similar to something Finklestein would have used. Electro aimed his hands at the two and blasted electricity at J, but the anti-hero back-flipped away from the burst.

"You know, I had a feeling that those gymnastic lessons would come in handy." J said to himself.

"Alright, mate, let's get goin'!" Scott growled.

Scott caused his fingernails to lengthen into claws and his canines to become fangs. Scott approached his opponent, his claws and fangs at the ready, but he was just an arm's length away when Electro turned on him.

"Oh, you wanna hold my hand?! OKAY!" Electro growled as he grabbed Scott's hand. Electricity coursed through the Aussie's body, causing him to scream in pain. His claws and fangs returned to their original state just seconds before Scott flew backward as Electro released him.

"Not quite what I wanted…" Scott moaned as he picked himself back up.

Meanwhile, J took a turn fighting Electro. He shifted into a Utahraptor again and charged at Electro, but got similar results as Scott. The human short-circuit dodged the beast and blasted the raptor with another burst of electrical energy. The shock (works in both senses) of the blow changed J back into his human form and rocketed him backward. Scott got back up and caused a bony spike to appear in his wrist.

_I 'ope this gets the same results as me drive with Sora…_ Scott thought as he concentrated real HARD on what he wanted done. He emitted a determined roar as he threw his spiked arm forward and the bony spike kept getting longer until it left his wrist completely. The force of Scott's moving arm threw the bony projectile at Electro, whose electrical body blasted it to pieces in the blink of an eye. However, it provided a distraction for Scott to jump over to J and the two ducked out of sight behind a corner.

"Well?!" J said, impatiently.

"Any ideas?" Scott asked.

"Yes. Naturally." Replied J, peering over the corner, "Electricity doesn't flow through air too well and you can take him out if you get him wet or use rubber."

" 'Ow do ya know this, mate?" Scott asked in disbelief, "Ya haven't been to school for six years!"

"I got curriculums to study." J replied as though it were the simplest thing in the world, "And now's NOT the time to be arguing!"

J had a point, seeing as he narrowly dodged a blast of electricity. Electro had seen them and was closing in…fast, too. Scott turned to see a convenience store and quickly made his escape.

_Perfect._ J thought, darkly, _The Australian jerk's run out, leaving ME to deal with this Electro-freak alone…_

J slowly emerged to face Electro, then made a convulsion or two and changed into a snake that was about three meters long and the color of copper.

"A snake?!" Electro asked before laughing, "What can you do as a snake?!"

_I didn't change into just ANY snake._ J thought before spreading a large hood. The shapeshifter quickly opened his mouth and a thin stream of venom shot out of his fangs and Electro got an eye-full of the stuff. As Electro tried to get the stuff out of his eyes, J thought, smugly, _I turned into a spitting cobra._

Electro quickly got the venom out of his eyes and aimed to blast electric energy at J only to see the snake dart away to hide behind a trash can. Electro would have blown the can to Kingdom Come there and then if Scott hadn't flown out of nowhere to punch Electro in the face. Normally, the Aussie would've gotten electrocuted, but he didn't this time.

_Care to explain why you left me with this freak?_ J asked via telepathy.

"What? I went to get some gloves." Scott replied, showing dark-green rubber gloves on his hands, "Sure, it means I can't use me claws or me spike, but at least I can…" Scott quickly held out his hand to block one of Electro's sparking hands, locking them in close combat. "Block this bloke's electricity." He finished.

_Well, I've gotta give him a hand somewhere…_J thought as he shifted back to human form. J grabbed a sizeable sheet of glass, which he took cover behind and ran into battle with the Aussie.

Electro wasn't able to blast the two, because the rubber gloves Scott had blocked the electricity and J's glass sheet didn't conduct the electricity. Electro then smirked as he slammed his hand onto the ground and sent a shock wave of electricity through the pavement. The two were immediately shocked out of their wits and sent to the ground as Electro slowly advanced on them. Scott's entire body was smoking as he turned to face J.

"Any other bright ideas?" asked the Australian anatomy-changer.

J's eyes darted around as he slowly got up, then he immediately noticed that Electro was right in front of a fire hydrant. He grinned his malicious half-grin as he took a trashcan lid and readied it like a discus.

"One, but it's a good one." J stated. He jumped to the side and threw his trashcan lid at the hydrant. It knocked the front end off and a torrent of water shot out of the opening, Electro getting caught in the blast. "IN THE AIR!" J commanded as he changed into a falcon. Scott caused his arms to turn into bat-like wings and took off as quick as he could.

Electro screamed like he had never screamed before as the water that was blasting him conducted his electricity, hurting him in the process. Finally, he let out a roar in absolute agony as all the electricity exploded out of him, draining all his energy and sending him to the ground, completely exhausted.

Scott and J touched down on the ground, Scott's wings changing back into arms and J changing from bird to human. Both, however, made sure to steer clear of any water. At that moment, Ryan came zipping back to greet them.

"Hey, guys! What's…" Ryan started, but stepped in some of the water around Electro and was immediately electrocuted. He screamed in pain, then shot out of the water to land next to J.

"Don't step in the water." J stated, staring down at Ryan, whose hair was sticking up and sparking in some places.

"Well, usually when we appear, it's just the buildings that get blown up, mates." Scott pointed out, gesturing to the crater created by Electro's explosion. Ryan stood up with soot covering his face.

"He's right…IT'S A NEW RECORD!" Ryan shouted. This caused J to thump him on the head with the back of his hand.

"Little pest." Muttered the anti-hero. Scott then saw something red and blue with black webbing and pointed at it. Without another word, they slunk back into the shadows and tried to follow the spider's trail.

Rhino

Once a common thug by the name of Alex O'Hirn, now he's one of Spider-Man's deadliest enemies, despite the fact that he's dressed like…well, a rhino. He's all muscle and no mind, so he tends to smash first, talk later, but that doesn't make him any less dangerous. He first appeared in _Spider-Man: the series _1995.

Electro

When Max Dillon got exposed to bio-electrical energy, he became the villain known as Electro. He's crossed paths with Spider-Man on multiple occasions and given the web-slinger some major hassles. He's able to produce electricity like an electric eel or ray, but he can be harmed if his opponent is in the air or touching a piece of metal. He gave J and Scott some trouble before he got all washed up (rimshot). This version first appeared in _The Spectacular Spider-Man_ 2008.

_I'm just using the forms of these villains that I liked their voices best in. Clancy Brown as Rhino and Crispin Freeman as Electro._


	192. The Goblin's Proposal

Chapter 192: The Goblin's Proposal

Later that day, Mr. Jameson had Peter, Sora, and Joyex in his office.

"Spider-Man and the Green Goblin." Mr. Jameson read, "These guys are all gonna have names now. Mr.…what's your last name again?" He asked, referring to Joyex.

"Never had one." replied the Nobody with a shrug.

"Ah, doesn't matter." Mr. Jameson sighed before saying, "Copyright the name Green Goblin, I want a quarter every time someone says it."

"How about Green Meanie?" Joyex asked. Everyone just stared at him as he shrugged. "Hey, it was worth a shot." Joyex explained, but upon seeing everyone's confused stare, sighed, then walked out.

"Spider-Man wasn't attacking the city, he was saving it." Peter pointed out.

"Same here. I saw it with my own eyes." Sora added, "That's slander!"

"I resent that." Mr. Jameson pointed out, matter-of-factly, "Slander is SPOKEN. In print, it's libel."

"You don't trust anyone, do you?" Peter asked.

"I trust my barber." replied Mr. Jameson, pulling out his cigar. Sora and Peter kept staring at him until Mr. Jameson asked, "What're you two? His legal department? GET OUTTA HERE!" Mr. Jameson tossed his cigar out the window as he said, "Let 'im get rich like the rest of us! Just…"

When Mr. Jameson was ready to finish, the cigar came flying back in through the window. Mr. Jameson looked through the window and something burst from the skies to grab him by the neck.

"Jameson, you slime!" shouted the person who was strangling Mr. Jameson. It was Green Goblin (who else?) and he was looking VERY ticked off. "WHO TAKES THE PICTURES OF SPIDER-MAN?!" he demanded in a shout.

"I don't know who he is!" Mr. Jameson gasped, under the pressure of getting throttled, "His stuff comes in through the mail!"

"LIAR!" Goblin roared.

"I seriously don't know who he is!" Jameson gasped, trying to find some way to save his own life.

Sora's eyes darted around to see that Peter was gone. He then saw someone behind Goblin, someone who was suspended by a web, upside-down.

"Spider-Man!" Sora exclaimed.

This was a mistake as Goblin turned to face the Wall-Crawler. "Speak of the devil." The Goblin said, dropping Mr. Jameson to the floor, painfully, too.

"Spider-Man!" Jameson snarled, "I KNEW YOU TWO WERE IN THIS TOGETHER, YOU…"

Jameson, by now, was making so much irritating noise that Spidey shot some web at Mr. Jameson's mouth, sealing it shut. "Hey, kiddo, let mom and dad talk for a minute." Spider-Man commented.

The Green Goblin held out his arms and some form of gas shot out of his forearms. "Sleep…" Goblin said in a somewhat-hypnotic voice.

Spider-Man got a facefull of the gas and instantly felt the effects of the sedative. He fell from his web and plummeted towards the ground with the Goblin in hot pursuit on his glider. Green Goblin swooped down and caught Spider-Man just seconds before he hit the ground.

"Oh no, you don't!" Sora growled before taking a running jump out of Mr. Jameson's window and earning a surprised stare from the Daily Bugle's head honcho. Sora fell from the window, but was lucky enough to actually grab hold of one of the glider's wings.

Green Goblin jerked forward as more weight was suddenly added to his glider, then turned to see what had happened. He was more than surprised to see Sora hanging onto the left wing of his glider with a white-knuckled deathgrip. The Goblin growled in slight frustration, then shifted his weight and the glider went into a barrel roll. Sora struggled to get a good hold on the glider's wing, but managed to grab the front part and stayed on.

Eventually, the Goblin knew that spinning wouldn't shake the Keyblade Master and tried a different tack. He started flying so low to the ground that he almost scraped the ground. The problem was that Sora's legs DID scrape the ground, but he heaved himself to the wing's side and avoided the ground. At the same time, he was actually trying to get up on top of the glider to meet the Goblin.

Goblin, on seeing that Sora wasn't dead already, snarled, "Give it up, already!"

"Not in your life!" Sora barked back.

Goblin brought the glider back into the air and shifted his weight so that he drove his glider's left wing into a building. Sora saw it coming and quickly shifted his weight so that the only thing the wing harmed was a piece of window. When the Green Goblin noticed, he brought his glider to a sudden halt and raised a foot to kick Sora off, but Sora was obviously smarter than that. He took his right hand while using his left to hold onto the flying vehicle, then summoned the Keyblade in his hand. With one swing of the Ultima Weapon, Goblin shouted in surprise at the pain in his thigh. Sora then brought his Ultima stabbing into the wing and used it to heave himself onto the glider and use it as sort of a lifeline.

The Green Goblin snarled in anger and threw a punch at Sora, which he ducked under in an instant. Goblin threw another punch, but when Sora made to evade it, the Goblin shifted the glider and it moved toward another building. Sora had one trick left, but he had heard that Roxas did it and was willing to give it a try. He held on tight to his Keyblade, then kicked off the glider and landed on the building's wall with his feet. He then proceeded to run along the building's side until the glider cleared the area.

When Sora had cleared the building, he landed back on the glider's wing with a resonating "thunk" and when Goblin's fist was coming to meet him, he quickly drew the Ultima Weapon out of the wing and used it to parry and strike Goblin across the face. It was thankful the Goblin's helmet was protecting him, otherwise the force of the blow would have dislocated his jaw. The Goblin cried out, almost dropping Spider-Man, but regained his balance to raise a foot and kick Sora in the face. The sheer force of the blow knocked Sora unconscious…and off the glider. Goblin swooped down, then grabbed Sora by the collar of his shirt and heaved him onto the glider. He would also be useful…

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

"Wake up, you two. Wake up." someone whispered into Sora's ear. He opened an eye to see Spider-Man next to him, not moving "No, you're not dead…yet. Just paralyzed for the moment." Goblin then appeared in Sora's line of vision just as his eyesight cleared up a bit. "Such amazing individuals, you two. The three of us aren't so different."

"I'm nothing like you…" Spider-Man said, still dazed from the stuff Goblin sprayed him with.

"Neither am I." Sora agreed, still feeling the place where Goblin kicked him, "You're a murderer."

"Well," Goblin shrugged "To each his own. I chose my path and you two chose the paths of the hero. And people found you amusing for a while, but the one thing that they like more than a hero is to see a hero fail, lose, die trying. In spite of everything you do for them, eventually, they will hate you. Why bother?"

"Because it's right." Spider-Man and Sora both said.

"Here's the REAL truth." Goblin stated as he slowly walked towards them, "There are eight million people in this world alone and those teeming masses live for the sole purpose of lifting those few exceptional people onto their shoulders. The three of us are exceptional." He reached down to grip Spider-Man's face in one hand and grab a handful of Sora's hair in the other. "I could squash BOTH of you like cockroaches right now! Join me and imagine what we could accomplish, what we could create…"

The Green Goblin let go of them as he pointed out another option. "Or we could DESTROY! Cause the deaths of countless innocents again, and AGAIN, AND AGAIN UNTIL WE'RE ALL DEAD! (1) So, what do you say?" Goblin jumped onto his glider with the agility of a primate, then said, "Think about it, HEROES!" After that saying, the glider took off into the night sky of Manhattan.

Sora massaged throbbing forehead, then stood up and turned to Spider-Man. "You okay, Spidey?"

Spider-Man simply held his head, then answered, "Well, I've certainly seen better days."

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora looked at a newspaper in a stand and sighed in a defeated manner--it said 'New York Calls for Spider-man's Arrest'. Goblin's words still rang through his ears.

_In spite of everything you do for them, eventually, they will hate you._

Sora walked away. He could tell that Spider-Man, wherever he was, was not going to enjoy this at all.

_(1) My favorite line from Double G. He's also my favorite character on Marvel/DC (a series on Youtube by ItsJustSomeRandomGuy)._

_Goblin: (passed out) I love you too, Harley…_

_Lex Luthor: Oh, shut up._

_  
Goblin: Could I have some Cocoa Puffs?_


	193. Beauty and the Spider

Chapter 193: Beauty and the Spider

Sakuzy and April were walking through downtown Manhattan. The reason they were here--try and find out what happened to J, Scott, and Ryan.

"Hello, what's with this?" Sakuzy asked as he pointed out a large crater, which was roped off. Sakuzy simply stepped over it as did April. She saw something and picked it up. "What'd you find?" Sakuzy asked, noticing April's absence.

"Scott's hat." April replied, holding it out. It WAS Scott's hat, but it had a large hole blown through it "He never leaves his hat…"

Sakzuy's eyes quickly took in the scene.

"Well, he's not here, but he's not dead either." Sakuzy said as he took in the scene around him, "No cadavers. Of course, the bodies could've been carted off or fried, but…" April glared at the Key-wielder from the future "I'm gonna stop now."

"Let's get outta here." April sighed and the two left the area.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sakuzy and April walked through the streets of Manhattan. Sakuzy's eyes darted around the area and he could easily notice that the uneasy feeling he had was thick enough to cut with a knife.

"I am NOT comfy here." Sakuzy pointed out, "People asked me five times if you're my girlfriend when my real one's still in Radiant Garden."

"And my boyfriend's somewhere else." April added.

"Lookin' for someone?" Asked someone who was passing by.

Sakuzy turned on being addressed to find that the person talking was the girl who was saved by Spider-Man at the festival. She didn't look much older than April, had flaming red hair, and bright green eyes.

"Yeah!" April said, quickly, "Have you seen a guy with a leather jacket, an Aussie hat, and likes saying 'mate' a lot? If you didn't see him, maybe ya saw some blonde kid with a red hoody or some guy who seems to like black?"

The girl thought it over, then shook her head. "No. Sorry." She apologized.

April hung her head with a sigh while Sakuzy simply said, "Okay. Thanks for the help, anyway."

"Glad to be of it." The girl said, then walked off.

"She seems familiar…(1)" April said to herself, but said the other part out loud, "Too bad she couldn't tell us where Scott, Ryan, and J are."

"Yeah." Sakuzy replied, then he noticed someone approaching. "Oh, hey, Pete!"

The guy coming towards them was Peter Parker, the Daily Bugle's photographer. "Hey, Sakuzy. Did you guys see MJ go by?" Asked Peter.

"MJ?" Sakuzy asked. He hadn't heard anyone by the name before.

"Mary Jane." Peter filled in, seeing Sakuzy's confused look, "She's about my age, red hair, and…"

"Oh, HER." Sakuzy said, before turning to where the girl was walking off. "We saw her heading over in THAT direction." Sakuzy answered, pointing to where the woman, Mary Jane, walked off.

Peter nodded, then darted off. "Thanks." He was at a fast walk at first, but he was soon running as he saw some figures slinking after Mary Jane like alley cats.

As if on cue, rain started falling from the sky and panicked screams came from the nearby alleyway. "If those aren't stalkers, then I'm John Denver…and thank goodness I'm not." Sakuzy said, the Eagle Feather flashing into his hand.

"Let's take 'em!" April said, really wanting to beat the living tar out of those thugs.

The two ran off towards an alleyway and found that…the stalkers were beaten senseless. They were on the ground, moaning in pain, and Mary Jane was completely unharmed.

"Looks like we're a bit late." Sakuzy commented, scratching his head.

"You sure have a knack for getting in trouble." Someone said, causing both of them to duck out of sight.

Sakuzy peeked around the corner to see Spider-man suspended upside-down by his web right behind an unsuspecting MJ. On being addressed, MJ

"And YOU have a knack for saving my life!" Mary Jane giggled. "I think I have a superhero stalker."

"I was in the neighborhood." replied Spidey. If he wasn't using one hand to hold himself up, he would probably be scratching the back of his head.

"Do I get to say 'thank you'?" Asked MJ. Gently, she pulled down the lower half of Spider-man's mask to just above the nose, then kissed him square on the lips.

"Well, isn't that romantic?" Sakuzy asked.

"Yeah, let's go." replied April, "These two need private time." April took a good hold of Sakuzy under the arms and took off into the sky. Luckily, no one saw them, as they were more concerned with getting out of the rain than looking at the sky. After a few minutes, April said, "Ugh. You need to lay off the cookies, Phil from the Future."

"I can't help it." Sakuzy said, defending himself, "They're delicious!"

Mary Jane Watson

Often referred to as "MJ" by her friends, she's Peter Parker's silent crush. He's loved her since he first met her, but pretends not to. Her bubbly personality hides a lifetime of pain at her father's hands, but she's a friend that anyone would want to have. She first appeared in _Spider-man_ 2002.

_(1) I want April Goodeve to be voiced by Kirsten Dunst, aka; Mary Jane Watson herself._


	194. The Secret's Out

Chapter 194: Secret's Out

Sora was strolling around Manhattan, leaving Goblin's offer out of his mind. But every now and then, the psychopath's words would buzz in his head like an annoying alarm clock. He then saw a fire truck drive past with its siren blaring.

"Wuh-oh!" Sora said as he followed it. On reaching the scene, there was a building blazing with flames, fire trucks at the ready, but the flames were anything but dead.

As Sora looked around saw the police restraining a woman that was trying to get back in the building. "HELP! MY BABY'S IN THERE!" she screamed.

"Cue Spidey." Sora said, then as if he was timing his appearance, which he usually was, Spider-Man swung out of the blue and smashed through the window. A few seconds later, he then came through with a baby slung under his arm like a piece of luggage. He landed next to the woman.

"Your baby's fine." He said, handing the infant to its mother.

"Bless you, Spider-Man." Replied the woman in relief, then she held her baby close, not wanting to let go.

"Someone's still up there!" Another woman shouted, pointing at the blazing structure.

There was someone in the building, because Sora heard a very audible shriek from within the building. Spider-Man looked up at the floor it came from, then turned to Sora.

"Wanna help out?" He asked.

"Sure!" Replied Sora, excited.

Spider-Man nodded, took Sora's hand, then slung a web at the window of the building. He pulled back, then took his feet off the ground, using the web as a bungee chord of sorts to propel himself through the window.

The inside of the house was certainly hotter than Sora had anticipated. The last time he had been in a place this hot was when he was battling with Jafar in the lava-filled pit.

"We're comin' for you!" Sora called.

There was another shriek as a piece of the ceiling fell down in a shower of sparks and splintering wood. THIS only made the two want to find the person all the quicker.

"Where are you?!" Spidey shouted.

Suddenly, through the burning wreck, Sora spotted someone with a veil over his/her face, weeping. Spider-Man saw it too, for he walked over and made to place a hand on the person's shoulder. The person wheeled around to show an all-too-familiar mask and backhanded Spidey away with inhuman strength. It was Green Goblin in disguise.

"You're pathetically predictable!" He cackled, throwing the veil away, "Like a moth to the flame! What about my generous proposal?" As he continued, Green Goblin fingered something behind his back. "Are you in or out?"

"It's YOU who's out, Gobby!" replied Spider-Man.

"Yeah, out of your mind!" Sora added.

"WRONG ANSWER!" Goblin snapped. Without even waiting a second to spare, he threw the object, which was another pumpkin bomb. But rather than explode, the pumpkin bomb split into several rotary blades that flew about like boomerangs.

"Oh, crud…" Sora moaned as he raised his Keyblade to break one of them in half. The useless blades fell to the floor with a clatter, but the others had other plans.

Spider-man had better luck against these gadgets. He jumped in the air and spun like a corkscrew to evade a pair of blades. When he landed, two more were headed for him, leading him to jump again and move his head away from both blades. However, just as Spidey touched down, Green Goblin was there to meet him and brought the heel of his boot into the wall-crawler's face. Spider-Man flipped back and landed on his feet to deliver an uppercut into the Green Goblin's pointy chin. As Goblin staggered back, the pumpkin-blades came back like boomerangs for round two, narrowly missing all three in the building. Goblin ran forward and threw out his fist Sora, who quickly blocked with his Keyblade on instinct, but the sheer strength of the Goblin's punch was still enough to send Sora skidding away. Goblin heard the whirring of spinning blades and narrowly ducked under three oncoming blades. The blades raced right past Goblin, but raced at Spider-Man instead.

"I think it's official. I hate those things…" Spidey groaned quickly. He raised his right fist to punch one of the spinning blades right in its unprotected middle. He used his left one to break another in the same process, but the third one clipped his forearm, tearing his costume and shedding blood.

Sora caught the oncoming blade with a Stop spell, then redirected its path to send it flying right back at Goblin, who broke it with his own fist. But the explosion of sparks it emitted was enough to distract the psycho. Sora turned to Spider-Man, who nodded. He returned the favor.

"Spider-Man!"

Spider-Man quickly shot a web at Goblin's mask, blinding the psychopath for a short time. Fortunately, a short time was all they needed. Spider-Man shot a web at a place just behind the Green Goblin while, at the same time, Sora threw the Ultima Weapon into the air. Spider-Man caught the Keyblade's end just as he used the web's bungee effect on himself. He pulled with all his might and with an almighty heave, chucked the Keyblade at the Green Goblin. The Ultima Weapon smacked Goblin right in the forehead, almost cracking it in the process.

"Here we go!" Spider-Man said as the Keyblade reappeared back in Sora's hand as quick as a flash. Sora jumped in the air as Spidey created a sheet of webbing that was thick and in a kind of mesh pattern. When Sora landed, he didn't stick, he bounced off it like a trampoline and smashed the Green Goblin in the midsection. The result: Goblin went flying backward and crashed into the brick wall with a resonating CRASH.

When Green Goblin got back to his feet, Spider-Man and Sora were nowhere to be seen. He growled in momentary defeat, then shouted, "No one says 'no' to ME!"

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Spider-Man dropped Sora off at a place not too far from the place Peter offered him to stay. However, Sora couldn't help but notice Spider-Man's injury; a gash about as long as his hand across his left forearm.

"Are you okay, Spidey?" Sora asked, scratching his head.

"Well, let's put it this way," Spider-Man stated, "This isn't the worst injury I've gotten in my crime-fighting days. Thanks for the help!" He thanked, then slung a web and went on his way.

"Who is Spider-Man, really?" Asked Sora.

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"Sorry!" Apologized Peter as he walked into a room with Sora and co. with a can of fruit, "It's a jungle out there, I had to beat an old lady with a stick to get these!"

The entire room chuckled. It turned out that Peter had invited them to come to an apartment he was staying at for dinner. However, due to various errands that the others had to deal with, the only people there were Sora, Kairi, and Donald. One person was also late: a friend of Peter's that shared this apartment with him.

"Hey, Peter," Kairi said, "Are you okay? You're all sweaty."

Kairi was right, because Peter did look a little exhausted, though he had managed to get his sweaty hair combed. "Yeah, about that. When I got this canned fruit, that old lady chased after me. She followed me for a mile or two before she gave up." He explained.

Joyex gave Peter an odd look, but dismissed his suspicion in an instant, because the door swung open. Through the door walked a person not much older than Peter with wavy, dark-red hair. It was the same guy with Mary Jane at the festival.

"Oh, there you are. Where've you been, Harry?" Peter asked, shaking the guy's hand.

The boy named Harry answered, "Oh, y'know. My dad held me up." He got a good look at the people around the table already, then asked, "Who have we here?"

Peter gestured to each one as he said their names, "These are Sora, Kairi, and Donald."

Harry went over to Sora, then shook his hand with a grin. "Nice to meet ya. I'm Harry Osborn."

As Harry shook Kairi's hand, she politely said, "Nice to meet you, too, Harry."

Donald expectantly held out his hand, but for some reason, Harry avoided contact with him and thanked Peter for getting his favorite canned fruit. Donald simply folded his arms and muttered under his breath.

"So," Harry asked, "We gonna chow down or what?"

The assortment of food included a tasty-looking ham, some salad for fiber, and a side of corn. But as Peter sat down, Sora noticed something...on the host's left arm.

"Peter?" Sora asked, "Are you bleeding?"

Donald got a good look at Peter's arm to see a streak of blood down his sleeve. The duck unbuttoned Peter's sleeve and pulled it back, revealing a long cut down it. "Lemme get my staff…" said the duck as he ran upstairs to get his effects.

"Whoa. How'd you get that, Pete?" asked Harry.

"Oh, I tripped and got clipped by a bike messenger." Replied Peter, quickly and nervously.

Donald then walked back with his staff. "HEAL!" he quacked.

In a quick flash of green light that smelled strongly of pine needles, the cut healed over and everyone at the table got to their food.

_It's a weird coincidence._ Sora thought, _Spider-man got cut in that same place…_Sudden realization dawned on Sora as he thought, _Wait a minute…_

Sora stood out of his chair, then tapped Peter on the shoulder. After getting his attention, he whispered in his ear, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Peter thought hard about this, then nodded. He turned to the others, then asked, "Can you excuse us for a sec?"

Without even giving a passing glance at the odd looks from everyone around the table, both Sora and Peter headed upstairs for a room that belonged to Peter. When they were sure that no one was with them, Sora turned to Peter and spoke in a hushed voice.

"You're Spider-Man, aren't you?" Sora asked. Before Peter could even respond, Sora quickly added, "I got to help Spidey on a rescue mission and the Green Goblin cut his arm. You have the exact same cut on the same arm."

Peter's silence was VERY reassuring for Sora, but he simply said, "Sora, I'm not Spider-Man. I told you that I got that cut from a bike messenger."

"If you're not Spider-Man," Sora suggested, pointing at part of Peter's shirt, "Then what's that red and blue stuff under your shirt?"

Peter Parker looked down at his shirt, then saw a VERY sizeable view of Spider-Man's outfit. He had forgotten to tuck in part of his shirt and it was a wonder no one noticed it before.

On seeing there was no point in hiding it from Sora anymore, admitted in a whisper, "Alright, I'm Spider-Man, but no one else should know." Peter then explained before Sora could even ask, "If anyone did find out, they'll try to hurt those around me in an attempt to threaten me. Do you understand?"

Sora stared, wide-eyed at Peter Parker, then nodded. "Don't worry, buddy." he assured him, "Your secret's safe with me."

Peter smiled. "Good." he said, "Now, let's get back downstairs. I'm starving…"

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"I can't do it." moaned Norman in his room of his house. He was really begging not to do it, but to make things weirder, he was looking at and talking to a mask: namely the mask of the Green Goblin.

"Yes, you can, Osborn." replied the mask with the Green Goblin's voice, "In the battlefield, Sora is all but invincible as is Spider-Man. But outside, they're as weak as anyone else." The Goblin's voice grew more and more malicious as it continued "You must educate them in the ways of pain and suffering. Make them wish they were dead, then grant their wish!"

"Yes, but how?" asked Norman, getting on his hands and knees and succumbing to the Goblin's will.

"The cunning warrior attacks neither body nor mind in order to be effective." Goblin said, oddly philosophically, "You must go for something…deeper."

"TELL ME HOW!" Norman begged.

"The HEART, Osborn!" replied the Goblin, "FIRST we attack their hearts!"

Harry Osborn

The son of Norman Osborn, Harry is Peter's best friend who is currently dating MJ...though it seems short-lived. Even he doesn't know Peter's double-life as Spider-Man, but he's still a loyal friend to the guy. He first appeared in _Spider-man_ 2002.

_Spider-Man's Bungee Bash (I named it after his power move in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance)_


	195. Goblin's Game

Chapter 195: Goblin's Game

An elderly woman was praying next to her bed with a picture of her deceased husband.

"Give us today, our daily bread and help us forgive our trespasses, even as we forgive other's trespasses." She recited, "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us..." CRASH! Someone blasted through the window on a glider, scaring the living daylight out of her. "DELIVER US..."

"FINISH IT!" Shouted the figure "FINISH IT!"

"FROM EVIL!" she finished in a scream.

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Peter and Sora ran into an emergency room, Peter looking like he had nothing to lose.

"Pete, what is it? What happened?" Sora asked on the way.

"My aunt's in there!" Peter answered, not even trying to slow down.

Peter bolted in and saw his aunt moaning from, what he guessed was, a traumatizing experience.

"Those eyes!" She wept, "Those HORRIBLE, yellow eyes!"

Peter walked out and stood next to Sora, both with different expressions. Peter's was one of shock while Sora's was one of anger.

"Goblin." Sora growled, but this didn't seem to be Peter's worry.

"He knows who I am…" he said with sudden realization.

Sora had a sudden thought. Kairi was back at the apartment. Sora bolted over to a pay phone, deposited ten munny, and dialed Peter's home number. He kept silently begging for someone to pick up, but just hit the answering machine.

"Kairi, if you listen to this, someone's after you!" Sora quickly said to leave a message, "Don't go out alone and…don't go up any dark alleys." The phone crackled into life and he eagerly asked, "Kairi?" All Sora got was a cackle.

"Can Spider-Man come out and play?" asked the voice of Green Goblin with every hint of pleasure.

"Where is she?" demanded Sora in a quiet, hiss-like tone.

"It's not just YOUR girlfriend who'll be at risk…" Goblin cackled again.

"Where are they?!" Sora demanded again as Goblin gave him the information.

Peter raced over just as Sora hung up, then asked, "What happened?"

Sora turned to him, then said, "We need to get to something called the Brooklyn Bridge. Can you give me a ride?"

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Kairi groaned as she slowly came back to her senses. All she could see were clouds and the midnight-blue sky. However, the last thing she remembered was walking into Peter's apartment and hearing the phone ring. She got up to find Mary Jane next to her and took a step back in surprise, but quickly stepped forward in a similar way. She had almost fallen off the edge of a support beam that was part of a great bridge and Mary Jane had had a similar experience as she got up.

"Oh my gosh…" Kairi said to herself, still curious as to how they got here to begin with.

Kairi and MJ looked around, then saw an all-too-familiar sight. It was the Green Goblin, flying on his glider, singing some mock-song.

"_The itsy-bitsy spider went up the water spout. Down came the goblin and took the spider out!_" sang Goblin as he fired a blast from his glider at a nearby support platform and tied a piece of support wire around a cable car filled with kids and hauled it up. Suddenly, he flew RIGHT towards them with his high-pitched cackle, causing both girls to scream in fright.

Spider-Man swung Sora over and the two landed on a building close to the bay and looked at the scene in disbelief. "Goblin, what've you done?" Spider-Man asked no one in particular.

"We've got to get over there NOW! Any ideas?" Sora asked.

"One. And you may want to hold on for this…" Spidey warned.

Sora thought fast and seized Spider-Man from behind as the web-slinger shot two webs at a pair of nearby flagpoles. He then started to pull back on both webs, going farther and farther, pushing himself to his limits as he kept pulling. Just as Sora realized what was going on, Spider-Man suddenly took his feet off the ground. The webs shot the two forward like a giant slingshot and they rocketed toward the bridge at blinding speed.

When Spider-Man landed them, it turned out that Goblin was waiting for them with the wire in one hand and Kairi and Mary Jane in the other.

"SPIDER-MAN AND SORA!" shouted the gliding madman, "This is why only fools are heroes! Because you never know when some lunatic's gonna come around with the statistic choice!" He shook the two girls, knocking MJ's shoes off and sending them into the water below as he continued. "Let die the girls you love! Or…" Goblin looked at the wire, which was hung over the bridge with the cable car. Both Spidey and Sora could hear them kids inside begging to save them. "Suffer the little children!" Goblin finished.

"LET THEM GO, GOBLIN!" Sora pleaded with the madman.

Goblin laughed at Sora's outburst, then raised his victims ever so-slightly in the air. "WE ARE WHO WE CHOOSE TO BE!" proclaimed Goblin, "NOW CHOOSE!" Goblin let go and all three of his victims fell.

"NOOOO!" Screamed the two heroes as they watched all victims fall, seemingly in slow motion.

Kairi's scream chilled Sora to the core, but it stopped too soon and there was no splash. As Sora watched, it turned out that her fall was averted when she landed on a large, black something. She looked down to see that she had landed on the back of a giant, black pterosaur with blood-red eyes. Sora saw someone on top of another person…who was wearing an Aussie hat. Ryan waved from Scott's back, who had his arms morphed into bat-like wings since Ryan couldn't use his powers at night.

"Hey, Sora!" Ryan greeted before pointing out, "We barely leave you for a few days and ALREADY you need our help!"

"Ryan, mate, I don't think that this is the best time for this!" groaned Scott under the strain of Ryan's weight.

_I used to say that the kid was dead weight,_ J thought to himself, _But this is a completely new outlook on it._

At the same time, Spider-Man sprang into action and jumped after MJ. He caught Mary Jane out of the air, who hugged him tightly as he grabbed the boxcar's support cable then shot a web out to catch himself. Spider-Man came to a sudden halt as he realized the situation he was in. He held the web in one hand, and the cable car's support in the other. Suddenly, he heard a voice speak to him over a megaphone.

"Ahoy, up there!"

Spidey looked to the side to see a tramp steamer down below, slowly approaching them. The captain of the ship quickly told him, "We're gonna bring the ship underneath you. Drop the cable car there!"

It took a bit of convincing, but Spider-Man managed to talk Mary Jane into climbing down the cable to the safety of the car. Unfortunately, Goblin had other plans. The madman flew in on his glider and brought his fist slamming into Spider-Man's fist, snapping some of the supporting web's strands and lowering both Spidey and the cable car a good six feet. Goblin was about to do it again when something smashed into his helmeted head: The Ultima Weapon Keyblade. Green Goblin made a wide turn, then pulled out a pumpkin bomb with purple circuitry as he flew at a new target.

"I always wanted to turn you into a Heartless again!" shouted Goblin as he hurled the bomb at Sora.

J had seen the whole thing, then said, _Take Kairi off my back, quick!_

Scott flew over and grabbed Kairi with his feet-turned-talons, then used his bat-like wings to propel them all backward. J flew as fast as he could as he changed back in midair and quickly began the metamorphosis. When it was complete, J had turned into an armadillo and curled into a ball, flying through the air like a miniature cannonball. J collided with the bomb and changed its directory, sending the sphere into the water.

By now, the tramp steamer was directly below Spidey as he lowered the cable car, gently onto it. The slight force caused Mary Jane to fall off, but she was okay thanks to the luggage the steamer was carrying.

"Thanks, J!" Sora thanked as the shapeshifting anti-hero changed back.

"Thank me later." J growled as Goblin flew off after Spider-Man, "Give the wall-crawler a hand!"

Goblin, in a fit of rage, soared at Spider-Man and caught hold of him with a cable of sorts that wrapped around the wall-crawler's midsection. The web support snapped and Goblin began dragging Spidey behind him through the air. Before he went too far, Sora did something both brave and stupid. He jumped and grabbed onto the glider's back, but at the altitude he was at, it was certain that had he failed, he wouldn't have gotten a second chance.

"Anyone else have a case of deja vu here?" Goblin asked, glancing back at Sora, "Ah well, might as well go with it!"

Goblin tried shaking Sora off, but the Key-bearer summoned his Keyblade and slammed it into the glider again. The flying machine jerked slightly and Sora ended up dangling by the hilt of his weapon. However, Green Goblin wouldn't exactly let Sora pull himself onto the glider again and kept moving around with Sora struggling to get on. However, the Goblin detached the cable as he neared the other side of the bay. Spider-Man flew through the air and Sora was quick to join him. The Green Goblin had jerked the Keyblade out of his glider and hurtled Sora to join him.

The two landed in an abandoned warehouse and regained their composure. But they had no sooner regained it when a pumpkin bomb landed in front of them. Sora and Spider-Man watched it explode, seemingly in slow motion. The blast front that the bomb created blew them both backward to tumble across the ground in an instant. Goblin flew towards them on his glider, then jumped off to land in front of them.

"Misery, misery, misery. That's what you've chosen." growled Goblin as the two got to their feet and began advancing on him, "I offered you two friendship, and you spat in my face!"

Goblin wheeled around and evaded Sora's advancing swing, then grabbed the Keyblade Master by the collar and hurled him into Spider-Man, who had just reared back his fist. Both tumbled to the ground, but were back on their feet in the blink of an eye. Green Goblin advanced on them and the two immediately jumped into the air for retreat, but the Goblin was there to meet them. He jumped into the area between them and nailed the two with a scissor-kick, sending both Spidey and Sora to the floor.

Sora sprang back to his feet and aimed his Keyblade at Goblin and shouted "LIGHT!" A beam of pure light energy shot out of Sora's Keyblade and collided with Green Goblin's midsection, sending him flying into a brick wall with a crash. Spider-Man shot webbing to seal him in place, but Goblin just tore through the webbing with superhuman strength and kicked Sora away just as he had summoned the urge to swing. To make matters even worse, Goblin turned on his heel and popped Spider-Man in the face with his fist. He jumped to the left just as Sora advanced, causing the Keyblade Master to fall back. Had his attack gone through, Sora would have carved Spider-Man in two. Goblin took advantage of the moment and brought the heel of his green-clad boot into Sora's chin, causing him to fall flat out on his back, then slammed his fist into Spider-Man's midsection, sending the wall-crawler flying backward.

Sora got back up and swung his Keyblade at the Goblin, who turned to grab it in both hands, then swung the boy around and wrenched the Keyblade away before slamming his fist into Sora's face. Spider-Man responded to his friend's trouble, but hadn't even gotten a hand's length away from Goblin when he was grabbed by the neck and hurled into Sora.

Spider-Man rolled off Sora, both with heavy injuries of their own. Part of Spider-Man's mask had come off, revealing Peter Parker's face and his nose and lip were both bleeding. Sora's nose had almost broke and he had a very sizeable bruise on the place where Goblin had kicked him. Sora barely had the strength to stand up, so, still on the floor, he held out his hand to summon his Keyblade and Spider-Man looked ready to spin a web. But the plan hadn't even gone through when Green Goblin placed his feet on their wrists.

"You've summoned your Keyblade for the last time and you've spun your last web." Taunted the armored ghoul "Had you not been so selfish, both of your girlfriends' deaths would've been quick and painless, but now that you've REALLY ticked me off, I'm gonna finish them, nice and slow…"

THIS was too much as Sora felt rage pulse through him as this threat sunk in. NO psychopath would harm Kairi while he still lived. Goblin then took out an unusual, but lethal-looking instrument and added, "Your girls and I, we're gonna have a HECK OF A TIME!" He then thrust the device into the two, but Spider-Man grabbed it and hurled him back.

Sora, despite his exhaustion and injuries, sprang to his feet and the Ultima Weapon vanished and reappeared back in his own hand. He caught Green Goblin across the face with it three times, each blow nearly denting his helmet. On the fourth attack, the Ultima Weapon slammed Goblin's pike out of his hand.

"Spider-Man!"

Spider-Man shot webs onto Sora's wrists and swung him into the Goblin, the Keyblade Master's feet catching Goblin across his face. The Goblin staggered sideways just as Sora spun Keyblade quickly and decisively, whacking the Goblin with his Keyblade and breaking the webs at the same time. Spider-man shot web again, but this time, he wasn't aiming to ensnare Goblin. Instead, the webs he fired were shaped like balls and the size of a tennis ball. THESE webs were being used as an attack, rather than recovery. "Now, THIS is for threatening Mary Jane!" snarled Spidey as he swung the Green Goblin into the wall and picked him up to punch him.

"No, no! STOP!" Pleaded the Goblin in a voice…less insane than usual, "It's me!"

Goblin then removed his helmet to show the face of Norman Osborn. Sora didn't know who this was, but Spider-Man knew instantly.

"Mr. Osborn." was all the Wall-Crawler had to say.

That name rang a bell in Sora's head, then he asked, "Wait. Is he Harry's dad?" Spider-Man nodded.

"Peter, thank God for you!" begged Norman. Sora was confused. Peter KNEW the guy who'd been trying so hard to kill them?

"You…turned the people on that balcony into Heartless." Sora pointed out.

"The Goblin did it! I had no idea!" shouted Norman, desperately, "Don't let him take me again!"

"You tried killing Aunt May, you tried killing my friends, you tried killing Mary Jane!" Peter ended.

"But not you." replied Norman, fingering something on his wrist, "I knew if anyone would save me, it would be you who could save me…" Norman held out his arms as though to embrace Spider-man. "I've always been like a father to you, now be a son to me!"

"I have a father." Spider-man said in a quiet voice before saying another five words that were filled with serenity. "His name was Ben Parker."

Norman just scowled before growling in the voice of Goblin. "Godspeed, you two!" Spider-man gasped as he did a backflip in midair and webbed Sora's elbows to heave him up, barely dodging the glider. The Glider had sprouted blades at the front that had been planned on impaling them both, but instead, hit a different target. The glider's blades went right through Norman's midsection and punctured internal organs. Norman groaned in pain as he struggled in vain to try and free himself. His dying words were "Peter, don't tell Harry…" he then slumped over his glider and slipped into the cold embrace of death.

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Gummi Ship...

On leaving Manhattan, Sora was back on the Gummi Ship with April tending to his wounds and Quartz's holographic head just behind her. Quartz sighed with exasperation. "Sora has a knack for getting himself injured." muttered the Crystalli.

"Hey, he's a hero AND a fighter." replied Joyex, playing a video game with Ryan, "What'd you expect, Optimus Not-So-Prime?"

"Stop calling me that." Quartz said, flatly.

J was tossing the Pure Heart of Manhattan up and down in his hand. It was red and blue with black web markings similar to Spider-Man's costume.

"Six down," J stated, catching the Heart, "Another six to go. We should consider ourselves lucky that Sakuzy found this."

April dabbed at a gash on Sora's shoulder with cotton dipped in rubbing alcohol, causing Sora to wince. "Ow! There's got to be a better way to do this…" Sora said as she continued to dab at his wound.

"Everyone else is busy and I've trained to be a nurse before." April explained as she finished cleaning the area around the gash. She then took a roll of bandages and wrapped it around the area Sora was hurt. After making sure it was good and tight, she said, "Okay. Good as new. Just don't take that off, okay?"

Sora moved his arm to try and adjust to the bandages. It was actually kind of comfy and flexible, moving with his arm rather than suppressing its movement. "Thanks." Sora said, slipping his jacket back on. Now that they were out of Manhattan, they had changed back to their travel clothes. It was for the better in Sora's opinion.

"We should be at the next world by morning." Quartz told him, "It will give you time to rest and recover from your battle." Quartz's head winked out of existence as he got back to piloting them through the multiverse.

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That night, J lay in bed, simply staring at the ceiling. Sleep had pushed itself out of his thoughts completely, but one sight in Manhattan had left its mark in him. When he saw Green Goblin with Mary Jane and Kairi like that, it brought back a frightening part of J's past. He scrunched his eyes and gritted his teeth in an attempt to keep it out of his mind, but it entered no matter how much he resisted it.

_Enter Flashback…_

_J was walking back to the apartment that he had called "home" for the last month. He had just been told to leave an hour ago and was going to go pack up what little he had and leave the immediate area. He suddenly noticed the door to his apartment was standing wide-open. Sensing trouble, he immediately dashed in. All the lights were out, so he immediately flipped them on…but he soon wished that he hadn't._

_Right across from the kitchen, a man wearing a hat and a black jacket held someone against the wall. That someone was the very person J loved: Maria Walker. On hearing him enter, the man turned to meet him and smiled a sinister grin. "Hello, my little playmate. I've been waiting for you…" He greeted._

_J's voice was slow, low, and had a very distinguishable growl in it. "LET…HER…GO. FIGHT…ME."_

_The man's smile only widened as he held Maria with one hand, then raised his other one and lifted a finger. "You want me to let her go? I will…but you weren't specific as to when I should do it." With an evil chuckle, the man moved his finger ever-so-slightly to the left. Before J's very eyes, the skin on Maria's forehead parted until it formed a horizontal gash. The scream in pain she emitted lit a fire in J; one of absolute hate for this man and how he could do this._

_"NO!!!" J roared. Without even pausing to think, he advanced on the man and punched the man square in the jaw. The gash in Maria's forehead was about halfway across and stopped growing when the man fell to the floor. When the man got up, J quickly darted away and seemed to grab something._

_The man crossed the distance between them in almost no time flat, then seized J around the neck and lifted him to eye level. "Look into my eyes…" He said, almost hypnotically._

_J looked, but seemed unfazed. "You took Thomas's power, didn't you?" he asked, "I guess you didn't listen to him. Your power won't work on me because I've regretted every wrong I've done. You, however," J suddenly whipped out what he had grabbed: a hand mirror. "You ARE affected by your own new power."_

_J held up the hand mirror and showed the man his own reflection, and the power of his new stare reflected back at him. For some reason, the man couldn't stand it: he actually screamed in what appeared to be pain. Eventually, he released J and clutched his own head, but J kept the mirror in front of him until he had actually scrunched his eyes shut. When THAT happened, J brought the hand mirror smashing onto the back of the man's head. The mirror shattered on contact and the man fell to the ground, out cold._

_Now that HE was out of the way, J went over to Maria and picked her up, bridal style. He had to get her out of there before the man woke up and did so with utmost haste._

_J kept running until he reached a quiet hilltop and got down on his knees, Maria still in his arms. "Maria…" J whispered, his hardened expression long gone and replaced by fear. For the first time in a long time, he was afraid. "Maria…" he repeated._

_Maria's eyes slowly opened, but she blinked blood out of her eyes and slowly focused on the person holding her. She smiled weakly, then said, "J…I knew you'd come…"_

_"Maria," J said, sadness in his voice, "I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have led him to you, I…"_

_"Shh…" Maria gently shushed. When J quieted down, she spoke again, her voice still weak. "It's okay. And it wasn't your fault." J looked at her, then his eyes widened as she slowly reached up and removed his sunglasses. She wanted to see his eyes for this moment._

_"Maria, come on." J said, taking her by the shoulders, "We can't stay here, I have to save you!"_

_"No, J." she replied, "It's too late…"_

_J couldn't believe what he had just heard. Was she just going to give up? He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't. Before he could argue, though, Maria slowly reached up and stroked the side of his face. "But don't grieve. I've proven that even someone like you can love and be loved."_

_He took her hand, then used the other one to gently take off a necklace: the same one he had won at a carnival just for her. "Take this." He said, lifting her head and putting it on, "That way, even in the grave, I'll always be with you."_

_Maria smiled, then said, "Take my locket." J's eyes widened in shock, but she continued anyway. "That way, even in the grave, I'll always be with you." She said, echoing J's words._

_J shook his head. "No. I can't take it from you; it was your grandmother's…"_

_"Which is why I'm entrusting it to you." She reasoned. Her hand slid down J's face, then went over his heart. "You have a good heart, J, so don't lose it." She sniffled as a tear ran down her cheek, then continued, "That's why I loved you…for who you are."_

_J saw the tear on her face and gently brushed it off with his thumb. On hearing that, he detached the locket and removed it from her neck before reattaching it around his own. "Thank you…" he whispered._

_The two had to do one last thing before it was too late. J lifted her head up, then they gave each other one last passionate kiss. When the kiss ended, J immediately noticed something was wrong. She was going cold._

_"It's time…" she whispered. She was struggling to breathe now, so she knew she had to make these last words count. "Goodbye, J…I…" she coughed, then managed to say three words that meant everything to both her and J. "I…love…you…" She closed her eyes as her words trailed off, then leaned her head back and lay perfectly still._

_"Maria?" J said, quietly, hoping to spend ten more seconds with her, five even. She didn't respond. "Maria!" he said, more firmly, hoping against all odds that she could hear him. She didn't respond. Now, he couldn't hold it anymore. J hugged Maria's lifeless body to his own and let the tears flow as freely as he dared. Finally, in an attempt to get it all out, he gave one final cry to the girl he loved so dearly._

_End Flashback…_

J's eyes shot open as he shot into a sitting position. His eyes burned, despite nothing being applied to it, and his breathing was heavy as though he had been made to run a mile. That memory was so clear in his mind, it was as though it had only happened yesterday. The pain it brought him was unlike anything he had felt before, or would ever feel in his life.

However, this was his pain and he had to learn to live with it. He had learned that a long time ago, but the memory of his love's death haunted him to the core.

_Spider-Man's Web Catapult._


	196. Kidnapped by Monkeys

Chapter 196: Kidnapped by Monkeys

Wangunga Jungle…

_Several bongo drums began playing as several leaves swept in and quickly drew apart like curtains, showing the words 'Wangunga Jungle'. The leaves pulled together and apart, causing the words to vanish._

Sora, J, and Ryan burst through a thick jungle. J growled as he glared at Ryan with so much intensity that it was a surprise that the hyperfreak didn't burst into flame.

"What did we learn THIS time, Syrus?!" Demanded J, barely concealing his rage, as he, Sora, and Ryan tore through the jungle. Ryan muttered something inaudible.

"So we can hear you!" Teased Sora.

"Never touch the red button." Ryan droned, monotonously "And always check with Quartz if it's okay to press it."

"Exactly." Snarled J, his rage bursting out like a flood "Because, otherwise, we'll get catapulted into some godforsaken jungle, nearly get eaten by some swirly-eyed loser of a snake, and get chased by some military elephant parade!"

"Hey, we're in the right world, J." Sora stated "I don't see why you're complaining. Besides, Bagheera said he's gonna give it to us if we help get Mowgli to the Village!"

"FYI, Sora, YOU'RE a man, too." J muttered, darkly before saying "The reason I'm complaining is because we're getting chased by THESE and got separated from the kid in his underpants!" J thrust his hand behind them to show a group of elephants marching behind them.

"Well, let's get outta this!" Ryan said as he grabbed Sora and took off. J then shifted into a bird and flew after him.

How'd they get into this world? Well, earlier, in the Gummi Ship, Ryan's curiosity overtook him at the sight of a large, red button. While everyone else was distracted, he slammed said button. Turns out that it was an emergency eject button…which catapulted himself, Sora, and J into this world. Luckily, this world had a Pure Heart. Upon arrival, Sora managed to stop J, who was doing his best to try and strangle Ryan. Then, they met up with a panther named Bagheera and a kid with orange shorts named Mowgli, who was to be taken back to a "Man Village" to be kept safe from a tiger that hunted man.

However, that night, some goofy snake called Kaa decided that he wanted people on the menu. Luckily, he didn't count on J, who had some form of immunity to hypnosis and sent the snake tumbling down into the forest floor. That morning, Mowgli decided to get into an elephant herd and a resulting crash separated the two groups and Sora and co. ended up in the marching path of the elephant herd, led by Colonel Hathi. The group then saw Bagheera jumping around on rocks, looking soaked.

"Hey, Bagheera!" Greeted Sora, who then noticed that the panther was alone "Where's Mowgli?"

"The foolish Man Cub." Muttered Bagheera "He struck out on..." This was quickly interrupted by a loud roar. Bagheera's frustrated look was replaced by one of worry "He's in trouble! I should NEVER have left him alone!"

Bagheera ran off with Sora and Ryan in hot pursuit. J sighed before changing into a cheetah and following them.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and co. arrived at a small clearing where a boy, Mowgli, was snarling in a pitiful manner to a large bear.

"Who's that?" Sora asked.

"Oh, no. It's Baloo." Sighed Bagheera before adding "That idiotic jungle bum!"

"Oh-ho!" Exclaimed the bear, Baloo "He's a dandy!"

Baloo then proceeded to smack Mowgli across the head and send him straight into a nearby rock. J slid down with Sora and Ryan as Bagheera laughed slightly.

"Fine teacher you are, Ol' Iron Paws." Said the panther, sarcastically.

Baloo looked to the three.

"Boy, more men are comin' here by the second." Baloo said before asking "Who're you guys?"

"I'm Sora." Replied Sora before gesturing to the two others "These are J and Ryan."

J just glanced at Mowgli before turning his attention back to Baloo.

"Tell me, bear," J said "Do you expect your student to remember the lesson after you beat him senseless?"

"Do you expect Ryan to remember anything when you do?" Sora asked.

"He's right!" Ryan shouted "Since J joined the group, I've lost HALF my childhood memories! WAS I EVER DANCING WITH A GIRL NAMED FRED?!"

Baloo scratched his chin with a somewhat guilty look before replying "Well, I didn't mean to hurt the little guy..."

"It's okay." Said Mowgli as he got up and walked towards them, a bit wobbly at first, but regaining his composure quickly enough. He then threw Bagheera a dirty look as he said "I'm a lot tougher than some people think!"

"You'd better believe it!" Replied Baloo with a huge smile.

"Ya know," Sora said "Mowgli can't stay here. He's gotta go back to the Man Village."

"Once again," J sighed "You forgot that you, yourself, are a man."

"MAN VILLAGE?!" Demanded Baloo "They'll ruin 'im! They'll make a man outta 'im!"

"I guess THAT'S why they call 'em Man Villages." Ryan simply said before Bagheera scoffed at this.

"And how do you expect him to survive?" Asked Bagheera.

"_How do you think he'll..._" mocked Baloo "What do you mean, _how do you think he'll..._" he pointed to himself, meaning business "He's with ME, isn't he?! And I'll teach him everything I know."

"Well, from my first impression, I know that task won't be particularly long." J muttered to himself "And if this goes into a musical(1)..."

"It'll be easy," Baloo pointed out "You've just gotta..." Baloo then clapped his hand before breaking into song and doing a dance, which Mowgli, Sora, and Ryan joined in on. J then slapped himself in the forehead.

Baloo: _Look for the bare necessities, the simple, bare necessities. Forget about your worries and your strife! I mean the bare necessities, the good ol' bare necessities of life!_

Baloo walked over to some vegetation.

Baloo: _When you pick a paw-paw, or a prickly pear and you prick a raw paw, well next time beware. No need to pick the prickly pear by the paw, but when you pick a pear, try and use the claw!_

As Baloo was singing this, he was gathering several plants, which he placed onto his claws like a kabob. He then swallowed it whole. He then hit a tree with his back and knocked down some fruits.

Baloo: _But you don't need to use the claw, when you pick a pear of the big paw-paw!_

He then tossed fruits at Mowgli, Sora, and Ryan.

"Have I given you a clue?" The bear asked.

"Thanks, Baloo!" Sora thanked.

" 'Paw-paw'?!" J asked, covering his face with his hand "What a bunch of junk!"

Baloo then grabbed J by the shoulders and shook him, vigorously, while saying "C'mon, J, get with the beat!" Baloo then left J to continue singing.

Baloo: _Look for the bare necessities, the simple, bare necessities! Forget about your worries and strife! I mean the bare necessities, the good ol' bare necessities of life! The bees are buzzin' in the trees to make some honey just for me! Get under the rocks and plants and take a glance at these fancy ants and maybe try a few!_

Baloo heaved up a rock and licked up some ants. The three boys looked...somewhat disgusted by this.

"You eat ANTS?!" Ryan asked.

"Heh, you'd better believe it." Replied Baloo "And you're gonna LOVE the way they tickle!" As Baloo said this, he let go of the boulder.

"LOOK OUT!" Shouted Bagheera. However, the three got out. Baloo then jumped into the water, followed by the three.

"Now, just try and relax." Baloo sighed as Mowgli clambered onto him "Now, kids, if you're workin' like that bee over there..." Baloo caught sight of a bee "You're workin' too hard. Just going around and around, lookin' for somethin' that can't be found!" Baloo then submerged and clapped his hands before breaking into song.

Baloo: _If you find out you can go along, without thinkin' about it, I'll tell you somethin' true!_

Baloo then belly-flopped over a small waterfall. Mowgli, Sora, and Ryan followed him.

Baloo: _The bare necessities of life will come to you!_

"Hey, how about you guys sing for a while?" Baloo asked the three.

"Finally, I get to act like I'm on Broadway without J punching me!" Ryan exclaimed before the three broke into song.

Mowgli, Sora, and Ryan: _Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities! Forget about your worry and your strife! I mean the bare necessities, the good ol' bare necessities of life!_

"I like being a bear!" Mowgli said, joyously.

"Sure ya do, and you'll make one swell bear." Baloo agreed before adding "Why, you even sing like one!" A large bird with red eyes was flying around and saw several monkeys in the trees. Baloo then began scatting, shutting his eyes. The monkeys then came down, shoved Sora and Ryan into the water and pulling Mowgli into the trees, placing one of their own on him. When Sora and Ryan came out from the water they saw Baloo swiping at the monkey, all the while shouting, spastically "WHY YOU, FLAT-NOSED, BEADY-EYED, FLAKY CREEP!" Baloo then stood up and continued shouting to the monkeys "You monkeys let go of my man-cub!" Baloo then tripped and fell into the water.

"Leave this to a guy with speed!" Ryan said with a cocky grin as he flew out of the water and got onto dry land.

"Here he is!" Shouted a monkey, bringing Mowgli in front of a tree "Come and get him!" Ryan zipped forward, but the chimps pulled Mowgli up so the hyper-freak ran, headlong, into the tree.

"Gotta work on the brakes..." Ryan groaned before falling to the ground, grinning dazedly, out like a light.

"That's how a bear can rest at ease!" Said a monkey as Sora ran towards them with his Keyblade "Here's some bare necessities!" The monkeys then proceeded to pelt Sora eleven times with various fruits.

"I'd like to see ya try that..." Sora was quickly interrupted as a large fruit went, smashing into his face. Baloo then tore through the jungle, trying to catch Mowgli.

"C'mon, back it up! FASTER! FASTER! FASTER!" Shouted one of the monkeys as Baloo backed up. However, he didn't know that two monkeys pulled a vine tight, which tripped Baloo and sent him to the canyon below. The monkeys swung away with Mowgli.

"BAGHEERA!" Shouted Baloo. Sora wiped the pulp off his face and walked over to Ryan, nudging him. J then fell out of nowhere.

"How long have YOU been here?" Sora asked.

"TOO long." Replied J.

"Is Ryan okay?" Sora asked, pointing to the fallen hyper-freak. J checked Ryan's vital signs. The anti-hero then got a somewhat revolted

"Well, other than that unsettling grin on his face," J pointed out before finishing "I think he'll live."

"BAGHEERA!" Shouted Baloo from out of the canyon.

Sora then looked at J before asking "Were you following us?"

"Yes." Replied J "Ever since the kid got kidnapped. I hated the musical number, but it was pretty amusing to watch you three try and get him back."

"BAGHEERA!" Screamed Baloo, but Bagheera was a few inches from his mouth and began vibrating. Baloo grinned, sheepishly, before saying "Oh, you heard me, huh?"

"What happened?!" Demanded Bagheera as he grabbed Baloo's face "Where's Mowgli?!"

"The monkeys out-witted him, Sora, and Syrus at the same time." J answered before adding "And they carried him off."

"The ancient ruin!" Bagheera explained before sighing in exasperation "I hope they don't show him to that king of theirs!"

Bagheera, Baloo, Sora, and J (who had Ryan slumped over his shoulders) ran off to where the monkeys were swinging off to.

Mowgli

A young boy who was raised by wolves. Now, he's, reluctantly, returning to the Man Village. But, he's not leaving quietly. His old friend is Bagheera and his best friend is Baloo. He was recently kidnapped by monkeys. He first appeared in _the Jungle Book_ 1967.

Bagheera

A panther who helped Mowgli get raised by wolves. He's kind, but often brisk and not so flexible, but only wants what would be better for Mowgli in the long run. He first appeared in _the Jungle Book_ 1967.

Baloo

This bear is to Bagheera what Scott is to J--the panther's polar opposite. He's super-loose, fun-loving, and wants Mowgli to stay in the jungle. But, like Bagheera, cares for Mowgli's long-term safety. He has a good sense of rhythm and only looks for the "bare necessities". He first appeared in _the Jungle Book_ 1967.

_(1) Dimensiondude's of the same opinion. He hates musical numbers. In his opinion, the less musicals, the better._


	197. Monkeying Around

Chapter 197: Monkeying Around

Sora and co. arrived at some crumbling ruin and heard music going on inside.

"Oh, don't tell me that there's ANOTHER musical number..." J moaned as they walked in. Mowgli was dancing with monkeys and an orangutan. Ryan suddenly returned to consciousness.

"What'd I miss?" Ryan asked, dazedly.

"Mowgli got kidnapped by monkeys." Replied Sora.

"Is that all?" Ryan asked. J then dropped him onto the ground "OW! That wasn't very nice…"

"Who's the orangutan?" Sora asked.

"King Louie." Replied Bagheera "He's more lazy than Baloo."

"Alright," Ryan said, getting up and making solar balls in his hands "I say you guys let me blow this place up!"

"No, Ryan." Sora said, quickly, and forcing the hyper-freak's hands to his sides "This will take strategy..."

J's eyes were following something, what they were became apparent as he simply stated "Baloo's going into the party..."

Baloo was, indeed, walking into the party in a kind of dance motion.

"NOT YET, BALOO!" Shouted Bagheera.

The four followed Baloo into the party, but staying out of the way. J then turned into a black squirrel and skittered away as Bagheera, Sora, and Ryan tried grabbing Mowgli, however the chances of them getting spotted were too big, so they took up poses on a small dais. As the small band walked past, they made a motion to grab Mowgli only to have the door slam into their faces. Baloo came out with leaves on his head and waist and a coconut, broken in two, on his upper and lower jaws. All of these made him look like an orangutan.

_Oh, he is NOT falling for this..._ J groaned through his telepathy. King Louie did.

The two then began scatting and dancing. Meanwhile, Bagheera, Sora, and Ryan were still doing their best to try and recapture Mowgli. Louie and Baloo then began singing.

Louie and Baloo: _So, oobie-do! I wanna be like you! I wanna walk like you, talk like you, ooo. And you say it's true, that someone like me can learn to be like someone like you!_

_Well, if they want a distraction, they're gettin' one._ J thought as he gnawing through Baloo's leaf skirt, which fell apart. J then turned into a monkey as Baloo's entire costume fell apart and Louie glowered at him.

Baloo continued scatting, but noticed what happened and only had to say "Man..."

"It's Baloo the bear!" Shouted King Louie. He sounded sort of like a jazz musician "HOW'D THAT SQUARE GET IN HERE?!"

"Baloo!" Exclaimed Mowgli as he ran for Baloo as J shifted back into human and Bagheera, Ryan, and Sora ran into the ruin "It's you!"

Baloo took Mowgli, who was snatched by a monkey. King Louie then took the Man Cub and continued running. Ryan then zipped over and took Mowgli after bonking the orangutan on the head. A monkey then snatched Mowgli from Ryan's hand and zipped away as it came to Bagheera, who snarled at it and made a swipe. J then turned into a cheetah and took off after the monkey. Baloo raised a heavy club and looked ready to pound the monkey into the ground like a nail and would've done so if the monkey hadn't dodged and if J hadn't had a problem turning at that point. Sora was chasing King Louie, who snatched Mowgli back. Sora grabbed one of Mowgli's arms as Louie grabbed a pillar. Sora pulled and Louie came away, still clutching that chunk of pillar. He then noticed what happened and thrust Mowgli into Sora. He then began supporting the entire castle just by replacing the pillar with himself. Sora then grinned, mischievously, and handed Mowgli to Bagheera. Sora then began tickling Louie, causing the jazzy king to laugh out loud. Several monkeys then charged at Sora, using a statue as a battering ram, and slammed it into the Key-bearer, knocking King Louie aside and forcing Sora into the King's old position. Sora grinned, sheepishly, before leaving the entire structure to crumble away. A large chunk of the ruin landed on Bagheera's tail and the panther screeched in pain. Another chunk landed on Baloo's head. J ran out, massaging the place where Baloo hit him on accident. They then reached rendezvous point and Baloo, surprisingly, chuckled at this.

"Man," said the bear "Now, that's what I call one swingin' party..."

King Louie

The somewhat jazzy king of the monkeys. He had his people kidnap Mowgli so that he could get the secret of fire. Now, his palace is in shambles. He first appeared in _the Jungle Book_ 1967.


	198. Runaway

Chapter 198: Runaway

Baloo tucked Mowgli into a bed of leaves and sighed as he looked at Mowgli.

"Well, that was quite a hassle." Sora pointed out.

"Baloo..." Bagheera tried saying, but Baloo shushed him.

"Keep it down." Murmured Baloo, keeping his voice low "The kid's had a rough day."

"Maybe that should be plural." Ryan pointed out "I'm exhausted."

"I just hope that the kid learned something." J said. Mowgli yawned in his sleep and hummed some scat before returning to sleep "I stand corrected. The kid's still a music nut..."

"You four had better follow me. The man cub's gotta sleep." Bagheera pointed out. Sora kicked himself up and walked away with J, Ryan, Baloo, and Bagheera. They stopped near a pool "Baloo, Mowgli must go to the Man Village." Baloo simply satisfied himself with eating grapes. Bagheera growled in frustration "Look, birds of a feather must flock together."

"Scott's of the same opinion." J muttered, darkly, but meaning it as a compliment to the Australian anatomy-changer.

"What're you talkin' about?" Asked Baloo, still munching on some grapes. Bagheera growled at his inability to put this into words.

"Baloo," Bagheera continued before saying "The wild is no place for a child."

"My buddy, Scott, grew up in the wild." Ryan said.

"Yeah, and he's a half-laid back bum who can't stand not using his powers for more than a week." J pointed out.

Gummi Ship...

Scott sneezed.

"Caught somethin', Scott?" Sakuzy asked.

"Nah." Replied Scott.

Wangunga Jungle...

"Besides," Baloo replied "I grew up in the jungle. Take a look at me."

"Yeah and you're a bigger bum than that dang Aussie." J growled "Not to mention that shiner you have."

Baloo looked into the water and touched his black eye in a manner of affection "Yeah, it's a beauty, isn't it?"

"It's HIDEOUS." Bagheera pointed out.

"Well, you don't look like a basket of fruits yourself." Replied Baloo, pointing a claw at Bagheera. Bagheera snorted at this.

"That's beside the point." The panther said "You cannot adopt Mowgli as your son. The jungle isn't a safe place for him."

Baloo then began scratching himself on a tree as he replied "Hey, I can keep the kid safe."

"Yes, just like when the monkeys kidnapped him." Bagheera pointed out with a sarcastic tone, but it paled against J's sarcastic remarks.

"Can't a guy make one mistake?" Baloo asked. J smirked, remembering a conversation almost exactly like this with Scott in Baloo's place and himself as Bagheera.

"NOT in the jungle!" Bagheera replied "Besides, sooner or later, Mowgli will have to meet Shere Khan."

THIS, above all else, was what got Baloo's attention. He was originally relaxed, but this made him look...terrified at the mere mention of this name. Bagheera explained the situation to Sora, Ryan, and J. He explained how Shere Khan would kill humans without mercy and would probably kill Mowgli at the earliest opportunity.

"The tiger?" Asked Baloo, terrified "What's he got against him?"

"He HATES man." Replied Bagheera "You know that. He wants Mowgli dead because he hates man and man's fire."

"But, Mowgli doesn't have those things!" Baloo objected.

"Shere Khan won't give him the chance." Bagheera replied, holding out his paw with claws extended to make a point "He'll get Mowgli while he's young and weak. With ONE swipe..." the panther swiped his claws, but was interrupted by Baloo.

"No!" Baloo moaned before saying, shakily "What do we do?"

"We keep him safe." Replied J, coldly "I may have...emotional issues, but I do know what to do if it's right."

"Whatever's right, I'll do it!" Baloo said to the shapeshifter "You just name it."

"The only way for Mowgli to be safe from Shere Khan is to go back to the Man Village." Sora replied for J.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Baloo demanded "I promised him he could stay in the jungle with me!"

"That's the point." Bagheera replied, trying to be truthful and tactful at the same time "As long as he's with YOU, he's in danger."

Baloo was lost for words as he looked at Mowgli, asleep. All he had to say was "I love that kid. I love him like he was my own cub."

"Then think about what's best for Mowgli and not yourself." Bagheera replied.

Baloo was lost in thought and stuttered a bit before asking "Can't I wait until morning?"

Sora then saw that Ryan was gone. The Keyblade Master remembered Ryan's usual active time—at the crack of dawn as he pointed out "It's already morning." Baloo glanced around before sighing. Sora decided to leave Baloo alone with Mowgli.

"Good idea..." muttered J as he walked away "Oh, right. RYAN!" Ryan zipped over to J.

"What is it, sir?" Ryan asked, dutifully.

"Let's give Baloo some private time." J replied. He then grabbed Ryan and heaved him over his shoulders.

"Could you give me a position with a little more dignity?" Ryan asked.

"MOWGLI!" Shouted Baloo as he tore through the undergrowth.

"What happened NOW?" Ryan asked, expecting anything.

"I said EXACTLY what Baggy said I should and he ran out on us!" Baloo replied.

"YOU LOST HIM?!" Sora asked, dumbfounded "Guys, we've gotta split up!"

"Roger." J replied, changing into a squirrel and climbing around the trees. Ryan then flew above the canopy and took off. Sora looked at Baloo.

"Looks like we're teaming up for this." Sora stated. Baloo already walked away.

"Oh, if anything happens to that kid, I'll NEVER forgive myself!" Moaned the bear.

"We can find him." Sora said, trying his best to comfort Baloo. The two then walked off into the jungle.

"MOWGLI!"

"MOWGLI!"


	199. Shere Khan

Chapter 199: Shere Khan

A tiger was stalking his quarry—a doe who had wandered away from the rest of its herd. It laid itself down, looking ready to pounce. However, a loud, elephantine trumpet burst through the jungle. The doe, startled by this, took off. The tiger, who was named Shere Khan, growled in frustration.

"What beastly luck." Growled Shere Khan in a sophisticated, British accent "Oh, blast that confounded Colonel Hathi!"

The tiger walked over to the elephants, fuming at his loss, when that little, hyperactive brat Maleficent had shown him. The kid hovered above the marching elephants.

"Hey, may I have your attention?" Asked the hyperfreak, getting no response "Wait a minute…" Ryan then got an idea and shouted, at the top of his lungs "HALT!"

The elephants had a train-wreck. The lead elephant, Colonel Hathi, glowered around.

"Who commanded 'halt'?!" Demanded the general "I won't have any mutineers in my brigade!"

"It was me, Mr. Hathi." Replied Ryan as he darted up the elephant and looked at him between the eyes. Hathi then grabbed Ryan by the hood and heaved him in front of his eyes.

"You seem familiar." Stated Hathi "Have we met before?"

"If you count nearly trampling me, then yes." Replied Ryan before saying "But, that's beside the point. Anyway, we tried getting that kid back to the Man Village."

All the while, Shere Khan was listening to the conversation with growing interest.

"Good." Replied Hathi "That's where he belongs."

"You obviously missed the 'tried' part." Ryan sighed before continuing "Seriously, dude, the little kid went and ran off. Can ya believe it?"

"How interesting…" Shere Khan grinned to himself.

"PLUS," Ryan added "He might run into some tiger named Sure Can."

"Shere Khan." Hathi corrected before adding "And the tiger is miles away from here."

"Wishful thinking…" Shere Khan said, quietly. He then turned to the small field behind him "Oh, Heartless." Several Power Wild Heartless appeared "Go and find the Man Cub and the Princess of Heart, if you can find her." The Heartless then vanished as Shere Khan walked into the jungle "Now, I shall begin my rendezvous with the lost Man Cub."

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J changed into a monkey and began clambering around a tree. He then turned into a raccoon and glanced around for signs.

_Well, he couldn't have gotten far…_ J thought to himself.

"Excusssssse me…" said a voice. J looked up to see a large python, staring at him, and his eyes swirling with various rings of blue, yellow, and turquoise.

_Oh, no. Not you AGAIN._ J thought to himself, his tone ringing with exasperation. J then changed back and removed his sunglasses to show his ruby-red irises. He just…stared at Kaa before grabbing the python by the neck and flinging him down. "I told you before," the anti-hero stated as he jumped up to a large amount of coiled up coils "Your hypnosis doesn't work on me." J then kicked the coils down.

"Oh, ratssssss." Kaa muttered to himself as his entire body fell down to earth with a SQUISH. Kaa then looked out to see J jumping from branch to branch. The python glowered at this "If I never ssssssee that jerk again, it'll be too soon." Kaa then scooched off with a knot in his tail and moaned "Oh, my sssssssinusssssses…"

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Ryan darted through the forest with enough speed to quickly pluck the petals off a flower. Something then grabbed him by the throat and pulled him into the undergrowth.

"HEY! LEMME GO!" Ryan shouted, struggling against his captor "WHAT'RE YOU TRYIN' TO DO, KILL ME?!"

"It's funny you should say that…" replied a cold, British accent. It was Shere Khan.

"I take it that YOU'RE this Shere Khan that Baggy told us about…" Ryan whimpered.

"Yes, I am Shere Khan." Replied the tiger before letting his claws out and tapping them like fingers "I just stopped by to see if you could direct me to the Princess of Heart. Speak, boy."

"She's NOT here." Ryan answered.

"Selective misinformation will not help you." Shere Khan pointed out, clearing Ryan's nostrils with his claw "Now, I will ask again, where is the Princess of Heart named Kairi."

"Y'know those hunters you hate?" Ryan asked, grinning mischievously "Well, I make 'em look like kids play." Ryan then caused a solar ball to appear in his hand and shot it into the tiger's face. It didn't blind Shere Khan, but it did manage to confuse him long enough for Ryan to escape "Man, Shere Khan's with Maleficent! I've gotta tell Sora!" Ryan then took off into the skies.

Shere Khan growled and one of the Power Wilds appeared to report.

"So, the man cub's near those vultures?" Asked Shere Khan before walking away "Then so shall I…"

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Sora wandered into a wasteland. He and Baloo had decided to split up earlier to cover more ground. He then saw Mowgli dancing with a group of vultures—one was bald, the other had blonde hair, the third had brown hair, and the last had a mop-top that covered his eyes. He then saw a tiger wandering towards them with a small group of Heartless.

"Guess this is Shere Khan." Sora whispered to himself, summoning his Keyblade. Sora charged to fight, but was blocked by several Power Wilds "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Sora swung his Keyblade to strike down the Heartless, releasing their captive hearts. Sora ran through only to see Shere Khan talking with Mowgli.

"Thank you for keeping the boy…occupied." Shere Khan thanked the vultures. The vultures were obviously afraid.

"Uh…d-don't mention it." Replied the blonde vulture, stammering. He gulped before adding "Your honor."

Shere Khan chuckled at their fear before saying "Boo." The vultures screamed before darting away behind a tree.

"RUN, FRIEND! RUN!" Shouted the bald vulture to Mowgli.

"Run?" Mowgli asked "Why should I run?"

"Hey, Mowgli." Sora greeted as he walked over to the Man Cub.

"Oh, you're the Keyblade Master, are you?" Shere Khan asked before saying "Maleficent's promised a VERY high pay for the person who brings you down. Do you know who I am?"

"That's obvious." Sora replied "Shere Khan."

"Yes." Said Shere Khan before answering Mowgli's question "And you must know that EVERYONE runs from Shere Khan."

"Not me." Mowgli simply said with a somewhat stubborn voice "I don't run from ANYONE."

"Same here." Sora agreed.

"Hmm…you two seem brave enough, so I'll give you a sporting chance." Shere Khan said before turning away "Now, I'll close my eyes and count to ten. It makes the chase more exciting...for me." Shere Khan then closed his eyes and began counting "One…two…three…four…" he opened his eyes to see Mowgli running…only to get a stick and Sora summoning his Keyblade "You're trying my patience!" Baloo tore through the woods, looking for Mowgli "Five, six, seven, eight, nine, TEN!"

Shere Khan roared as he punched at Mowgli, but was quickly stopped by Baloo, who had tackled Shere Khan and now had a death-grip on his tail.

"Run, Mowgli, RUN!" Shouted Baloo.

"Yeah, Baloo and I can handle this." Sora added.

Shere Khan swung around to swipe at Baloo and snarling "Let go, you big oaf!"

"Take this!" Shouted Sora as he swung his Keyblade into Shere Khan's face, but the tiger took off running with Baloo with a death-grip on his tail.

"He's got a tiger by the tail!" Exclaimed the bald vulture.

"And he'd better hold on, too." Replied the mop-top vulture.

Shere Khan then twisted around a tree and spun around with Baloo still holding onto his tail. He wheeled around to see Baloo's tail, which he sunk he teeth into. Baloo yelped as Sora and Mowgli ran towards him. Mowgli began whacking Shere Khan across the face with his stick and shouted "Take THAT, you bully!" Sora then went into Sonic Blade and ran past Shere Khan, knocking him loose. Mowgli then began running and Shere Khan followed. Baloo still had his fist closed around the tiger's tail and was dragged along, even though he was lying down.

"Somebody take care of that kid!" Baloo moaned.

"That's our cue, lads!" Shouted the brown-haired vulture, shoving down his fellows, who took to flight "Get down there!"

The blonde vulture and the brown haired vulture then grabbed Mowgli under the arms and took off. The bald vulture then followed Baloo, who was still holding onto Shere Khan, who had Sora following him.

"The kid's safe!" Shouted the bald vulture "Ya can let 'im go, Baloo!"

"Are you kiddin'?!" Baloo asked before saying "HE'S GOT TEETH IN THE OTHER END!"

As he said that, Baloo's neck got caught in the fork of a branch and Shere Khan was sent, rocketing, back into Baloo. Sora skidded away before changing direction. He got there just in time to see Shere Khan throw Baloo off him and snarl "I'm going to kill you for this!" With a snarl, Shere Khan then began clawing at Baloo with every intention of what he said. Sora then brought his Keyblade into Shere Khan's face as he sent Baloo to the ground with a thud. Sora began slashing at Shere Khan, wildly. Sora then cast Firaga at the tiger, who dodged, and it hit a tree that the vultures were taking Mowgli to. The tree exploded and burst into flames, sending the vultures to the ground with shock.

"Fire!" Exclaimed the bald vulture "It's the only thing ol' stripes is afraid of!"

"You get the fire," the blonde vulture says "We'll help your friend!"

Sora was still duking it out with Shere Khan as the vultures flew in.

"CHARGE!" They all shouted.

"Take this!" Shouted Sora as he had his Keyblade go into Judgement and strike Shere Khan multiple times as the vultures began flying around the tiger.

"Stay out of this, you buffoons!" Snarled Shere Khan as he swiped at the vultures.

"NAH! NAH!" Teased the bald one, who withdrew his face as he dodged a blow from Shere Khan "YOU MISSED ME BY A MILE, YOU DID!"

The blonde vulture then pulled on the tiger's whiskers as Mowgli grabbed the burning branch. Sora then grinned as he got what Mowgli was doing. Mowgli then tied the burning branch onto Shere Khan's tail.

"Look behind you, chum." Commented the mop-top vulture in a slight monotone. Shere Khan's eyes bulged as he saw the fire and began batting at it, doing no damage. He then took off with the fiery branch tied to his tail. The vultures cheered with Sora as Shere Khan ran away.

"Hey, did ya miss us?" Asked someone as Ryan flew over with J.

"Hold on the celebration, fellas." The mop-top vulture said "Look."

Mowgli walked over to Baloo's fallen form.

"Baloo?" Mowgli asked "Baloo, get up."

Bagheera then ran over to the scene, looking mournful.

"Mowgli, there's nothing we can do." Said the panther, solemnly "Let's go."

Mowgli and Bagheera then walked away with Sora and co. Baloo then propped himself up.

"WHAT'S WITH THAT, BAGGY?!" Demanded the bear, indignantly "NO ULIGY OR NOTHIN'?!"

Bagheera wheeled over to Baloo, looking dumbfounded and infuriated "WHY YOU…FRAUD…YOU…"

Mowgli, however, ran over and hugged the bear.

"Baloo! You're okay!" He exclaimed.

"Don't ever scare us like that again!" Sora added, but was grinning, broadly at this.

Bagheera then growled before blowing something out of his mouth, which J caught—a Pure Heart made completely out of leaves.

"Well, that was to the point." J simply said.

"Time to go, Sora!" Ryan shouted.

Sora, J, and Ryan then walked to an area out of sight and were beamed out of the Wangunga Jungle.

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The World That Never Was…

Shere Khan stalked back into the chamber, muttering, darkly, under his break. Randall turned visible again and stalked over to him and sniggered.

"Heh, boy Khanni, they got you good." snickered the lizard-thing, "I mean, tying a burning branch to your tail? How low could you…"

Shere Khan, in a blur of orange and black, seized Randall by the neck and pulled him to look the lizard monster right in the eye. "NOT a word." hissed the tiger, brushing a massive, ebony-colored claw against Randall's chin, "It NEVER happened. UNDERSTAND?"

"Uh huh." Randall choked. Shere Khan then dropped him to the ground with a 'splat', then continued to stalk off.

Hades brushed the tiger and asked, "Whoa, what's up, Stripes? Ya hurt?

"Only my pride." he growled, stalking past, then pointed out, "Nice to see you're out of that body cast."

Hades shot Shere Khan a reproachful glance, then brushed it off. "Well, Jonesy is outta the picture." he pointed out to Randall, "Now, he's workin' for some navy stiffs. And Boggs, I wouldn't bet your bottom dollar yet. After seeing what they did to the rest of the guys, you might end up with the same fate."

"Oh yeah." Randall grinned, rubbing his hands, maliciously, "Those guys back at the factory don't suspect a thing. I'm the master at that kinda thing…"

Hades rolled his bright eyes, then stalked off to…well, somewhere else. "It's your funeral then, Boggs."

Shere Khan

A tiger who's the basic law-breaker of the jungle. He has one power over most of the creatures in Wangunga Jungle—the power of fear. He hates mankind because of their weapons and their use of fire, so he would've given ANYTHING to kill Mowgli. However, he had his fear handed to him and his pride wounded after this encounter. He first appeared in _the Jungle Book_ 1967.

Colonel Hathi

A leader of the Jungle Patrol: an elephant herd responsible for Jungle Security. Hathi's somewhat dramatic and hard-nosed, but often ends up making the right decisions. He is, however, the general law-enforcer of the jungle and won't stop until justice is served. He first appeared in _the Jungle Book_ 1967.

Kaa

A snake of Wangunga Jungle who enjoys finding and eating his next meal. He entices his prey by hypnotizing them and rendering them powerless against his will, then devours them. However, a strong-willed person has an immunity to this act of hypnotism as J proved. He first appeared in _the Jungle Book _1967.

Vultures

A quartet of outcast buzzards; one bald, one blonde, one brown hair, and one mop-top. They're close friends of Mowgli, even though they kinda got off on the wrong foot. They're like a British rock band and are constantly bored stiff, often ending up in a loop conversation. They first appeared in _the Jungle Book_ 1967.


	200. Pride Lands

Chapter 200: Pride Lands

Pride Lands…

Red XIII smiled as he looked at the savanna terrain of the Pride Lands. "I think I am going to like it here…" he sighed to himself. He didn't know how he got here, but might as well make the best of it.

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Sora stepped out onto Pride Lands' great African plain, now in his lion form with Donald in his hornbill form and Goofy in his tortoise form. He looked around to see how the others changed and was NOT let down.

Kairi was now a red lioness with a small patch of red hair, while Riku was a white lion and had a mop of silver hair on his head, and Sakuzy was a copper one, his two streams of hair turned into part of his small mane.

"Well, at least we have this in common." Sakuzy said as his friends took in their new appearances.

Sora then saw the rest. J, much to his surprise, was NOT a lion. He had taken the form of a black panther with blazing red eyes and had his locket around his neck: the heart impaled on a sword. "Cool." was the anti-hero's comment.

J wasn't alone, because Ryan wasn't a lion either. He was a VERY adorable cheetah cub with long, gangly legs and a small cape of silver fur running down his back. "Sure, J gets the cool cat, but I'm stuck AS A KITTEN!" Ryan shouted, spastically.

"Come on, Ryan, you're so cute." Kairi said as she rubbed down Ryan. The little cub's immediate response was to get down on the ground, roll over on his back, and let Kairi scratch his stomach. All this while, he purred like a housecat.

Sora was half-expecting Scott to be a crocodile, the way he was. He wasn't. Instead, the Aussie was an African Wild Dog: a dog the size of a Doberman with splotches of black, hazel, and black in his fur. There were a few differences, though, his splotched fur mainly focused around brown and he kept his Aussie hat. "Well, that's a bit upsettin'. I was hopin' for a croc…" Scott said, taking in his dog features.

Next to Scott was April, who had turned into an African Crowned Crane. She had gray feathers, a white head with black markings around her eyes and beak, and a golden-yellow crown of feather strands on the top of her head. It looked kind of like a disco man's hairdo. "Ugh…thought this died in the seventies." April said, fidgeting with the crown with one of her wings.

Finally, there was Joyex. The Nobody had turned into a hyena, but not the type that Sora had gotten used to in his previous trips to the Pride Lands. This form of hyena had brown fur so dark that it was almost black with white stripes. Joyex's hair had turned into a somewhat spiky mowhawk on his head that reminded Sora of Shenzi, but the Nobody also kept his ponytail, which was draped over his left shoulder. The Nobody inspected himself. "Well, it could be worse." Joyex commented, shrugging.

As if on cue, a monkey zipped past and tossed a rock onto Joyex's head. Joyex growled at this as he massaged his head and began chasing the monkey, all the while snarling. He pursued the monkey up a tree and began snapping at the simian's tail. Joyex's hunt was short lived as a decorative stick came smashing into his noggin and sent a piercing pain through his skull.

"OW!" shouted the Nobody "What's with me and getting injured?!"

"Great spirits above, hyena!" shouted the person who walloped Joyex. As the hyena looked, it turned out to be Rafiki and he was looking somewhat angry, "Why're you attacking a monkey?!"

"That guy hit me with a…" Joyex never finished, because Rafiki whacked him with his stick again. "OW! WHAT'D I DO THIS TIME?!"

"I thought that hyenas never ate monkeys." pointed out Rafiki.

"Don't mind him." Sora shouted as he ran over to Rafiki, "He's with us."

Rafiki took in Sora's appearance, then a grin spread across his multicolored face. "Oh. Well in that case…" Rafiki then whacked Joyex over the head, sending the hyena to dreamland, "I guess I overdid it."

"Yeah, maybe." Sakuzy sighed before tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground. How Joyex could pursue a monkey while Sakuzy tripped, nobody knew.

Something then roared and pounced at something that was approaching them. Whatever pounced was fiery red and whatever was stalking them looked like crystal. The crystal being turned out to be a Crystalli Beast, it was rolled over on its back, its limbs outstretched, and its body motionless. As the savior emerged, Sora thought he recognized the spiky mane, the blazing tail, and the metal bands on its wrists and ankles.

"You'd think that with Opal gone, those Beasts would've gone, too." Sakuzy growled as he regained his balance.

The red thing then glanced around at the group and they saw that it was…

"Hey, I know you!" Sora exclaimed, "You're that cat thing that helped us fight the Crystalli Bahamut! What're you doing out of Midgar?"

The catlike Red XIII as Sakuzy knew him, however, just gave Sora a confused look and asked, "Have we met?"

"What?!" Sora asked, "You don't…oh, right. Pride Lands. Maybe this'll help…" Sora then summoned his Keyblade in his mouth.

Red XIII took in the Keyblade's appearance with wide eyes, then knew who it was. "Sora!" he said in realization. He walked over to Sora, then inspected the Keyblade Master's new appearance and said, "Hmm…I must admit you look better as a beast."

"I don't know if that was a compliment." Sora said, uneasily, before continuing, "Anyway, how'd you get here?"

"I do not know." Red XIII replied, shaking his furry head, "One moment, I was in Cosmo Canyon and the next, I was in this world. And I must admit that I like this place…"

Suddenly, out of the undergrowth, another Crystalli Beast sprang out of its hiding place with a snarl, its red eyes blazing like open flames.

"I guess we'll have to hold off on the catch-up!" Sakuzy said, hurriedly, and summoning the Eagle Feather in his tail.

"I'm one step ahead of ya, Sakuzy!" Sora said, summoning the Ultima Weapon in his mouth. Riku summoned his Way to Dawn in his tail as well and Kairi summoned Flowering Strength in her mouth, too.

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Crystalli Homeworld…

Aquamarine grunted in slight irritation. Peridot chuckled before asking, "Getting pooped, Aquamarine?"

"SHUT UP!" shouted Aquamarine with enough ferocity in his voice to make Peridot back off a step, "Keeping these Crystalli ALIVE without Opal is tough enough without some SMART ALECK TRYING TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"

"Alright, cool your jets." Spinel said, coolly, "Besides, Peridot just wants you out of the viewing range so she can see that mutation. Even though he said she'd pay for kissing him."

"C'mon, he's still a cutie." Peridot replied in a slightly sing-song voice.

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J emitted a roar-like scream befitting a panther like him before pouncing at a Beast, tearing away at its crystalline armor, but doing nothing more. _I can't change!_ J thought, savagely _How come I can't turn into a dinosaur and SMASH these hunks of space rock!?_

"Looks like we're no good in this world…" Scott growled; he felt oddly naked without his powers.

Scott had seized a Crystalli Beast by the tail with his teeth only to have the Beast constantly try to reach around and get at him. Scott followed its movement, but then let go of his Crystalli so Riku could cut it to pieces with Way to Dawn.

April felt utterly useless, because an African Crowned Crane was certainly NOT made for fighting. She quickly fluttered away just as a Beast pounced at her and snapped at her feet as it sprang like a cat to try and catch her. It was more than surprised to meet Red XIII on its next spring; the catlike creature caught the Crystalli out of the air and quickly sprang off. As the Beast got back to its feet with an angry snarl, the Ultima Weapon Keyblade stuck itself in its forehead. But just as THAT Beast went down, more came, looking hungrier than a pack of hyenas.

"Red XIII!" Sora called.

Red XIII emitted a lion-esque roar that would have made Simba proud, then took Sora by the scruff of his neck and pounced. With a flick of his neck, the catlike creature tossed Sora into the air and soon went to meet him. A fiery aura surrounded Red XIII that soon passed on to Sora, who reared back his head and actually threw the Keyblade in a Strike Raid. The blazing Keyblade burned through some of the Beasts like a hot knife through butter and some that survived met the fiery claws of Red XIII.

When Sora's Limit Break with Red XIII ended, the Beasts emitted a single snarl before running off into the bushes.

"It's a tactical retreat." Sakuzy stated, answering everyone's curious looks.

"I figured as much…" Red XIII sighed.

"Yeah." Joyex said, having returned to consciousness earlier, "It's what they do—retreat until their strength's increased. But this time, they didn't leave the world."

"And I'm guessing that means there's more here…" J growled. He, Scott, Ryan, and April were hardly any help in the battle. J HATED being useless…hated it VERY much…like one hates the first day of school (I know I do, anyway…).

Suddenly, something ran through and would've bowled J off, if the antisocial panther hadn't maneuvered out of the way so that Ryan got bowled over. Scott zipped over to his fallen partner. "You okay, mate?" asked the Aussie.

The cheetah cub got up with a dazed look in his eye and said, "Mommy…My train went swimming in the piano…"

"I'll take that as a 'no'." Scott said, flatly.

"WHO TRIED KNOCKING ME OVER?!" J snarled, glancing around for whoever did it.

The person who did it was a warthog with a meerkat on top of his head. Both were running for their lives at breakneck speed (or at least, Pumbaa was), but both shared a very frightened look.

"Timon? Pumbaa?" Sora asked, "Where's the fire?"

"Talk LATER!" Timon screamed.

"Run NOW!" Pumbaa added.

Sora looked at where the two had come from: a place not too far from the river. He nodded, then turned to the rest of the group. "Guys, I think that we should split up. I think that the Crystalli are getting this world in more ways than one." After a quick think-over, Sora said, "I'll take Sakuzy, J, Red XIII, and Kairi with me to see what Timon and Pumbaa are up to. Riku…" he thought it over again, then said, "Take Scott, Joyex, and Ryan with you. Try to find out what's going on with the river. And April, you'll take Donald and Goofy to Pride Rock. We need Simba to get involved with this as soon as possible. Understand?"

Every member nodded at their appointment, then went off on their separate ways.

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Watching from the river, a living being watched with a single, yellow eye. He certainly had to admit that this world was…interesting at most, the way he had gotten into this body on entering.

"I certainly wish Emerald had come here in my stead…" the being grunted to itself, "Fortunately, the Behemoth will prove its worth. Oh, how I've longed to see it in battle…"

As the being said this, a meteorite smashed into another part of the Pride Lands; it was easily as big as an elephant. As it slowly unfurled, it let out a low, rumbling growl.

_Red XIII's Tribal Blaze_

_I decided to put Red XIII in here after I saw something on Deviantart, which had him in Pride Lands and…I liked the idea._


	201. Behemoth

Chapter 201: Behemoth

Sora had long forgotten how it felt to run as a lion. In THIS form, he could easily catch up with Red XIII, however they had to keep stopping to see how the other three were doing--namely tripping up…except J, seeing as he was used to going into the forms of four-legged animals all the time. Sakuzy staggered up and glared at J before snarling "HOW CAN YOU KEEP ON ALL YOUR LEGS AND NOT TRIP UP?!"

"Simple." J replied, coolly, "When I first did it…I practiced."

"Well, that's less than helpful." Sakuzy muttered, darkly.

"Actually, Sakuzy, it works." Sora pointed out "It helped me the first time I was in here…"

"You find this difficult?" Red XIII asked, "I find it easy. What I cannot understand is why you can walk on two legs easily. That's very difficult…"

"Could we get back to the matter at hand?" J asked, getting back to the subject "We're following that warthog and meerkat who tried using me as practice for their bowling."

"Good point." Sora said before taking off with the rest.

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Riku and co. arrived at the river, after tripping a couple times. Luckily, he and Scott were fast learners, so that helped them a lot. Riku looked at the river and growled, slightly.

"How much do you wanna bet that there are crocodiles in there?" He asked, rhetorically.

"I dunno." Joyex answered, anyway, "Let's throw Ryan in. If he lives, there are no killer crocs."

"Hello! I'm right behind you! I can hear what you're saying!" Ryan shouted, not wanting to be croc food.

"Strewth, this makes me wish I had me thumbs back." Scott groaned, glancing at his forepaws, "Then I could do some serious croc wrestlin'. Speakin' o' which, there's a big 'un comin' this way now…"

Scott pointed with his paw and drew everyone's attention. There was, indeed, a fifteen-foot Nile crocodile swimming towards them, moving like some giant water serpent. Joyex then growled, aggressively, before snarling, "That's not your average crocodile."

"Why?" Ryan asked, pointing over at the reptilian behemoth. Now that he thought about it, the croc appeared to be giving them a sideways glance. "Oh, you think that it's a threat JUST because it has that crystal eye and…" The solar-powered hyperfreak then realized what he was talking about and said, "Oh."

"Topaz." growled Riku.

The crocodile then cackled Topaz's laugh before asking with the said Crystalli's sophisticated tone, "Ah, you finally arrived there, have you?" As the croc turned around, they spotted the all-too-familiar yellow crystal where its right eye should have been.

"What're you doing here?" Riku asked Topaz, coldly.

"This." was the Crystalli's simple response as he gestured behind him with his long snout. It was there and then that the six noticed the giant crystal behind the crocodile Crystalli beginning to shift.

"Oh, shi…" was all that Joyex had to say before he was cut off by the large Crystalli that had begun to take shape.

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Sora and co. then arrived at Pride Rock. Luckily, the amount of trips out of Sakuzy and Kairi had halved since Red started giving them helpful pointers. The said cat/wolf thing looked at Pride Rock with a curious expression on his face.

"Interesting landmark…" Red XIII said, mildly interested.

"That's the home of my friend Simba." Sora pointed out, sounding a bit like a tour-guide.

"Aren't we getting a bit DISTRACTED? We're supposed to be tracking those idiots." growled J, impatiently.

"Just lose the attitude, J." Kairi sighed, "What's with you?"

"He's just in a foul mood because he couldn't be more help in the fight." Sakuzy pointed out, wisely, before pointing out, "He told me earlier."

"DON'T remind me." J snarled in response, because he knew that Sakuzy was telling the truth "Let's just get going…"

J's statement was cut off by what appeared to be the screams of several people. Sora looked around to see Riku's group running towards them with their faces filled with FEAR.

"Guys, what're you doing?" Sora asked.

"NOT NOW, SORA!" screamed Joyex as he rocketed past them, "WE'RE BEING PURSUED HERE!"

Sora glanced to the place they had been running, but didn't exactly see the big threat. Judging by the crystal eye, that crocodile crawling towards them was Topaz. Topaz spotted Sora, then asked, in a challenging voice, "What's the matter? Afraid of this?"

Sora realized what Topaz was talking about when he felt something in the ground. He looked down at the ground to see that loose stones and sticks were trembling across the ground as though they had minds of their own.

"Oh boy." Sora said, uneasily.

"Oh no." Sakuzy groaned.

"Why do we always get the big ones?" Kairi asked.

"Bad luck. What else?" J replied, simply.

"This will be very difficult…" agreed Red XIII.

The thing that was creating the tremor came over the hill and turned out to be a giant Crystalli. It looked kind of like a Crystalli Beast, but this one was thirteen feet tall and supported by four column-like legs studded with thick, curving claws. Its jaws looked like they could snap up a small Gummi Ship and had a small pair of tusks coming from its lower jaw, a humped back, and looked muscular enough to turn Pride Rock into rubble in a matter of seconds.

"Oh no…Not a Crystalli Behemoth!" Sakuzy said, wide-eyed.

The Behemoth, as Sakuzy called it, reared back on two legs like a horse and when it came back down, it shook the ground around them. After that, it unleashed a loud, echoing roar and charged. Each massive footfall seemed to quake the ground and each breath it took was exhaled as a deep, grunt-esque growl. The whole team scattered and the Behemoth charged past them, leaving deep prints in the ground, but it didn't stop. The giant Crystalli made a wide turn and came back for a full-on assault.

Sora, acting on instinct, summoned the Ultima Weapon in his mouth and with a flick of his neck, threw it at the Behemoth in a Strike Raid. However, when the Keyblade struck the Behemoth right between the eyes, it did no more than discourage it. The Behemoth snarled, then charged again like an enraged rhino and Sora narrowly avoided getting trampled by going right between its legs, but Ryan wasn't exactly as lucky. The cheetah cub got hooked on one of the Behemoth's tusks and tossed over thirty feet in the air. He couldn't fly, so he landed on the ground, rolling on contact and just lay there.

"OW…" he said, weakly.

"How can we take this thing out?" Sora asked as he saw the Behemoth scuffing the ground like a bull.

"Like THIS!" shouted someone.

Sora looked up just in time to see a familiar lion come out of the blue and land on the Behemoth, trying to get its claws into the giant Crystalli's skin, but to no avail. J snarled like the panther he was before he, too, charged at the oncoming Behemoth, which was now trying to shake of the annoying pest on its shoulder.

_C'mon, powers. _he thought to himself,_ You worked almost everywhere else..._ J snarled in his mind as he saw the Behemoth getting closer and closer by the second. J closed his eyes, but suddenly felt something collide with his head; though not enough to knock him out. He opened his eyes to see that he was pushing AGAINST the Behemoth in a test of strength and that he was no longer a panther, but an African elephant. _African animals only, huh? I can live with that…_

Both J and the Behemoth struggled against each other, thrusting with their tusks, pushing each other with their heads, and at one point, J lifted the front half of his opponent clean off the ground. With one flick of his neck and a shift of weight, J brought the Behemoth smashing to the ground, but had entirely forgotten about the lion on the Behemoth's back. Simba went tumbling away and had just caught J's eye when the Behemoth had gotten back to its feet. J had put his guard down for one precious second too long and the Behemoth crashed into the elephant's side, sending J to the ground.

J slowly turned back into the black panther and rolled to his feet in seconds; and just in time, too. The Behemoth had charged and had flattened the ground right where J was a split second ago. Ryan darted away, feeling surprisingly helpless, and the Behemoth thundered past him.

The gargantuan Crystalli made another wide turn and charged again, waving its massive tusks back and forth and repelling unfortunate attackers. Among them were Ryan and Kairi. Both shook the cobwebs out of their heads and barely looked up to see the Behemoth charging towards them, each step shaking the ground like a five on the Richter scale. Fortunately, they were spared because two people came to their rescue: Simba and J. Both darted away with Simba holding Ryan by the scruff of his neck and J transforming into a gorilla to grab Kairi and roll away.

Simba tossed Ryan a small distance away and the little cheetah landed on the ground, rolling on contact. J, on the other hand, released Kairi, then went off to try and deal with some other business.

Sora was about to charge the Crystalli, his Keyblade already in his mouth, but Red XIII darted between Sora and the Behemoth. Whenever Sora tried to go around him, Red XIII moved, then spoke. "Sora, this will take brains to take this thing down, not brawn." he pointed out, "That Crystalli is the size of an elephant. Rushing in headlong will only make things tougher."

Sora paused. Now that he thought about it...it seemed to make sense now. No full-on attacks seemed to be working on it; its thick hide was clearly a worthy defense.

Joyex snarled before charging over to Topaz. "Hey, Vicky!" snarled the Nobody-turned-hyena.

The obsidian reptile froze in its tracks, then turned to face Joyex and growled. "It's TOPAZ, you dolt!" replied the crocodilian Crystalli.

"Does it matter?" Joyex asked, simply, before summoning his Chain Thrasher in his mouth. Right there and then, a new dilemma then presented itself as Joyex looked at the button on the handle. "O-kay…how do I work this?"

Joyex tried to make his Chain Thrasher fire its chain to no avail, seeing as he couldn't hold it AND fire the chain at the same time. He lacked thumbs…

"You can't even work your Keyblade here?" Topaz asked, stifling a laugh, "How can you even FIGHT if you can barely wield it?"

Joyex rolled his eyes, then dismissed his Keyblade and bared his teeth like an enraged Doberman. "Like a hyena!"

Joyex darted forward and took a snap at Topaz's right side, but was soon met with a mouthful of teeth and quickly darted away. He had forgotten how fast crocodiles could turn if they wanted to. Joyex, thinking quickly, galloped over to Topaz's other side, but hadn't even tried to take a bite at him when the Crystalli croc's thick tail smacked him across the face.

"Idiot." Topaz growled, but suddenly felt himself slide across the ground. "WHAT?!"

Joyex had seized Topaz by the tail and was proceeding to jerk the crocodile around, but it was surprisingly short-lived. Topaz suddenly twisted his whole body like a corkscrew and Joyex followed suit, his head slamming, hard, against the ground.

As Joyex got back to his feet, he felt IMMENSE pain on his right forelimb and howled in pain as he got a good look at what happened. Topaz had clamped his jaws down on the limb with over a ton of force and his teeth were digging in like stakes. (1)

Joyex struggled against Topaz's deathgrip, but no matter how hard he pulled or how much he snapped at the Crystalli's face, nothing happened; Topaz's crocodilian head was bone-hard. Even when Joyex summoned the Chain Thrasher in his mouth to try and strike at Topaz's eye, the crocodile would jerk the Nobody around like a rag doll and throw off his aim. _This is just TOO easy..._ the Crystalli thought to himself.

Suddenly, something landed on Topaz's back and began to clamber up his body until it reached his head. He felt a pair of large hands seize his snout and his lower jaw and pull them apart. Joyex instantly staggered away, a limp in his right paw, then got a look at his savior.

J had turned into a gorilla and was now wrestling around with the reptilian Topaz in a manner eerily similar to a certain king of Skull Island with a dinosaur. J was keeping a firm hold on Topaz's jaws and holding them shut while the crocodile writhed around in his grip like a giant, scaly worm.

Topaz only slipped free of J's grip once and when he did, he almost snapped the ape's head off. J growled, then brought his giant fist into the crocodile's head out of simple irritation. Topaz's head lurched forward, but hadn't even tried to open when J seized him by the jaws and began to pry them open, intending to tear them open.

Unfortunately for J, Topaz had just remembered that he had an urgent appointment somewhere else…ANYWHERE else. He vanished in a flash of golden light and left J wrestling with nothing but thin air. Joyex stared at the ape, which slowly turned back to the panther and slunk away. "Uh…Thanks. Ow…" Joyex said, referring to the pain in his paw.

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"How can we take this thing on without brawn?" Sora asked Red, somewhat impatiently.

"Every creature has a weakness." Red XIII said in a sage-like tone, "The turtle has its head, the rhinoceros has its poor eyesight, and the mighty lion has its lack of stamina. What could this one's be?"

"The legs..." Sakuzy asked, narrowly avoiding the oncoming Behemoth, "It needs all four to keep itself moving. If we took 'em out..."

"Then it'll topple!" Scott exclaimed.

Simba then jumped off the Behemoth and landed next to Sora and Red XIII.

"If that's what we need to take it out, I'll help." he proclaimed, then added, "But keep it away from Pride Rock. Nala and Kiara are in it."

"Kiara?" Asked Scott, cocking his head slightly.

"My daughter." replied Simba before realizing that he was talking to an Australian African Wild Dog that he never met before "And…who are you?"

"We can get to the introductions after we get rid of this thing." Riku shouted as he summoned his Keyblade in his mouth and charged at the Behemoth. Sora, Simba, and Red XIII then ran after him. Now that they had a plan, things would probably go smoother.

Crystalli Behemoth

One of the largest Crystalli encountered thus far, the Behemoth is truly MASSIVE. It's the size of an elephant, so when it charges, NOTHING gets in its way. It's also very durable, able to endure most pain done to it, but it seems that its shatterpoint has been found.

_(1) OUCH! THAT'S gotta hurt. Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal for their size; it's not uncommon for them to have bite forces of over 3000lbs PSI (that's per square inch)_


	202. Catching Up

Chapter 202: Catching Up

Sora, Riku, Red XIII, and Simba got around the Behemoth, creating a perimeter. The Behemoth scuffed the ground with its clawed foot, readying itself for the charge.

"Alright, NOW!" shouted Sora as he summoned his Keyblade in his mouth.

At those exact words, the Behemoth charged and Sora did, too. To anyone else, it may have seemed like suicide, but the REAL intention of the plan showed when Sora darted underneath the Behemoth's legs and did a sharp turn to catch its right leg with Ultima Weapon, making a small scratch in it. The Behemoth roared in surprise as it swung suddenly slowed, causing Sora to suddenly pass it. The Behemoth saw its attacker, then swung its head back and forth, its tusks knocking the Keyblade Master to the ground.

Sora got up, winded, but not injured, and was VERY fortunate that Simba grabbed him around the neck and shot away just as the Behemoth's foot came down. As Simba released the Keybearer, the latter ran to Red XIII and tagged him like in a relay race. Red got his cue and took off at a sprint before jumping at the giant Crystalli's leg just above the knee, digging his claws and teeth into its joint on touching it. Sure, its hide was tough, but the cat-like creature did join the fight against the Crystalli Bahamut and found that, if you found the right place, you could crack the Crystalli armor without a Keyblade.

The Behemoth kicked wildly to try and get Red XIII off, but the fiery creature simply shifted to other parts of the leg, still digging his claws and teeth into the Crystalli's joint. The Behemoth only kicked Red XIII off once, but the smaller of the two simply tumbled forward on the ground, regained his balance, and attacked the same spot again. After continually attacking the spot, a piece of the Behemoth's armor chipped off and a large crack snapped down the Behemoth's leg. The Crystalli roared in pain and froze in its tracks, completely immobilized because it needed at least three legs to walk and two were too heavily injured to move anymore.

Red XIII jumped off just as the Behemoth stopped, then ran over to Riku. "Go!" he shouted as he tagged Riku.

The white lion took off like a streak of quicksilver with his Way to Dawn clenched in his teeth. He ran to the Behemoth's left back leg and made to strike with his Keyblade, but, though the Behemoth couldn't walk, it could still turn. It made sure that its front faced its attacker, protecting itself with its tusks and teeth. It actually repelled Riku with a single swing of its tusks.

Sora had apparently seen the little kink in the plan and thought really fast. On seeing Simba looking over at him, both nodded at each other and charged the Behemoth's front.

"SIMBA!"

Simba took a jump to land in front of the Behemoth, then unleashed an earthshaking roar at the Crystalli. The shockwave shook the Behemoth to the core, literally, often shaking loose a piece of its armor. All-in-all, it wasn't as effective as they hoped, but it was enough to stun the beast long enough for Riku to take his turn. The silver lion got right on its leg in an instant, sticking his Way to Dawn in to its knee before making a complete circle, thinning out its support.

"Your turn." Riku called, then tagged Simba.

"Careful, Simba!" Sora warned, "These Crystalli are armor-plated!"

"Thanks for the heads-up!" Simba thanked as he jumped onto the Behemoth's leg and sunk his teeth in. That simple action nearly broke his teeth as he searched for weak-points. He found one and the entire leg lost a chunk of armor. The Behemoth roared as it sunk to the ground. It was still alive, but badly injured and unable to move. Still, it made very sure to keep turning towards its attackers with its uninjured leg; its mighty jaws could still tear all of them to ribbons. However, it was least expecting a small cheetah cub to land on the hump of its back and began to squirm around, trying to get the parasite off.

"Check out what I can do here!" Ryan called as he quickly reared onto his back legs. Bright light began radiating from his front paws as he brought them back down, liquefying the Behemoth's armor. The Behemoth roared in agony as its armor made way for the heat; it was fortunate that it wasn't diamond, otherwise it wouldn't have worked.

Ryan heard a "thunk" just across from him and saw that J had latched onto the Behemoth's back with his teeth and claws. The cheetah looked at the hole in front of him, then said, "He's all yours, J!"

"My pleasure." J convulsed once, then turned into a long, thin cobra before slithering into the hole that Ryan created. When J decided that he had gone deep enough inside its mechanical-esque design, he got to work. The Behemoth may have been tough on the outside, but what about the INSIDE?

Outside the Behemoth, Sora's little troop was still having trouble trying to get close to the Crystalli, where it defended itself with its tusks. However, they were least expecting the Behemoth to suddenly stop attacking them and lurch forward as though it was experiencing a sharp pain in its stomach. It did it again and again until part of it suddenly expanded until the Behemoth itself split in two, separating its upper body from its lower body. Out of the exploding center emerged an elephant. It slowly got to its feet, turned to the Behemoth, then snorted at it, showing every hint of satisfaction as he changed back into a panther.

At that moment, the familiar meerkat and warthog combo came out from behind a tree that was too thin to hide both of them. On seeing the Behemoth's split carcass

"Shapeshifting panthers, wild dogs with strange accents, and hyperactive cheetahs." Timon said as he walked over with Pumbaa "What a day..."

"Hey, Timon." Sora greeted, "We took care of the..."

"WHY DID YOU TRY BOWLING ME OVER, YOU IDIOT?!" J snarled, running over to Timon with a snarl on his face. He suddenly pounced and pinned him under one of his obsidian paws. Pumbaa didn't even try to approach the panther.

"Hey, we didn't MEAN to nearly bowl ya over." Timon said, defensively, "And you can live without the attitude. Who are you, anyway?"

J stared down the meerkat, then answered, "I'm someone you shouldn't run into."

"Well, in that case, why were you running?" Scott asked, running down the Behemoth's back.

"Oh, that?" asked Pumbaa, "Those hyenas thought they'd start attacking us. Luckily, some bird flew over and annoyed 'em so much that they left...I helped, though. They called me a pig."

April then fluttered out of nowhere. "Well, since Donald and Goofy were helping at Pride Rock, I thought I could help these two out." she said with a certain amount of pride.

"Crikey." Scott said, surprised.

"Simba, I forgot!" Sora exclaimed as he ran over to the king lion. He then began the introduction as he asked, "You know Kairi and Riku, right?"

Simba took in the scarlet and white lion, then nodded. "Yeah. So, these are the friends you always told me about?" he said, sounding as proud as a king could have. "Those others, though..." the true Lion King said, looking over at the others.

Sora caught on in an instant. "Oh, right. The other lion is Sakuzy, the hyena's Joyex, the panther's J, the wild dog's Scott, the crane's April, and the cheetah's Ryan."

Suddenly, the Behemoth's upper body jerked around as something flew out of its back and flew towards Sora. It was a Pure Heart that was the same color as an African sunrise and it glowed the same way, too: oranges, yellows, and reds. Slowly, it flew over to Sora, who clasped it in his mouth like a dog with a tennis ball.

"Well, that was quick..." Joyex commented for a minute.

"Why don't we stick around for a while?" Sora asked the entire group, "We've just got here, so why not?"

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Inside Pride Rock, Scott, Donald, and Goofy walked into a small cave at the rock's peak with Simba as their guide. Among the other lionesses was Nala, but there was one major difference now: Nala had something nestled in her strong arms. As they got closer, she turned over to them, then smiled down at a small cub that barely looked a few weeks old.

"Aww…" Donald cooed.

"Crikey, that's a cute cub." Scott said, shaking his head with a slight laugh. Scott slowly went over to the small cub and leaned in real close, then began to sniff her. The sharp inhalations ruffled the cub's fur and the Aussie was MORE than surprised when the cub raised a paw and bopped him in the nose. "Ow." Scott chuckled to himself, massaging his nose with his paw. Donald, Goofy, Nala, and Simba stared at Scott's odd behavior, and the dog explained, "Sorry, dog habit. Gotta get 'er scent so I'll recognize her next time."

"I guess it makes sense…" Nala said, then gently stroked the cub in her arms and said, "This is Kiara."

"Gawrsh, you and Nala made a cute little kid." Goofy said to Simba, causing the lion to look away in slight embarrassment.

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Now that J was through with Timon and Pumbaa, he had decided to take a rest on the branch of a tree. However, he heard a twig snap and looked down to spot Ryan, who was stalking some hornbill…badly, too. J jumped down, then slunk over to him as quiet as a shadow.

"What're you doing?"

Ryan almost jumped out of his seat and, if he were human, would have clutched his hammering heart. He turned and hissed, "DON'T do that again. And I'm trying to get that bird over there."

Ryan pointed with his paw to direct J's scarlet eyes to a hornbill of sorts that was preening its feathers. J shook his head, then said, "All I can say is that you won't catch him if you sneak like that."

Ryan gave J "the look", then asked, "How would YOU do it, then?"

"If you want to be stealthy…" J leaned over to Ryan and began whispering instructions into the cub's ear.

The hornbill glanced around and saw…nothing. He then said, in a light, English accent, "Strange. I thought that there was some cheetah…"

"SURPRISE!" shouted Ryan as he pounced onto the hornbill from behind, then glanced down at the hornbill and said, "Hi, I'm Ryan."

"Zazu…" groaned the hornbill. The hornbill, Zazu, felt VERY weary, then passed out from sheer exhaustion and shock.

Ryan nudged the bird: he didn't move. "Maybe I overdid it…" Ryan said to himself.

J rolled his eyes, then clambered back up to his branch for some form of rest.

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Sakuzy, Joyex, and Red XIII were on the edge of Pride Rock. Joyex was looking all over the scene with an eager look on his face.

"Imagine all the action that happened here!" The Nobody cited, very quickly, then winced. He had forgotten the bite wound from his encounter with Topaz the crocodile. "OW!"

Sakuzy went over to his friend-turned-hyena and inspected the wound. "Maybe you should get that looked at…" he advised.

"And I'm the one to look at it."

Joyex turned at the sound of the voice and Rafiki was right on the scene with a turtle shell full of herbs and all kinds of medicinal plants. "Oh boy…Not this guy again!"

Joyex made to walk away, but winced again and decided, _Ah, what the heck…_ Joyex limped over to Rafiki, then knelt down for the old baboon to take a good look at it. Rafiki dipped his thumb into an herbal mix he had concocted himself, then applied it to one of the bite wounds. "OW!" Joyex yelped, then turned and scolded, "Could you be a LITTLE more careful?"

Rafiki stroked the small beard hanging from his chin, then got an idea. "Well, hyena, it could be a lot worse." he said, gripping his lucky stick, "I know one way to stop the pain."

"Really?" Joyex asked.

Much to Joyex's surprise, Rafiki smacked him across the head with the stick he always carried, but before the hyena could complain, Rafiki said, "There. Now the pain's in your head, and not your foot." Rafiki laughed as Joyex lay on the floor, clutching his throbbing head and grumbling a possible death-threat. "Now stand still."

Joyex rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his cranium and let the monkey continue to treat his wound. In the end, Rafiki patched up the wound with a special kind of leaf and called it done.

Red XIII, however, was more interested in the whole land as he gazed at the lay of the land with a relaxed eye. "Reminds me of Cosmo Canyon." the crimson beast said, somewhat nostalgically.

Sakuzy was just looking at the sky; something about this sky was…eye-catching, as he put it.

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The group had decided to rest up in this world for the night. Quartz would fetch them in the morning, so there were no worries there, and each member had their own unique way of snoozing.

J had chosen to sleep up in a tree not far from Pride Rock. Being a black panther, he had clambered up with relative ease and was now resting his head on one paw while the free one was hanging down towards the ground.

Scott slept on his side, looking like a common house dog, and he would often roll onto his back every now and then to get comfy. Joyex was doing something similar, as he had a build similar to the Aussie. The Nobody had to be a little careful, though, because the wound from Topaz was still VERY sore. Even after Rafiki had patched it up.

Donald was nested on top of Goofy's back, the turtle-dog having retreated into his shell for a night of sleep. The duck had his head tucked into one wing while Goofy's snores could be heard in his shell.

Ryan was curled in a ball under a scrub bush, completely unaware of his surroundings even when a disgruntled-looking lizard scurried out from underneath him. Still, the oddest sleeping position went to April. The crane was sleeping while standing on one skinny leg and her head was tucked underneath her wing.

Riku turned on his side, then barely stifled a chuckle as he saw Sora and Kairi snuggled together with Sora's paw wrapped around Kairi's neck. Timon and Pumbaa snuck out from behind the bushes and got a good look at the two cubs.

"Looks like Sora's found his soul-mate…" Pumbaa said, breathily, "He looks so happy."

"Reminds me of Simba with Nala." replied Timon before scoffing to himself. "Wonder what they're dreamin' about…"

Riku glanced up to see the Gummi form of Quartz. He thought he'd let Quartz beam them into their rooms while they were still fast asleep to give them some peace.

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When Kairi opened her eyes, she found that she was in anything BUT a normal dream. She was now in her human form and it took a few seconds to adjust to her bipedal build again. Once she regained her balance, she could finally get a good look at her surroundings.

Rather than her mural, like she had been going to for the last few months, Kairi was in a field of blossoming flowers. But there was no sky, no clouds, no wind, just white where blue should have been. Oddly enough, she could sense someone here…someone she remembered.

_You've come a long way._

Kairi started: she recognized that voice from Midgar, but it couldn't be…She had to turn around now and she saw, standing right across from her…"Aerith?" she asked in astonishment, "But you're supposed to be…"

Aerith held up a finger to quiet Kairi down, then nodded solemnly. _I know, but those who pass into the Lifestream still remain conscious and can commune with the spirits of others._ she explained. She sat down and beckoned Kairi to come join her. She did and sat down just to Aerith's right. _So, when will you tell him?_

Kairi gave Aerith a curious look and asked, "Tell who what?"

Aerith smiled as she answered, _Tell Sora how you feel._

Kairi felt the color rush into her face and seemed to be VERY interested in the flowers right next to her. "I'm…not sure." she answered, uneasily.

_What are you so afraid of? _Aerith asked, almost playfully. Kairi didn't even have to answer when Aerith understood. _Oh. That. You're afraid that he may not feel the same way._

Kairi slowly nodded. "I think so. I'm still not entirely sure."

Aerith sighed as she closed her eyes. _Take a risk. _This statement caused Kairi to look at her, curiously. On seeing it, Aerith explained, _We all have to take risks in life, whether they're big or small. I took a risk when I went to Midgar and fought with you and the others._

Kairi nodded to one side; it made sense. But still, one problem remained. "But what if Sora doesn't feel the same way?" she asked.

Aerith turned to meet Kairi's blue eyes with her own green ones, then put a hand on the princess of heart's shoulder. _Then I guess you'll have to ask him if you can remain the best of friends. Is that so hard?_

Kairi had just summoned up the right answer when she woke up in her own bed. Apparently Quartz had beamed them up while they were still sleeping. She pushed this aside, then rolled over on her side. _I…guess not._

Zazu

A hornbill who worked for Simba's dad, Mufasa. He's somewhat strict to the rules and easily exasperated, which makes him an easy target for pestering from Ryan and a younger Simba. He first appeared in _the Lion King_ 1994.

Kiara

Simba's daughter, only a month old at this point, but she will be destined for greatness in the future. She first appeared in _the Lion King II: Simba's Pride_ 1998.

_Simba's Proud Roar_

_Had to give Aerith at least one more appearance. Whether she'll appear again, well…I'm thinking about it._


	203. Joining the Army

Chapter 203: Joining the Army

Land of the Dragons…

Sora and co. were beamed into a mountain range. Joyex heaved himself out of the snow and began shivering like crazy. Ryan grinned at the Nobody's suffering before saying, "I bet you wish you had a hoody now."

This simple statement caused Joyex to throw a fist into Ryan's face. Joyex's reaction caused J to raise a foot and nail the Nobody in the place where the sun don't shine. "WHAT?!" demanded Joyex, in a high-pitched voice.

"You punched Ryan." J simply replied. A confused look caused him to continue, "That's MY job."

"Let's just try and find the next Pure Heart." Riku said, trying to break up the physical violence.

"Maybe it's over there?" Sakuzy suggested, jabbing his thumb to a small area where a camp was set up.

"Just like when WE first arrived here." Sora said to Donald and Goofy, who nodded, vigorously.

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In another part of the mountains, Maleficent walked through the snowy peak with Pete behind her, seemingly on a leash. "Why'm I here again?" Pete asked, a tone of slight fear in his voice.

"Because I need protection." replied the witch, giving Pete an evil eye, "Randall's in his own world, Hades is still recovering, Shere Khan and Morgana are still brooding over their defeats, and everyone else is either dead or out of action."

"Well, why're YOU here?" Pete asked.

"Negotiation." was Maleficent's simple response.

As if on cue, two bright lights appeared—one purple and the other sky-blue. The forms of Amethyst and Turquoise appeared and they walked towards Maleficent, stopping just a meter or so away.

"Make this fast." growled Amethyst. Pearl's defection had made him more short-tempered than normal and a bit more on the silent side. He only spoke when he felt like it.

"You will retreat from this world and any other that we inhabit," Maleficent ordered, "And we shall leave you to your business."

"I'm afraid that's out of the question." replied Turquoise, her eyes closed proudly, "You see, Lord Diamond wants us to infest ALL the worlds with Crystalli."

"And he's a psychotic rock." Pete said to this and emitted a very guttural laugh.

THIS, however, turned out to be a big mistake. At the last comment, Amethyst inches away from Pete and pointing his scepter at the cat's face. "If we weren't under truce," Amethyst whispered in a threatening voice, "THIS would go straight through your skull."

Pete gulped as his eyes crossed to stare at the scepter mere inches from his forehead. He then took a finger and gently pushed the tip away before backing away SLOWLY.

Turquoise almost scoffed as she opened up her light-blue eyes. "I guess we've got a no sale." Turquoise said, darkly. Maleficent remained silent and simply nodded her head in a somewhat aggressive form. On seeing the reaction, the Crystalli rolled her eyes. "In that case, you'll deal with this."

Turquoise snapped her fingers and a crystal the size of a large boulder slammed into the ground before shifting into its true form. Pete gulped before vanishing while Maleficent simply stared at them like a serpent.

"This isn't over." Maleficent shot at the two Crystalli, venomously, before vanishing herself.

"Let's go." Amethyst said to Turquoise, "And take that with you." He jabbed his thumb at the shifting crystal to emphasize his point.

Turquoise simply shook her head. "And leave our enemies with nothing?" Turquoise asked, "Not a chance."

The two then vanished in flashes of purple and sky-blue and the fully-formed Crystalli stood to its full height. It pulled out a pair of blades and spun them around at near-blinding speed, then stopped to seemingly stab the sky.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and co. arrived at the camp and Joyex felt a warm, welcoming odor enter his nostrils. His eyes went wide, his ponytail became bushy, and his mouth fell open. ONE simple word burst out of his mouth.

"FOOD!" Joyex darted towards the scent, but Sakuzy grabbed his associate's ponytail to stop him continuing "Ow, ow. Why do people always go for the ponytail?"

"Because it's an easy target." replied Sakuzy, "But that's beside the point."

"Well, what IS the point?!" demanded Joyex in a comical, yet angry tone.

"First, why're you ready to tear up the camp for a meal?" Sakuzy asked, calmly.

"Hey, Quartz can't cook to save his life! And what's the point?!" Joyex said, quickly and impatiently.

"We have more important things to deal with than food." replied Sakuzy, still keeping his calm voice.

"SORA!" shouted someone. Sora glanced around, but had barely had any time to look up when a small, red dragon landed in his face.

"Mushu?!" Sora asked with a laugh, pulling the demoted guardian off of his face, "What're you doing here?"

"Well, Mulan decided to come, so..." Mushu then took notice of the others and asked, "Who're these clowns?"

"CLOWN?!" Joyex demanded, pulling his ponytail free from Sakuzy's grip and storming over to the dragon "I don't LIKE annoying people. They annoy me!"

"Whoops?" Mushu apologized, looking shaky at Joyex's look of murder, "Uh...would you consider giving me a five second head-start?"

"What do YOU think?!" Joyex asked in turn.

"I think it's out of the question."

"EXACTLY!" Joyex then sprung at Mushu, who barely jumped out of the way of his hands.

Mushu, wanting to avoid capture and pain, dove into the snow with Joyex in hot pursuit. An overhead shot of the chase scene showed that they made a perfect picture of the symbol of Kingdom Hearts (1). Mushu then felt something in front of his path and moved around it. However, Joyex ran, headlong, into the thing—a large rock. Joyex got out, massaging his injured cranium with a large amount of vigor and muttering some curse that starts with a "d" and rhymes with "ham".

After massaging his throbbing head and cursing, Joyex looked over and saw three holes in the snow not too far from him. Chain Thrasher flashed into his hand just as Mushu's head popped out of the hole on the right. Mushu gasped and quickly ducked into the hole as Joyex slammed the Chain Thrasher onto the hole in the snow.

"Whack-a-dragon, eh?" Joyex asked, slightly amused, then cursed, "Dang. I never was good at this game." Going out on a limb, Joyex reached down the hole and felt something scaly underneath it. "AHA!" he said, victoriously, "I got ya!"

"Oh no, you don't." Mushu's voice corrected from the hole's depths, "I've got YOU."

Joyex suddenly felt that the thing he was holding was getting hot...VERY hot...BURNING HOT. He released Mushu in an instant and tried to shake the burning sensation out of his hand. "OUCH!"

Joyex could have sworn he heard the little dragon chuckle in the hole and saw Mushu pop out of the middle hole and blow a raspberry at him. Joyex swung Chain Thrasher down only to miss by a mile. It kept happening again and again until Joyex got fed up and tried something new. He waited and pressed the button on his Chain Thrasher. The chain part of his Keyblade extended while he held the blade. When Mushu popped out of the left hole, Joyex faked with the blade to make him pop into the hole, but when the dragon popped back up, Joyex tied the chain around his neck.

The half-hearted Nobody heaved Mushu out and grabbed his neck and tail before pulling on them. The result was that Mushu lengthened by a considerable amount and Joyex began skipping rope with him.

Mushu turned to whoever's reading this and said, sarcastically, "Sure, laugh. It's funny until it happens to you."

Joyex then noticed a small, purple cricket on the ground that seemed to be a mix of both frightened and worried. "Hey, Little Cricket Man!" he shouted before tossing Mushu to the small insect, Cri-Kee, "Take this thing away."

Cri-Kee saluted as he grabbed Mushu by the tail and dragged him away. "I can't feel my legs..." Mushu groaned.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

While Joyex was terrorizing Mushu, Sora was just...staring at him. "What's with him?"

"Oh, he's just a bit ticked by the fact that he finally found someone more obnoxious than him." Riku replied. This got his strange stares, but he answered to that, too, "You sail with him through the cosmos for a few weeks, you get to know him."

While the cook was gone, Scott popped up next to the pot and dipped his finger in. He brought it into his mouth and smacked his tongue in the same way Sora saw Silver when he was sampling his stew. The Australian Anatomy-Changer rubbed his chin as if thinking.

"Well, I've 'ad worse than this stuff..." Scott mumbled to himself, "But I doubt the soldiers would enjoy this much." His eyes darted around and caught some herbs, which he darted over and plucked. "This should make it a bit better." Scott then dunked the ingredients into the pot and tasted it again "Needs somethin'...else..."

As Scott began darting around, adding more ingredients to the soup in the pot, Sora glanced around the area. He quickly saw an eagle and a purple and a red figure flying towards them. The eagle landed before changing into J, and the figures turned out to be Ryan and April. The three went off to scout the area.

"Anything?" Sora asked.

"No." replied April, shaking her head.

"What're they looking for?" asked someone. Sora wheeled around to see Mulan.

"Hey, Mulan!" Sora replied, glad to see a friend who fought alongside him "They're...just looking." Sora then realized something and began the introduction "These are Riku and Kairi."

"So, you're the one Sora was trying to find last time he was here?" Mulan asked Riku, "Shang said you called them wise-guys."

"Naturally." was Riku's cool response.

Sora rolled his eyes at Riku's attempt to be suave, then continued the introduction. "This is Sakuzy, the guy who was torturing Mushu is Joyex, the guy obsessing over the pot's Scott, and these are J, April, and Ryan."

Sakuzy's eyes then darted over to an area and snarled, "Crystalli!"

Joyex bolted over and asked, excitedly "Did you just say Crystalli?!"

"We'll check it out." Sora said, getting straight to business. After some hurried thinking and planning he decided "I'll go with Joyex, Scott, and Mulan to check it out."

"Say no more, Sir Spikes." Joyex replied, waving his hands. He then summoned his Chain Thrasher and fired it at Scott. It immediately wrapped itself around the Aussie's waist and the Nobody began tugging him away from the stew.

"It was finished anyway..." Scott mumbled as he wriggled free of the chain, then ran after Sora, Joyex, and Mulan.

Cri-Kee

A "lucky" cricket who was given to Mulan on her matchmaking day, but is a bit down on his luck himself. He's a friend of Mushu...even though the dragon forces him to do most of the work, but will do what he says without question. He first appeared in _Mulan_ 1998.

_(1) Y'know, the heart symbol?_


	204. Quartz's True Strength

Chapter 204: Quartz's True Strength

Sora and his selected group arrived at the area Sakuzy glanced at: a snowy flat in the mountain range.

"I don't see anything except snow." Mulan pointed out.

"Well, when Sakuzy usually says 'Crystalli', he's serious about it." Joyex pointed out.

As if on cue, something came out from behind a crag and was, indeed, a Crystalli. That did NOT, however, change the fact that it was weird. It had a face that resembled a gas mask: large circular eyes and three vertical slits where a mouth should have been. In its hands were a pair of blades with a handle sticking out of the side and were double-bladed. Other than that, it looked no different from a Neo Soldier.

"Strange." Scott muttered, "I think I saw somethin' like this guy in a comic book (1)…"

The Crystalli didn't speak: instead, it rotated its head in a manner similar to someone popping their neck and readied its odd-looking blades. "What is this thing?" Mulan asked as she took a defensive posture.

"A Crystalli." answered Sora, "They go around the universe corrupting beings to their will. They're basically planning to destroy the universe as we know it."

"To be precise, it's a Crystalli Shogun." Joyex said to Sora.

Sora and Joyex summoned their Keyblades, Mulan drew a sword, and Scott caused bony spikes to protrude from his wrists. The said Australian grinned at Mulan's initial look of disgust and said, "Don't worry. I'm…used to that look."

The Crystalli Shogun stared at its opponent, then spun one of its swords around in a complex form of martial art. When it finished to take a defensive posture, it glanced around at its opponents and vanished so fast, he seemingly teleported.

"This seems familiar…" Sora muttered.

Sora had no sooner said this when instinct acted up; and it was a good thing, too. He had ducked right out of the way of a blade, aimed right for his head. Death missed him by mere centimeters. He made to counterattack, but the Shogun had blocked with its other blade and jumped like a ninja, vanishing with equal speed. When he did land, Scott was there to meet him and thrust his spikes at the Shogun's chest, but the blow was diverted by the Crystalli's swords. Joyex swung his Keyblade into the Shogun, but said Crystalli flipped to kick Scott in the chin and whirled around to parry sharply. It had its blades crossed in an "X" formation, then sharply brought Chain Thrasher into the snowy ground.

"Oh, crap." Joyex cursed, just moments before the Shogun brought the heel of its foot into his jaw.

The Shogun turned to parry Sora's oncoming attack and made to strike back only for Sora to spin away and strike again. This time, he caught the Crystalli on the shoulder, but no more than that. The Shogun spun to strike and Sora parried, but had to keep doing so because the Shogun had a pair of whirling blades. He suddenly saw an opening and slashed his Keyblade at the Shogun, but it leaned back, actually catching itself on its hands and performed a tight backflip to land back on its feet and deflect a blow from both Mulan and Joyex. It sharply jumped in the air in a pirouette of sorts and deflected the two blows he blocked and sending both skidding.

Mulan was the first back up and took a swing at the Shogun, catching it in the back, and by surprise. The Shogun turned to see who attacked it, then began to whirl its blades around, their velocity beginning to bear resemblance to a rotary blade. Mulan backed away, then noticed something: the two whirling blades of destruction crossed at one point. If she put her sword in that space, it would stop the rotation completely and give her a chance to strike. She stuck her sword right between the two blades and they both stopped in their tracks, causing the Shogun to glance down in surprise…one second too long.

"Take this!" Mulan sharply withdrew her blade and jabbed it right through the Crystalli's chest.

Sora, seeing an open spot, threw his Keyblade in a Strike Raid, which collided into the Shogun's midsection and sent it slamming into the rocky mountainside, looking a little worse for wear. There was suddenly a weird metallic noise coming from the Shogun. Sora wondered what this could be, but he soon realized that it was…laughter. It was laughing, surprisingly.

"What're YOU laughin' at," Joyex demanded of the Crystalli before spitting, "You Crystalli son of a…"

Suddenly, the Crystalli Shogun began to glow a bright blue as a strange hum began to fill the air. Then, the Shogun began to grow in size; it was like the time when the MCP gave Sark all his power. When the Shogun stopped growing, it was thirty feet tall and its blades were as long as a small car.

"I guess he's laughing about THAT." Mulan pointed out, her teeth clenched in worry.

The Shogun then pulled out its blades and spun them, the crystal edges beginning to resemble a maw, ready to bite them in half. However, something blocked them and the whirling noise of the blades stopped. Quartz had blocked the blow with his forearms; fortunately, said arms were very tough.

"QUARTZ?!" Sora shouted. THIS was the first time Sora saw him down with them…save the time in Agrabah.

"I saw something on the radar and thought I'd give you a hand." Quartz pointed out, "And I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show you what I can do…"

Quartz's hand suddenly shifted in a flurry of moving parts to form a kind of hand cannon. The Shogun jumped backward to gain a bit more distance, then crossed the space between itself and Quartz and jumped in the air, ready to bring its blades down on its opponent. It would've done so, too, if Quartz hadn't fired his blaster into its chest, sending it into the mountainside. However, this caused something to happen—an avalanche.

"Crikey." was Scott's simple statement. He grunted in slight discomfort before retracting his spikes and turning his arms into batlike wings. He then glanced over to the three and shouted "Anyone who can't fly for themselves had better hitch a ride on me!"

Mulan, preferring not to get buried in snow, grabbed Scott around the ankle just as the Aussie took off. Sora glanced over to Joyex. "Deja vu." Sora simply said as he grabbed Joyex's shoulder and the Nobody shot the blade of his Chain Thrasher into a nearby rock and was immediately pulled to safety.

Quartz and the Shogun both survived the avalanche thanks to their sheer size and continued duking it out. The Shogun swung its blades across Quartz, who barely managed to block the blows with his forearms. Just as the Shogun crossed its blades, defensively, Quartz seized them at the vertex (the place where two lines meet). The Shogun didn't have enough time to let go, because Quartz's fist began to repeatedly slam into its face. WHAM! Three times, it happened before the Shogun fell on its back with a groan. Quartz advanced, but his opponent flipped to his feet and swung its blades across Quartz's chest. The good Crystalli fell onto his back with a growl in pain and saw the deep gash left by the Shogun. The wound was quickly healed over, but he was still shocked by the attack.

Quartz rolled back to his feet and actually jumped clean into the air to seize his opponent by the head and spin his struggling opponent like a discus the minute he touched ground. Quartz obviously knew the laws of physics: the more he spun, the faster he'd spin the Shogun. At the peak of his spin, Quartz released the Shogun and it went flying, only able to brace itself for impact as it smashed, headfirst, into the mountainside. After getting back to its feet, the Shogun popped its neck and readied its blades again. Quartz turned his right hand into the cannon again and placed it between his opponent's blades to blast it again. The Shogun regained its composure quickly and sweep-kicked Quartz, causing him to fall to the ground with an earth-shaking CRASH.

When the Shogun advanced, Quartz jumped back to his feet, spinning like a wheel in midair and landed right behind his opponent. He held out his left hand and part of the forearm extended upward to form what appeared to be another cannon. It wasn't. Instead, out of the strange outgrowth came a rod of glowing-white plasma that emitted a loud, echoing hum (think loud lightsaber effects). The Shogun turned to his opponent and held up his blades in an "X" formation, but Quartz swung the blade of pure energy in one horizontal swing. For one split second, the Shogun thought that Quartz hadn't attacked, but then noticed that in place of its blades were two burning-orange stumps. The energy blade had carved right through them like a hot knife through butter. Before the Shogun even knew what was happening, Quartz swung the energy blade in a diagonal slash and the Shogun remained still. As Quartz sheathed the blade and turned his back on it, the Shogun's limbs went limp and it fell to the snowy ground in pieces.

Quartz descended the mountain to see that Sora and the others were there to meet him. But Quartz had barely made it to where they were when he dropped to one knee.

"Quartz, are you okay?" Sora asked, concerned for their friend.

"I'm fine…" gasped the Crystalli before adding, "I'm just…not as young as I once was…"

"Well, I found the Pure Heart." Ryan saluted.

"Really?" J asked, mildly interested.

"Yeah, but when Sora said that there were Crystalli, I stashed it." Ryan continued, pulling out the still stretched-out Mushu and pointing to a heart-shaped lump in his midsection "I made Mushu eat it!"

"Oh." Joyex commented, "I thought it was some kinda growth..."

Ryan then pushed on the back of the heart-shaped lump in Mushu's stomach. "Just a heads' up, I don't think you'll want it…" Mushu warned as Ryan caused the lump to shoot out of his mouth.

Sora caught the Pure Heart, which looked like it was made of open flame. J snatched it, having self-appointed himself the keeper of the Pure Hearts, being the Prince of Heart.

"Well, looks like we've gotta go." the anti-hero simply said.

"Luckily, I'm here." Quartz pointed out, "At this point, you won't have to wait for me to beam you up."

Quartz then shifted into his Gummi Ship form, beamed Sora and co. up, and took off into the far reaches of space.

Crystalli Shogun

A Crystalli sent to Land of Dragons by Turquoise and Amethyst. It's an expert swordsman and gave Sora, Joyex, Scott, Mulan, and Quartz a run for their money. When defeat seems inevitable for it, it will grow in size to try and turn the tables on its opponent. It was killed by Quartz.

_Scott was referring to the Hellboy comics. I based the Shogun off Karl Ruprecht Kroenen from the said comic book and the movie._

_Out of all the world in Prince of Heart, I consider THIS one to be the most disappointing. I KNOW I could've done better, but I…just couldn't find the right inspiration._


	205. Monsters Inc

Chapter 205: Monsters Inc.

_Several doors opened to reveal several scrambled letters. A few tentacles popped out of the doors to rearrange them to form the word Monstropolis. A snake-like creature then zipped out of the door and took the word in its mouth as it left._

Monstropolis…

Sora dropped into the world with those who he saw fit to help him—namely Kairi, Riku, and J. He also brought along Sakuzy and Joyex.

"Boy, this world sure did change us…" Riku muttered, looking at his new hands. Sora glanced down at his body.

Sora now greatly resembled Red XIII with a similar head and face pattern, though there were notable differences. He was bipedal, completely opposite to the quadruped Red XIII, and was covered in brown fur. His hands looked human enough, but he seemed to have lost his shoes to make room for catlike paws. One thing that remained, though, was that the hair on his head stuck up in the same way and he had his traditional blue eyes.

Riku, unlike Sora, resembled a giant bat. He had near-black fur on his body, save a silver streak that ran down his back. A membrane of skin connected his arms and his upper body, making a form of wings and his hands terminated in small claws. His eyes, unlike Sora's, had changed to a golden yellow and his ears were almost as large as his head and pointed.

Kairi was somewhat similar to Sora, but only somewhat. She had a build similar to him, but resembled a crossbreed between Red XIII and a white tiger. She had white fur that made fresh snow seem gray, with ebony stripes crisscrossing over her body and baby-blue eyes. (1) The only different pattern of fur was a small patch on her head, which was still crimson.

J, unlike the previous three, resembled a predatory reptile. He was covered in scaly skin that was as black as a cloudless night, though the scales on his back seemed thicker than those on any other part of his body. He retained his blood-red eyes and had a head similar to an alligator's: long jaws lined with teeth. He walked on feet similar to a predatory dinosaur's while his arms remained somewhat-human. He also had a long, thick tail to further link him to crocodiles.

Sakuzy was…weirder than most. He had an upper body similar to a human, but in place of arms were two pairs of thick tentacles. Rather than feet, he walked on several tentacles similar to an octopus's and he had rubbery skin the color of a lush plant. His head had a human mouth, but lacked ears, a nose, and hair and he only had one single eye right in the middle of his forehead.

Joyex was mammalian, like most of the group, but didn't resemble a cat or a bat. He more resembled a primate that he saw in a zoo once. His fur was primarily black, though he did have a gray underbelly and a pair of white streaks down his back. He had a long snout like a lemur and brown, forward-facing eyes. He didn't wear shoes, for his feet were like a second pair of hands, and he had a long, prehensile tail that was pretty much in place of his ponytail.

"Great, I'm a monkey." Joyex growled, looking at his hairy hands.

"And I resemble an octopus." Sakuzy pointed out, flailing his tentacles, "You could have it worse."

"He's got a point, Joyex." Sora said.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Randall was working on something with a little, red monster with three eyes and legs that bent backwards. Maleficent appeared behind him in a swirl of darkness and the other monster squeaked in fear.

'What is it you're working on, Randall?" Maleficent asked.

"Oh, just something that might take this place up a notch." Randall replied as some Heartless appeared, carrying some yellow canisters.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

The group went around, exploring the world of Monstropolis. It turned out that it wasn't too different from Manhattan, save the unusual cars and other monsters walking around them. Like them, the monsters came in all shapes and sizes. But as they turned a corner, they found a monster duo at a walk/don't walk sign. One was big and covered in blue fur with purple spots. This monster was large with a reptilian tail and huge paws and claws, not to mention he was extremely catlike and had a small pair of horns on his head.

The second, however, was short, green, and scaly. He only had skinny arms and legs, a single eye in the middle of his forehead, and a small pair of horns on top of his head.

"Hey, Ted!" the furry monster called up to a big, scaly beast, "Good morning!"

The only answer "Ted" gave was an echoing cluck, like some kind of overgrown chicken. Joyex, though, had a different response. "Wow. And I thought WE were weird." Joyex commented.

The small, green monster apparently heard Joyex, because he turned on him. "Hey, who're YOU callin' weird, monkey boy?!" demanded the small cyclops.

"Mike, don't be rude." the hairy one scolded before asking Sora and co. "Hey, I haven't seen you guys in town before. You new around here?"

Sora scratched the back of his spiky-furred head with his clawed hand. "You could say that…" Sora mumbled before beginning the introduction "I'm Sora."

"I'm Kairi." Kairi added.

"I'm Riku." Riku continued.

"J." J simply said.

"I'm Sakuzy and the monkey is my partner, Joyex." Sakuzy ended.

"I can introduce MYSELF, Squid-head!" Joyex growled before realizing what he said and added, "Oh, wait. Wrong guy (2)."

"Well, that's real nice, kids." the cyclops said, somewhat sarcastically. This changed as he said, "I'm Mike and this lug here's my partner, Sulley."

The big monster known as Sully waved with a smile and Sora couldn't help but notice that the big guy was very likeable. It was at that time that the walk/don't walk sign changed to walk (or in this case "stalk/don't stalk".) "Ted" took a thundering footstep forward and Sulley turned to Mike. "See? Ted's walking to work." he pointed out.

"Big deal." Mike countered, "The guy takes five steps and he's there."

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Randall was just at the doorways of a building when he turned to take a look behind him…he soon wished he hadn't. "Oh, great." the lizard-like creature snarled, "Those Key-bearers and the mutations are here."

Randall snapped his fingers and several strange shadows appeared on the ground below him. "Alright, boys, tend to the machine and lay low if you can…" he commanded, albeit quietly.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

As Sora and his group stuck with Mike and Sulley, Sora could easily spot a giant building. The building's logo was a big, blue "M" with a single eye just at its middle bend. Under the M was a slogan…

"We scare because we care?" Sora asked, "What kinda logo is that?"

"Ours." Mike answered, "We scare kids and use their screams for energy. What, haven't you wondered how a light bulb works?"

"I always thought it was electricity." Riku muttered under his breath.

The group then walked into the building, where there was a large menagerie of monsters. Everything from walking mouths to things that were just heads. Mike and Sulley waved, joyously, to their fellow monsters. Sora and co., however, waved a bit more unsurely. The group then walked into the locker room as Mike walked over to a purple she-monster with snakes for hair and one eye, too.

Mike joined the men in the locker room after a few minutes, looking lovestruck. "I'm tellin' ya, Sulley, she's the one." he sighed, reaching into his locker and taking out what was possibly the biggest contact lens ever made.

"Who is?" Sora asked as Mike put the lens one his single eye, blinking to get used to it.

"Celia Mae." Sulley explained, "The two have been going out for a while now."

"Oh, and thanks for getting those reservations at Harry Hausen's." Mike said to Sulley, now used to the contact lens.

"No problem. They were under the name 'Googley Bear'." Sulley replied with a smirk. On seeing a curious look on Riku's face, Sulley filled in, "Pet name."

"Y'know, THAT'S not funny." Mike pointed out, somewhat sternly as he turned to face his friend. Suddenly, the locker door swung closed with a clang. Mike glanced at it, curiously, then opened it back up only to have it swing closed again.

"What's going on?" Sora asked, opening the locker to see it close again.

Sora's question was answered when part of the lockers shimmered, stopping to reveal the culprit: a purple, reptilian monster. It had eight limbs: four arms and four legs, a lithe, serpentine body, and a strange frill on his head. It had a head like a lizard with eyes eerily similar to a chameleon and Sora guessed that, like a chameleon, this…thing could blend into its surroundings.

"WAZOWSKI!" the lizard-thing shouted, causing Mike to recoil in fright. The new monster chuckled before saying, in a crafty, silky voice, "Well, what do ya know? It scares little kids AND little monsters."

"I wasn't scared!" Mike said, defensively, "I…have allergies." Mike fake coughed to emphasize his point.

"Yeah, right." J commented.

The monster then walked over before taking a kung-fu stance, then punching the air. "I'm feelin' good today, Sullivan!" it bragged, "I'm gonna do some GOOD scarin', put up some BIG numbers!"

"Yeah, well, that'll probably make it worse when WE beat it first!" Mike shot back.

"Shh…" the lizard said, as though listening for something, "You hear that?" it asked, "It's the winds of CHANGE."

"Who was that?" Sora asked, watching the strange creature leave. Unknown to him, Mike was mocking the creature's statement under his breath.

"Randall." replied Sulley, "He's been trying to outdo us for years."

"What a creep." Mike growled at the lizard, "One of these days, I'm really gonna…" Mike thought VERY carefully before continuing with…"Let YOU teach him a lesson."

Riku rolled his glowing, yellow eyes as he sarcastically said, "Our hero."

James P. "Sulley" Sullivan

The top scarer of Monsters Inc. He may look vicious at first glance, but he's a gentle giant...when he's not on the scare-floor, that is. He's never seen without his best friend, Mike Wazowski. Other than that, Sulley is a very likeable guy and it's hard for most people not to like him...except for Randall. He first appeared in _Monsters Inc._ 2001.

Mike Wazowski

Sulley's best friend and partner at Monsters Inc. He's constantly trying to get Sulley to get better at scaring, but he's easily frightened, has a temper problem, and can be self-centered at times. He's also romantically involved with another monster called Celia, as he often lets people know. He first appeared in _Monsters Inc._ 2001.

Randall Boggs

The constant second-best, who's always been in Sulley's shadow, Randall is a crafty lizard and very intelligent. He wants to revolutionize the scaring industry and get the best of Sulley, which is why he allied himself with Maleficent. He has the ability to blend into his surroundings like a chameleon. He first appeared in _Monsters Inc._ 2001.

_(1) White Tigers; those were always beautiful animals to me. I just couldn't resist making Kairi like that._

_(2) Joyex also called Davy Jones "Squidhead", just so y'know._


	206. At the Scare Floor

Chapter 206: At the Scare Floor

Mike, Sora, Kairi, and Sakuzy walked out of their respective locker rooms and headed for the Scare Floor. It seemed that Kairi got herself the same job that Mike had: canister duty…whatever that was. She chose it because…she didn't really want to scare kids. Sora guessed that it was because she had taken up babysitting while he was gone.

Mike led them over to where the Scare Floor was supposed to be and to the front of a desk where someone was reading the newspaper. Sora managed to read the headline, which read, 'Child with Five Heads Born. Parents Thrilled'.

"Hey, Roz." Mike greeted before placing a finger on the files, "Who'll we be scaring today?"

A hand slapped down onto Mike's and the reader showed itself. It was a woman…sort of. She was a pale yellow and had a slug-like appearance with horn-rimmed glasses, a small spike of gray hair on her head, and a dab of lipstick on her mouth. She spoke in a low, growling monotone as she said, "Wazowski. You didn't file your paperwork last night."

"Oh, that darn paperwork." Mike replied, somewhat wistfully, "Wouldn't it be great if it just…blew away?"

Roz leaned in close as she threatened, "Don't let it happen again, Wazowski."

"Thanks." Mike said as he took the files.

"I'm watching you, Wazowski. ALWAYS watching." Roz called, sternly, "ALWAYS…"

"She scares me." Sora said to the group.

"And ugly to boot." Kairi added.

"I just want to get this world over with." Sakuzy grumbled under his breath.

Sora and his group made to go into the Scare Floor, but for reasons yet to be explained, Mike stopped them. "Sorry, Scarers aren't allowed in yet. You gotta wait for everyone else, bub." THIS statement earned a heaved sigh from Sora and Sakuzy. J just rolled his eyes and Riku and Joyex shook their heads in disbelief. "C'mon, miss. We got work to do." Mike said, handing Kairi a blue helmet with the Monsters Inc. logo on it. Kairi put it on her head and entered the Scare Floor.

The mono-eye and the tigress walked over to different depressions in the factory floor and scanned special cards in a device. In just a few seconds, doors inserted themselves in slots in the floor. Mike showed Kairi the ropes to attaching the odd canisters to the device used to open doors to other worlds.

_Wow. And to think I needed more than this to travel to other worlds..._ Kairi thought in amazement as she attached her canister.

"ATTENTION UNITS. SCARERS ARE NOW ENTERING THE SCARE FLOOR." a voice said over the P.A. System.

Kairi simply mirrored the other co-workers around her as the scarers entered the room. Among them were Sulley, Sora and the others, and a strange lizard creature that chilled her to the core. Judging by the formation that Sora and co. had taken, it was likely that they would scare in turn.

"Alright, everybody, we're goin' on in seven…six…five…four…" a monster said, holding up EXACTLY seven fingers, "Three…two…" he gave the thumbs' up and a horn sounded through the whole room. This was the start.

"Go on, you're the boss. You're the boss. You're the big, scary boss!" Mike said to Sulley as the latter readied himself before he walked into a door. Randall clung to the frame of the door and clambered into the room like a gecko. Joyex put the best snarl on his dog-like face and swung into the room with the agility of a monkey.

A few seconds later, Mike heard a scream from the other side of the door and glanced at the canister installed into the machine. A small meter on the front of the device began to turn a bright red, stopping with a small "ding".

One second later, Sulley walked through the door. "I'm feelin' GOOD today, Mikey!" the big, blue monster said, proudly.

Someone screamed as J slunk through his door and commented, somewhat smugly, "Too easy."

Joyex swung out and growled, "Wouldn't ya have it? No one was there."

A batlike screech went through a door and someone screamed. Riku walked out and said, with a shrug, "Could've been a bit better…"

Randall glanced over to his scream numbers as soon as he walked out of his door. They paled in comparison to Sulley's, who was still at the top of the chart. The red monster with three eyes walked over to Randall.

"You're still behind, Randall." the monster, named Fungus, commented "Maybe it's the Scream Intake valve…"

"JUST GET ME ANOTHER DOOR!" Randall snapped. His partner yelped before running away to get in.

Kairi slid another card key through its slot and another door came towards them on a conveyor belt. J slunk into it and snarled with a crocodilian hiss. The scream intake flew up to the full capacity at double the original speed. J walked out as he simply said, "Sleepover."

A lion-esque roar came out of one door and Sora walked out. Kairi made another tally mark as Sakuzy slithered through his door and over to her.

"So, what's the score?" the mollusk asked, eagerly.

"Well, so far, J's in the lead with Riku in a distant second. And, sorry, Sakuzy, but you're in dead last." Kairi apologized as she showed the number of screams Sakuzy got. The tentacled Keyblader slumped in exasperation and groaned.

Randall walked out of another door as Fungus began stuttering, as though to tell him something. Randall's patience broke as he demanded, "WHAT?!"

"Look…" was Fungus' simple reply. Randall glanced over at the score to see his numbers go up...a lot. In one moment, the lizard's picture swapped places with the picture of Sulley, putting Randall at the top of the charts.

"_Attention, everyone._" said the voice of Celia "_We have a new scare leader--Randall Boggs._"

Randall puffed himself up with pride as several monsters walked over to congratulate him. However, several screams came out and Mike kept reloading the scream tanks as Sulley walked out and cracked his knuckles before saying, "Slumber party."

"Lucky." J grumbled.

Sulley's numbers began to rise until he succeeded Randall again and Celia's voice said "_Never mind._"

The monsters around Randall dissipated and he clenched all four of his three-fingered hands. "If I don't see another door in five seconds," he growled at Fungus, "I will personally put YOU through THE SHREDDER!" Fungus screamed as he ran off to fetch another door.

Another monster manager glanced at another canister as it began to fill up. However, it quickly vanished as a blue crocodilian monster burst out of the door and began crying like a baby.

"What happened?" the manager asked.

"The kid almost touched me!" the blue monster replied, spastically, then held his index finger and thumb only an inch apart. "She got THIS close to me!"

"She wasn't SCARED of you?!" demanded the manager, "SHE WAS ONLY SIX!"

The monster grabbed his manager and shouted, just as spastically, "I could've been dead! I COULD HAVE DIED!"

The manager slapped the monster and whistled. Two monsters who were at the entrance rolled over with a machine. Joyex walked out of a door to notice them and demanded, "Hey, what the heck are those two GAY monsters doin' here?!"

The two placed some tape around the door and placed it into the machine; the effect was the resemblance of a wood-chipper and the two knobs were spat out. At that moment, an elderly monster scuttled out onto the Scare Floor. He was short, gray-skinned, and walked on six spidery legs, not to mention he had seven eyes.

The monster with seven fingers, who was the guy who started the scaring, sighed before saying, "That's the twelfth door today."

"Kids today." the spider-monster said before adding, "They just don't scare like they used to."

"Hey, Wazowski!" a fellow monster manager called to Mike, "Good job with those numbers."

"Why thanks, pal. It's all in a day's work." Mike said, proudly, "Hey, how's Georgie doin'?"

"Great. I love workin' with the big guy." the former of the two answered.

At that moment, an orange, furry monster with a single horn on his forehead came out of the door. "Keep the doors comin'. I'm on a roll today." the monster known as George said, proudly.

"George and I are like brothers." The monster suddenly gasped as he called out, "TWENTY-THREE NINETEEN! WE HAVE A TWENTY-THREE NINETEEN!!!" All the while he was pointing at a single object on George's back: a sock.

Alarms blared, "red alert" rang through the PA system, and a camera zoomed in on the sock on George's back. On noticing the screen focusing on him, George turned and noticed the sock and immediately tried to get it off him.

"_George Sanderson,_" said a computerized voice "_Please remain motionless for decontamination._"

Several monsters in yellow jumpsuits then swung into the facility via ropes and burst through the doors of the factory

"Oh no, not the CDA." groaned the spider monster.

Two of the monsters then tackled George to the ground while another one pulled out a pair of metal tongs and SLOWLY took the sock off before placing it on the ground. Two monsters placed some metal dome around it and screwed it to the ground. When the spheroid was lodged firmly into the ground, a third monster held out a metal panel and pressed a red button installed inside it. All of the monsters braced themselves for anything. However, the explosion from within the spheroid was no more than a muffled poof. The two monsters unscrewed the dome to reveal that the sock was no more than a small crater surrounded by a corona of ash, which was instantly vacuumed by another monster.

"Heh, thanks guys." George said, very relieved it was over, "That was a close one…"

The monsters, much to everyone's surprise, pulled a shower curtain seemingly from nowhere to hide George. A razor then buzzed and George screamed at the suddenness of it all. Another split second later, a shower nozzle sprang out and soaked the monster. Only when it was over did the curtain lower, revealing George, now clad in a cone and shaved down to the skin, save a few patches of fur. Then, for reasons yet to be explained, one of the CDA members turned George so that his back was to him, took a patch of orange fur and ripped it out. When George was turned back around, he screamed as loud as he dared.

"All that panic over a sock?" Sora asked. This had never happened to him before, not even on the most bizarre worlds he had been on.

"In case ya don't know, dog-boy," Mike said before shouting, "A human child is TOXIC!"

Joyex scratched his head as he simply asked "Kids are toxic? I know that they're obnoxious, but…"

Sakuzy put some of his tentacles around Joyex's mouth and pulled him away. Sora glanced at the spider thing and gently nudged Sulley's arm. On seeing that the blue monster had been addressed, Sora pointed over at the spider and asked, "Who's that guy?"

"The company's CEO." replied Sulley, "Mr. Waternoose."

"Waternoose?" Joyex asked, having wriggled free of Sakuzy's tentacles, "Sounds like a typo."

Sulley walked over to the spider thing, Waternoose, and Riku followed.

"How could this happen?" Waternoose asked, taking a cup and pulling a lever to cause some glutinous liquid to fall out into the cup. He then "sipped" it.

"We're just goin' through a rough time, sir." Sulley said "You'll get us out."

"Tell that to the board of directors." Waternoose answered.

"The writer tried that. Didn't work (1)." Riku mumbled.

Waternoose sighed in sorrow before saying, to Sulley "James, this company's been in my family for three generations. I would do ANYTHING to keep it from going under."

_Like on Ant Island, the whole thing rolled to a stop and Crescent slid out from the side._

_"Hi, there!" the crazed ninja greeted, grinning broadly, and waving as he said "I'm just here to say, during THIS part, ya can tell that the guy's desperate. Anyway, return to the picture."_

The film resumed as Riku asked "Is there anything I can do?"

"Well, some black things that have been around the factory that have been…stealing our screams." Waternoose said, "Could you see if you could take them out?"

"No problem." Riku replied with a nod. He then turned to the nearest exit, ready for his first day of duty: Heartless Patrol.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and co. were at the locker room, minus Kairi, seeing as it was the men's room.

"What're you gonna do?" Mike asked, "I'm takin' Celia to Harry Hausen's then to a Monster Truck Rally."

"How predictable." Sakuzy mumbled.

"And Sora's takin' Kairi out on a date." Joyex said, using a teasing voice.

"WHAT?! I'm…" Sora couldn't get the words out.

"I'm gonna work out some more." Sulley said, answering Mike's question.

"Again?" Mike asked, "Y'know, there's more to life than scaring." Mike sniffed his pits and made a disgusted face. "Hey, can I borrow your odorant?"

"Yeah, I've got smelly garbage and old dumpster." replied Sulley, glancing at a few bottles in his locker.

"All I got is rotten fruit." Joyex whined.

"Anyone got low-tide?" Mike asked.

"No." replied Sora.

"How about wet dog?"

"I do." J replied, tossing Mike a bottle, "Here."

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and co. walked out of the locker room, meeting up with Kairi about halfway down the hall.

"Y'know, sometimes I'm so romantic I should just marry myself." Mike said, smugly.

"I don't see how that would work…" Kairi said, uneasily.

"Tonight, it's just gonna be ME and HER!" Mike continued, dreamily, and not hearing what Kairi said, "Whenever I see her, my heart goes…" Mike then saw Roz, who appeared out of nowhere and he yelped like a frightened Chihuahua.

"Hello, Wazowski." the grouchy secretary slug said before asking. "Fun-filled evening tonight?"

"Well, as a matter of fact…"

"But I'm sure you filed your paperwork correctly…for once." Mike gulped as Roz oozed away. "Your stunned silence is VERY reassuring." she said, slowly oozing away in the snail sort of way.

"You left 'em on the desk." J hissed to Mike.

"MAN! If I don't get to the restaurant in five minutes, they'll give away my reservations!" Mike whimpered, "What'll I tell…"

"Hi, googley bear!" Celia said as she leaned over to Mike "When do we go?"

"Well, uh, ya see…"

Sora immediately came up with something…and just in the nick of time, because Mike was between a rock and a hard place now. "We forgot some paperwork and Mike was reminding us." Sora grinned.

"Thanks, buddy." Sulley added.

Celia began dragging Mike away as he quickly hissed, "Remember, the goldenrod goes to Roz and the fuscia goes to Purchasing! LEAVE THE PUCE!"

Mike was dragged away and J began to follow.

"Where are YOU going?" Sora asked.

"Well, I have BETTER things to do than file someone else's paperwork. I'm out of here." J growled before walking off.

Roz

An ugly slug-esque secretary with a few issues with Mike. She also has a secret that we'll find out later, though she hides it with her serious and monotonous nature. She first appeared in _Monsters Inc._ 2001.

Celia Mae

A snake-haired cyclops who shares mutual feelings for a certain Mike Wazowski. Also another secretary at Monsters Inc., she's usually in charge of the phone. She first appeared in _Monsters Inc._ 2001.

Fungus

Randall's manager. He has a stammering problem and is easily intimidated, so he'll follow the lizard's orders without question. He's also one of the few who know that Randall's in with Maleficent. He first appeared in _Monsters Inc._ 2001.

Mr. Henry J. Waternoose

The CEO of Monsters Inc., the guy's in a state of torment because the company's not doing so well and he'll do anything to keep it from going under. He's something of a father figure to Sulley. He first appeared in _Monsters Inc._ 2001.

_(1) In reference to my fic, Chaos, where I have meetings with my "board of directors"._


	207. Trouble with Kids

Chapter 207: Trouble With Kids

Sora, Sulley, and Kairi (Sakuzy and Joyex followed J's lead) were wandering to the desk, trying to remember the order of files that Mike gave them.

"Leave the goldenrod, fuscia goes to Roz, and the puce goes to Purchasing." Sulley mumbled.

"No, it was goldenrod to Roz, fuscia to Purchasing, and leave the puce." Kairi corrected.

Sulley sighed. "I have no idea what puce is."

"Me neither." Sora replied.

Sulley grabbed a few files and flipped through them before flipping to a color that he had never seen before. "Oh, THAT'S puce." the big monster said, surprised.

Sora turned to leave, but then noticed something and asked, "Uh, Sulley? Was that door always there?"

Sulley turned to see a white door with pink flowers designed on it. "No." He glanced around to see if anyone was there and called out, "Hello?"

Sora, following Sulley's example, cupped his furry hands to his mouth and called out, "Anyone there?"

"Maybe they're inside." Kairi pointed out.

Sulley wanted to send the door on its way…but that was Mike's job, not his, so he wasn't exactly sure how the machine worked. Sulley then slowly opened the door to see an empty bedroom. Still, he had to make sure by whispering, "Hello? Anyone scaring in here?"

No answer. And when Sora peeked in as well, he saw that the room looked about as empty as an attic. Sulley shut the door as Sora stepped away and tapped the red light with his claw, still wondering if it was working properly. Then, just as the trio had begun pondering whether someone was either in there or not, there came a thud, like a footstep. Sulley glanced around and didn't see anything. Another thud, but this time, Sora glanced around for the source. Still nothing.

Only at the third thud, when Sulley looked down, did they find the culprit. Sulley looked down at his tail to see something lift his tail and then drop it. It turned out to be a little girl with a pink dress and brown hair done up in pigtails. The girl looked up at the three monsters, babbled something none of them could understand, and Sulley screamed as if the girl had fangs and poisonous stingers. The girl held out her hands and while Sulley shied away from her, Sora simply took her by the collar and quickly took the girl into the room, where he deposited her and slammed the door behind him.

"There. Problem solved." Sora said to himself.

"Uh…Sora?" Kairi asked, pointing to an area opposite him. The girl had snuck back out and was apparently trying to hug Sora's leg.

The experience was short-lived, because Sulley carefully grasped her collar between his claws and rushed her into her room. He made very sure that she was on the bed, but as he backed away, he stepped on a basket of sorts, got a ceiling decoration stuck on his head, and not to mention some pull duckies and a blanket.

In his haste to get out of the Scare Floor, Sulley ran past the Key-bearer, tangling the ducks around his feet. In a split-second, Sora ended up getting dragged across the floor by Sulley.

"SULLEY!" Sora shouted as he slid across the ceramic floor, but the addressee obviously didn't hear him.

Kairi chased after them, on all fours of all things, and quickly summoned the Flowering Strength and cut Sora free. Sora, not exactly wanting to lose sight of Sulley, ran after him with Kairi hot on his heels.

Sulley darted into the locker room and then into the bathroom. He swiftly went into a cubicle and dumped all the contents into the toilet and flushed it. He sighed with relief as he hoped that the stuff was going to be washed away…but it didn't last long, seeing as the toilet quickly backed up. Sulley grabbed the blankets and duckies out of the toilet and rushed out of the bathroom, looking for any place to put it. He spotted a locker and quickly jammed the stuff into the nearest open locker, not even caring whose it was. He sighed with relief and started to walk away.

"Sora? You had a passenger." Kairi said with a bit of a giggle, not even caring that she was in the men's locker room. Sora glanced around to see the girl jump off his back and jump onto Sulley's, who didn't notice.

"Three, two, one…" Sora counted. After Sora said "one", Sulley screamed at the top of his lungs and ran off as fast as he could go with the girl in hot pursuit.

"Kitty!" the girl shouted with glee as she chased after Sulley.

"Did she just call him 'kitty'?" asked Sora, confused.

"She does look like she's only three." Kairi pointed out.

"Well, if he's THAT terrified, we might as well help the big guy." Sora shrugged as he said this.

Meanwhile, Sulley grabbed a Monsters Inc. carry bag and jammed the girl into it. Without another word, the trio made for the Scare Floor and ALMOST opened the door where the girl came from. They ALMOST made it, but didn't. The knob turned suddenly and the three had no place to hide…or so they thought. The door opened and Randall walked out, pushing a cart that was carrying a few Scream Canisters and the lizard was looking somewhat disgruntled. However, the three weren't in sight.

The door went up its crane and it turned out that Sora, Sulley, and Kairi were hiding just behind the door. The girl cooed and poked her hand out and Sulley quickly pushed it back in, causing her to squeal playfully. Randall stopped as if he had heard them, but after a long, tense pause…he just sneezed and continued on his way.

"What was he doing here?" Sora asked, under his breath.

Kairi made a noise similar to "I don't know".

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Meanwhile, at the Japanese restaurant called Harry Hausen's, J sunk his conical, reptilian teeth into some form of sushi and ripped out a chunk with a flick of his head before tossing the hunk of meat down his throat, swallowing it whole. Sakuzy and Joyex tried the stuff, but they quickly gagged and spat it out (outside of course).

"How can you stomach this stuff?!" Sakuzy asked, sticking out his tongue.

"If you've been a scrounger as long as I have, you've gotta learn to stomach just about anything." J replied.

"Okay." Joyex said, now a shade of green, "If you'll excuse me, I've gotta go worship the porcelain god." Joyex said, before covering his mouth and taking off to the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Mike and Celia were laughing as Sora, Kairi, and Sulley burst into the restaurant. Apparently, the former of the two had said something that sounded embarrassing.

"Hey,whatacoincidenceseein'youhere,we'lljustordersomethingtogo." Sulley quickly said, pulling a menu over so that it concealed the two of them.

Sora, however, could hear the two talking. On entering this world, he had realized that each one of them had new, animalistic prowess, a different one each. Sora had all kinds of beastly powers such as enhanced senses. Thanks to his new hearing, he heard the two monsters talking…even from the entrance.

"I was at the Scare Floor tonight and I saw a door in Randall's work area." Sulley whispered.

"Randall?" Mike asked, then gasped as he scrunched his eye, "That cheater's tryin' to boost his numbers!"

"But that's not all." Sulley said, through clasped teeth.

"What?"

"Ook-lay in the ag-bay." Sulley answered, gesturing downward with his eyes.

"What?" Mike asked. He obviously didn't know Pig Latin.

"Look in the bag."

Mike looked under the table, where Sulley had put the bag, but there was no bag. Sulley looked down and quickly searched around, but on feeling Mike's hand on his arm, he saw what appeared to be the bag walking away on legs. Sulley groaned, but he quickly turned it into, "Well, I guess that there's nothing here I like, so bye…"

Sakuzy barely managed to stomach another piece of sushi before he had to take off to the bathroom to barf. The child waddled over to some monsters, who screamed like Boo was more dangerous than them. The octopus chef then oozed over to the telephone.

"Looks like we've got some things to do…" J growled as he ran over to the kid and Mike followed.

"Michael?" Celia asked Mike.

"THERE'S A KID HERE!" screamed the chef into the telephone, "A HUMAN KID!"

The kid jumped over to the counter and shouted, in a playful sort of way, "BOO!"

For one second, there was silence…then the monsters screamed at the top of their lungs and in the short span of five seconds, began to erupt in chaotic turmoil. Sora quickly caught up to J, who grabbed a food box, then the former of the two grabbed the kid and jammed it into the box. Sulley ran over and quickly closed it shut.

"We've gotta get out!" Sulley shouted as he ran out with Mike, Sora, Kairi, and J.

Joyex and Sakuzy walked out of the restroom and saw the mass destruction. "Hey, when'd all the chaos happen?" Sakuzy asked.

"Just our luck." Joyex mumbled, folding his arms, "When the destruction happens, we're in the bathroom…"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and co. continued running through just as the monsters in yellow jumpsuits ran into the restaurant and caught everyone, including Celia.

"HEY!" Mike shouted, angrily "GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SCHMOOPZY-POO!"

"Just come on, Mike!" Sora said, grabbing Mike and carrying him away.

"Well, I don't see how THAT could've been any worse!" Mike snarled.

"Am I the only one who feels like we've forgotten something?" Kairi asked.

Immediately, in a flash of light and a very audible hum, a field of greenish-blue energy circled around the area they just left. They then remembered what they forgot. "Oh no." Sora growled, smacking himself on the face, "Sakuzy and Joyex are still there…"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

_"Here is a Monstropolis News Flash…" the Muppet news reporter said as he dashed over to the desk, "Reports indicate that, for the first time in Monstropolis History, a human child has entered this world." the news reporter glanced at his paper to get a better look at what he was reading, then continued._

_"The Child Detection Agency can neither confirm nor deny it, but we have several eyewitnesses. One claims that it blasted a car with its laser vision and another claims to been picked up by its mind powers and shaken like a rag doll." he then turned the page and finished with, "Most experts agree that now is the time TO PANIC!" On those last two words, the reporter tossed his papers into the air in fright and ran, screaming, from the room._

The television fell off its support with a CRASH as the girl said what appeared to be an apology. Mike and Sulley screamed in fright, armed with various household objects: oven mitts, snorkels, pans, the works. J, on the other hand, was just laying around, watching them suffer. He smirked as Boo pulled a single video out of a whole stack, causing it to topple much to Mike's dismay. "NO! Those were ALPHABETIZED!" Mike groaned.

"You find their suffering funny?" Sora asked the gator-esque J.

"I find everyone's suffering funny, except for my own." was J's reply. He then added, "I'm an anti-hero, what do you expect?" The girl then jumped onto J's snout and took a seat on it as though it were some piece of furniture. "Alright, playtime's over, kid." The crocodile thing shook her off with a snort, but unfortunately, Mike had other plans. He took out a canister of disinfectant and sprayed J full in the face with it, burning the reptile's eyes in the process.

"OW!" J cursed, clutching his now-burning eyes, "SON OF A…"

Kairi slammed J's mouth shut with her hands and the last word was muffled to the point that no one could understand it. She was fortunate J's head was like an alligator's, or she would've had a LOT more trouble. (1) She then said, in barely more than a whisper, "I wouldn't do that. There's a child present."

Mike ran over as the child opened the window drape, spraying it before pulling it back down. "It's okay…it's okay." Mike said, trying not to hyperventilate, "As long as it doesn't come near us, we're gonna be okay." Mike turned to meet the little girl, who sneezed at him. Mike screamed, fumbled with the canister, and actually sprayed himself…namely in his single eye. He yelled in pain and clutched his burning eyeball, stamping his three-toed foot in the process.

Sulley was backing away from the girl, VERY slowly, but if anything, it was only made more difficult as she approached. Sora, getting an immediate idea, took a teddy bear of sorts that had mutiple legs, horns, and a single eye. "If I know toddlers…" the beastly Keybearer said to himself. He then showed her the bear and tossed it to another part of the room. The girl giggled happily and went to retrieve it.

"HEY!" Mike shouted before running over to the girl, who had just picked up the bear and began hugging it. The circular cyclops, however, wrenched the bear from her hands while scolding, "NOBODY touches Little Mikey!"

Suddenly, the girl's face started to turn red and her eyes screwed up as tears began to gather inside them. "Oh no." J grumbled, "THIS is what I hate about little kids…" J growled, then quickly used his scaly hands to cover his ears (or at least where they used to be).

"Mike, give her the bear." Kairi said, suddenly noticing the look of uneasiness on Sulley's face.

"What?" Mike asked.

The girl began to bawl at the top of her lungs, her screams causing all electronic equipment to flicker due to an overload. As this happened, J's eyes shut as tight as they could and his jaw clenched while his hands continued to try and block the noise. All this while, a low, guttural growl was coming from J's throat, and it was getting louder by the second.

"Do something!" Kairi had to shout over the screaming as she tried to turn the power off, and failed miserably.

Mike was too busy checking if the helicopters weren't noticing them…which they were, so Sulley picked up the bear, shaking it to make it look like it was dancing and quickly saying, in a kind of singsong voice, "_Oh, look! It's a happy bear, he's not crying. Neither should you, or we'll get in trouble, because they might see us…_"

"Good, keep it up!" Mike said as the girl's crying slowed to a stop and the power returned to normal.

The girl stopped crying and made a grab at the bear, but touched Sulley's hand in the process. The big monster suddenly screamed as he clutched his hand, as though it had been pierced by a burning-hot nail. THIS, however, threw the bear away from her and the kid continued her wailing. The power, again, started to flicker and attract attention.

"Lemme do it!" Mike shouted as he ran towards the two, but tripped over his own feet (the guy was actually wearing scuba flippers) and fell into a wastebasket next to a desk. Some of the desk's contents, namely a few books or videos, fell into Mike's mouth to near-bursting in a VERY comical way. And to top it all off, a stereo player of sorts fell on his head, making him spew the stuff out and get flattened at the same time.

The girl's crying stopped and was immediately replaced by gleeful laughter. The lights in the house, and the entire area around the block, shone brighter than they ever did before, but then all the power went out due to a tremendous overload. After the laughing ceased, all was quiet.

"What was THAT?" Sulley asked, Sora thinking the same thing.

Mike, still in the wastebasket, bounced over and answered, "I dunno. But it would be really great if it DIDN'T do it again."

J glanced over to the rest and quickly said, "Now, get some grease and a crowbar and we'll get Mike out."

"Wonder if Riku saw that…" Kairi said to herself

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Just outside, Riku jumped from the roof of a building and actually jumped higher and farther than he usually would have. Thanks to the membrane connecting his arms and chest, he could glide over short distances, so hopping from rooftop to rooftop was no hassle at all. He even had to admit that he liked it. Suddenly, all the power flared up beyond normal and then blinked out equally fast.

_What the heck was that? _he asked himself, but then shook it off. He didn't need light to see, thanks to astounding night vision, and there were Heartless that he needed to take out.

_(1) An alligator or crocodile's jaws can slam shut with great force, but the muscles that open them are very weak. Hence, a human can keep the jaws shut with his/her bare hands. So don't try to pry their jaws open. You're not King Kong, after all._


	208. Her Name is Boo

Chapter 208: Her Name is Boo

Later, Sora and co. were sitting in the room, using candles to light up the place, since the power in the immediate area went out. Sulley kept tossing pieces of cereal the girl, who was now doodling with paper and crayons, opening her mouth when she wanted some cereal. Mike, on the other hand, sat at a desk, thinking of ideas as he wrote down his plans.

"How could I let this happen?" whimpered Sulley, "It could destroy the company…"

"Who cares about the company?!" Mike demanded, then pointed at the girl, "What about US?! That THING is a killing machine!"

The girl, however, was doing a little spinning dance that resulted in immediate dizziness. Sora gave Mike a flat look and answered, somewhat sarcastically, "Yeah, REAL threatening."

"Whatever. I think I've got a possible solution." Mike said, turning his chair to the desk as he explained, "Using mainly spoons, we dig a tunnel under the city and release it into the wild!"

Everyone gave Mike a flat look and deadpanned, "Spoons?"

Mike's eager look faded in an instant as he crumpled up the paper and tossed it into a wastebasket. "That's it. I'm outta ideas." On following the paper wad's path, Sora saw that this obviously wasn't the first try…as the wastebasket was filled with several of them.

The girl tried approaching J, but was repulsed when the said gator-thing gave her a somewhat-threatening snarl. Kairi glanced at J as the girl whimpered before backing away, now learning to keep her distance.

"What's with you, J? She's just a little kid." Kairi asked, sternly.

"I've never been the parental type." J growled, "Sue me."

"We've gotta get rid of the kid." Mike mumbled, still trying to think of a plan, "Giant balloon? Too expensive. Giant slingshot? Too obvious. Giant wooden horse? Too Greek."

As Mike was going through plans in his head, Sulley saw something the kid drew up. It was a picture of him, her, Sora, and Kairi, though it was slightly vague. Her eyes then began drooping, so she rubbed them and yawned. "Mike?" asked Sulley, "I think she's tired."

"Well, why don't you find a place for it to sleep…" Mike said, calmly, before shouting, spastically, "WHILE I THINK OF A PLAN!" Mike then turned back to the table and fumbled around with his pencil.

A minute later, Sulley led the girl out of the room and into a bedroom, using cereal to bait her. But as he laid out a newspaper, someone had apparently heard him. "She's a human, not some pet."

Sulley turned to see Sora and Kairi standing in the doorway. Sora was the one who had spoken to him about the human/pet fact, but it was Kairi who pointed out, "Besides, she looks happy where she is now."

Sulley followed her index finger and saw that the little girl was laying in the bed. "No. That's MY bed. You'll get your germs all over it…" On seeing that he was fighting a losing battle, Sulley just gave up. "Well, alright, I suppose I can sleep somewhere else…"

The girl suddenly emitted a panicked squeal and pointed at a door across from the bed. Sora scratched the back of his ear with a claw and shrugged. "What?" he asked, "It's just a closet."

Boo moved aside her previous drawing and held up a new one: one that looked lizard-like with familiar flaps and an insane amount of legs. "Hey, that looks like Randall." Sulley said, squinting slightly to get a better view.

"Randall?" Kairi asked, having never heard of the lizard.

Sora scratched the back of his furry head as he tried to think of the best way to explain. "Let's put it this way. He's a lizard who's just one step behind Sulley." he said, earning an understanding nod from Kairi. "You saw him on the Scare Floor with those canisters. I guess that he's this girl's assigned monster."

Sulley sighed. "She's afraid that he'll come through the closet and scare her." He then lumbered over to the door and opened it. "See? Nothing there."

This didn't prevent the girl from trying to hide under the blanket in fright. Kairi decided that now was a good time to try a more simple thing. "It's okay. There aren't any monsters in there." she said, walking over to the door and going into the closet. On turning to face the girl, she realized that she wasn't doing a good job so far. "Well…now there is, but there isn't anything else."

Kairi walked out of the closet while Sulley simply pulled up a small chair and put it in front of the closed door. "Okay…" Sulley said, making it up as he went along, "I guess I'll just stay here until you go to sleep." After a brief pause, Sulley saw that so far, the girl didn't start counting z's, so he decided to demonstrate. "Go…" he imitated walking with his index and middle claw, "To…" he held up two fingers, "Sleep." Sulley demonstrated by using his hands as a pillow and mock-snoring. The results he got were a small giggle from the girl, but she did go to sleep as he had hoped.

Sora sighed in relief, but did notice something different in Sulley. He was watching the little girl sleep, peacefully, in bed, and it was VERY likely that his opinion on human kids was changing in no time.

When Sulley exited the bedroom, Sora and Kairi right behind him, he said, "Mike? I don't think she's dangerous."

J's response was to roll his blood-red eyes in some form of relief, but in more of an "oh puh-leeze" kind of way…unlike Mike. "Really?" Mike asked, hopefully "Then, let's keep it! I always wanted a pet..." Mike then finished, in an enraged growl, "THAT COULD KILL ME."

"Well, we COULD put her back." Sora pointed out, surprised that no one even thought of it.

"If we put her back, she'll be safe from being taken away by those CDA guys." Kairi added.

"And it'll be like it never happened and we can move along." J finished as a growl. Kairi bopped the anti-hero between the eyes for that remark and earned herself a loud hiss.

"Alright, the votes are in." Mike said to himself, "Everyone's insane. Personally, I think I've been VERY forgiving up until now, but NEXT, I'll be guessing everyone will be wanting us to WALTZ right into the factory."

"Y'know, it's funny you should say that…" Sulley replied, glancing at the fabric on his chair.

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"I CAN'T BELIEVE WE'RE JUST WALTZING INTO THE FACTORY." Mike growled in a half-scream.

"It'll work if you just keep your cool." Sora hissed.

"Well, I can see why the eyeball's nervous." J said, eyeing something that Sulley was hiding behind his back, "A mop, a pair of lights, and some chair fabric probably won't fool that many people."

Sora and co. were just…walking up to the factory. The child was dressed in some form of monster suit that had mock tentacles, the top of the mop ripped off for some hair, lights made into eyestalks of sorts, and an entire costume made from the fabric of Sulley's chair.

"Just think of a few names—Bigfoot, Loch Ness, the Abominable Snowman." Mike hissed, "They all have one thing in common—BANISHMENT. WE could be next."

"Banishment?" Kairi asked, "What's that?"

"That's when they kick a monster into the human world and leave 'em there." Mike replied.

"No worries, we're just average Joes goin' to work." Sora said, more to himself than to anyone, "Keep cool. Cool as a cucumber…"

"How hard could it be?" Sulley asked, but the moment he opened the door to the factory, he found out just how bad it could have been.

Sora and co. saw what was going on and their jaws dropped: the entire factory was chuck-full of CDA members. Some inspected the building's structure while others inspected the people and interrogated them. A pair of monsters noticed the group that just entered and walked over--one looked like a monkey that had been completely shaved, clad in a cone and barrel pants and the other was scratching with its many tentacles. The tentacled one, on further inspection, had several Band-Aids on various points of his body.

"Sakuzy? Joyex?" Sora asked. He had almost forgot about them.

"Hey, guys." Joyex replied with a wave, using his free hand to hold up the barrel.

"Geez Louise. What happened to YOU?" Mike asked.

Sakuzy growled, then continued trying to scratch his itchy skin, "Well, the CDA used somethin' on me that's making me itch like crazy! I can barely get them and I have FOUR arms."

"And I don't think I have to explain what happened to me." Joyex added, heaving his barrel pants up further.

Crimson eyes searched the area, but immediately noticed one thing. "Uh…where's the kid?" J asked Sulley in a whisper.

Sulley clenched his hands together, proving that there was nothing there. The one thing Sora had to admit about this girl was that she had a knack for getting lost.

Sulley gasped as he saw the girl running towards Waternoose, who noticed her…after she tugged at one of his six legs. "Oh, and who are you?" he asked.

Sulley darted over to the CEO and picked up the girl. "Thank goodness you found her!" Sulley thanked, sounding out of breath.

"Is she yours?" Waternoose asked, raising the brow of one of his many eyes.

"No." Sulley lied before adding, "She's my cousin's sister's daughter."

"Yeah! It's…Bring an Obscure Relative to Work Day." Mike said, adding to the lie.

_That's the best they could come up with?_ J thought to himself. He would've said babysitting, personally.

Waternoose, however, seemed to have swallowed this completely as he mumbled, "Must've missed the memo…" he the said, to Sulley, "Anyway, could you come down to the training room this afternoon and show them what it means to be a top scarer?"

"Yeah,well,we'vegottagetgoin'now,sobye!" Sora said, pulling Sulley away and avoiding Waternoose's question altogether.

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Sora and co. retreated into the locker room, minus Sakuzy and Joyex, seeing as they didn't know about the girl.

"I don't think Kairi and the girl should be here." Sora said, suddenly glancing around, "This is the MEN'S room."

"Ah, they'll be fine." Mike replied, waving this aside. He then gestured to the girl, who appeared to be moving in a strange way. "Look, she's dancing for joy. Now, I'm gonna go get the key to Randall's door."

Mike walked away and Sulley saw the girl's movement as he commented, "Hey, that's a pretty cute dance you got…"

"Uh…Sulley?" Kairi asked, removing the hood of the girl's costume. The girl appeared to be straining something. "She's not dancing. She's…gotta go." Kairi filled in.

"She would know." Sora said to himself, "She's done babysitting more than once…"

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Sulley and J were waiting outside a stall, waiting for the girl, who was singing a song with childish words, to finish. She stopped singing for a while and Sulley slowly creaked the door open.

"Are you finished?" he asked, but a small scream was his answer, so he quickly shut the door as the girl continued her little song. The toilet flushed and Sulley opened the door to show that the girl was gone.

"What a surprise." J said, sarcastically.

Sulley glanced around and saw a pair of feet that were easily visible under a door. He then smiled and asked, playing along, "Where did she go? Did she disappear? Did she turn invisible?"

J growled before commenting, "This is getting ridiculous…"

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Mike breathed in, then out, trying to keep his cool. Sakuzy then walked…or should I say oozed…over.

"Hey, Mike, what're you doin'?" asked the squid-esque Key-bearer.

"Getting a door key from Roz." Mike replied.

"What a coincidence." Sakuzy said.

Mike then walked over to Roz and said, "Roz, my tender, oozing blossom, you're looking FABULOUS today." Roz simply glared at the circular Cyclops as Mike continued with his attempts of compliments. "Is that a new haircut? It's gotta be a new haircut. You had a lift? You had a tuck? It's gotta be somethin', 'cuz…" Mike seemed to struggle for words when Sakuzy oozed over.

"Hey, listen, I'm gonna need some more doors. Could you…" Sakuzy was cut-off by Mike, who quickly muttered…

"Listen, I need a favor. Randall was here last night and I need his key card."

"Well, isn't that nice." Roz replied, uninterested, "But you didn't file your paperwork last night, Wazowski."

Mike seemed to be at a loss for words. He had completely forgotten amongst the chaos that happened last night, and apparently Sulley, Sora, and Kairi did, too. "THEY DIDN'T…I mean…"

"This station is closed." Roz then slammed a metal cover on top of Mike's fingers and Sakuzy's lower two arms. The two screamed with uncontrolled pain and at the top of their lungs, too.

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"I seriously don't think that now's the time for this." J growled, shaking his alligator head in utter disbelief.

"I'm getting closer!" Sulley said, playfully searching the bathroom, "I can feel it! Any minute now!" Sulley then began walking on all fours as he said, in a deep voice, "Fee-fi-fo…"

Sora suddenly walked in with the girl holding his arm and asked, "Did you lose someone?"

The girl, it seemed, didn't want to let go of Sora's furry arm and whimpered, somewhat fearfully, as Mike ran in and asked, "What's her problem?"

Someone was talking in the distance and they all yelped and hid in the nearest stall an instant as Randall walked in, mumbling under his breath as he washed his hands.

Hiding in the bathroom wasn't the most comfortable position they had ever been in. Sora, Sulley, and Mike had to stand on the toilet seat with Mike adjacent to Sulley and Sora standing just behind them. Sulley was holding a quivering girl in his hands in an attempt to comfort her. J, on the other hand, had hidden in an adjacent stall, as there wasn't much room left.

Things were going well and the group probably wouldn't have been seen…but then Mike's foot slipped and splashed in the toilet water. Randall immediately stopped his business and slowly turned around with a suspicious look on his face.

However, Fungus suddenly burst through the door, shouting, "RANDALL! THIS IS BAD! WHAT'RE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT THE CHILD?!"

Randall shushed Fungus and, in a flurry of changing scales, turned invisible. For a while, things were quiet, but then a stall door banged open as Randall slammed on it and turned visible again. He slunk over to the next stall and slammed it open with a single movement of his fist.

Randall knocked open doors again and again, but when he reached the stall that J was supposed to be in, there was nothing there. He could have sworn that he heard something from here, but he dismissed it and moved on. Had he looked up, he would have seen J clinging to the ceiling like a giant, ebony gecko.

Randall was RIGHT in front of the stall where Sora and co. were when Fungus darted in front of Randall. "Randall! I did a measurement of the factory. The child…may have…ESCAPED!" Fungus screamed, earning himself a slap from Randall.

"You don't think I'm AWARE of the situation?" snarled the chameleon monster, "I had the Heartless look ALL NIGHT to try and find it! Until then, we're going to pretend like NOTHING'S happened. So, just go into the lab and get the machine ready. If anyone finds out, they're DEAD!" Randall slammed his fist on the door to the stall out of sheer rage. It swung open to show Sora, Mike, and Sulley with the wits scared out of them. On seeing that Fungus was still there, Randall ordered, "Well, what're you WAITING FOR!" The door swung closed as the two monsters left in a hurry.

"THAT was too close for comfort." Sora said, sighing in relief.

Something then slipped and landed with a 'splash'. "Ew." was the girl's statement.

"Hate to be in THAT sucker's shoes." was J's.

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Sora and co. were walking away, looking confused. Mike was wet, seeing as he landed in the toilet, and had a piece of toilet paper on the sole of his right foot. Kairi joined in, seeing as she didn't want in the Men's Room.

"So, Randall's in with Maleficent." Sora said.

"Guess so." replied Kairi.

"But what was that thing he said about a machine?" asked Sulley.

"Does anyone care?" J asked, rhetorically.

"Let's just get that kid back in her door." Mike finished.

The group then walked into the Scare Floor, which by this time, was packed to the brim with monsters. "Remember, we're just average Joes goin' to work." Sora reminded himself and everyone else.

"Right." Everyone, except J, replied.

"Good morning!" Sulley greeted, in a VERY fake, mock jolly manner.

"As subtle as an atomic bomb…" J mumbled, shaking his reptilian head.

"_You got her key?_" Sora asked out of the corner of his mouth

"_Yes, I have her card key. I said I'd get her card key and now, I have her card key._" Mike replied, pulling the card key out of the pocket of a random monster. He slid it through the card reader.

"Time to go home, now." Sulley said to the girl, "Try not to go through any more closets."

"Don't mess with lizards." J added.

"And stay away from Anti-Heroes like J." Sora finished, shutting J's mouth.

"Jay-jay!" the girl exclaimed.

"Wait, did SHE just call me 'Jay-jay'?" J asked, wrenching his jaws free from Sora's paws, and looking both impressed and insulted.

"Yes, isn't it cute?" Kairi asked.

The door Mike ordered arrived, but one thing was certain. It WASN'T the girl's door.

"Uh…Mike? That isn't her door." Sora pointed out.

"What're you talkin' about? Of course it's her door." Mike replied.

"No, it was white." Sulley corrected.

"AND it had flowers on it." Kairi added.

"NO, it must've been DARK." Mike said, "Because THIS is her door." he opened the door. Some form of polka involving yodeling came out of it as he said, to the girl, "Ah, sounds like fun in there, doesn't it? Send a postcard to Mike Wazowski! That's Mike Wazowski at Mike-Wazowski-you-got-your-life-back Lane!"

"Mowgi Kowski." the girl said, trying to pronounce Mike's name.

"Good, see ya later." Mike replied, nonchalantly, before picking up a stick "Ooh-ooh! You want the stick? Go, fetch the stick!" he tossed it in, hoping that the girl would go to fetch it.

Sulley closed it and folded his arms before saying, in a scolding tone, "Mike, that's NOT Boo's door."

"Boo?" Sora asked.

"What's 'Boo'?" asked Mike.

"That's…what Kairi and I agreed to call her." Sulley replied.

"Seriously, Boo?" J asked, "Where'd you come up with THAT?"

"She said it in the restaurant." Kairi replied, "It seems to be her favorite word."

"Guys, you're NOT supposed to name it. Once you NAME IT, you start getting ATTACHED TO IT!" Mike scolded before shouting, "Now, put that thing back WHERE IT CAME FROM, OR SO HELP ME…"

"Mike." Sora said, nudging the little monster with his elbow. Mike turned, then realized that everyone on the Scare Floor was staring at them. The embarrassment was as thick as pea soup.

"Uh, hey…we're just…rehearsing a scene from the upcoming Company Play. It's called 'Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me'!" Mike explained, nervously, "It's a musical!"

"That's the best he came up with?" J asked.

Mike then broke into song with Sulley and Sora providing vocal precussions, "_Put that thing back where it came from, or so help me! So help me, so help me…_"

"CUT." J growled, grabbing Mike and explaining, "It's a work in progress."

"How're we gonna get Boo back into her world?" Kairi asked, out of the blue.

"Speaking of which, where is Boo?" Sora asked.

Sulley had lost complete track of her and turned around to where she had been previously. Boo was, indeed, gone.

J, now that the girl was gone, cursed without threat of someone clamping his jaws shut. "Oh, crap."

Boo

A girl who came from the Human World and wandered right into the Monster World. She refers to Sulley as Kitty and J as Jay-jay and appears to be very sweet, despite the fact that Randall haunts her. She, obviously, has no idea what's going on, though. She first appeared in _Monsters Inc. _2001.


	209. Banished

Chapter 209: Banished

Sora and co. searched around for Boo, trying to find her to no avail.

"Great, she's loose in the factory." J said, sarcastically.

"C'mon, we've gotta find her!" Sulley shouted, running off. Sora and the rest followed them.

"Wait, wait!" Mike exclaimed, a look of realization coming onto his face, "The light's dawning on me now! She's gone!"

"Come on, Mike!" Sora shouted, grabbing Mike and pulling Mike away.

"Why?!" Mike demanded, wriggling free from Sora's grip "Let 'er be someone else's problem! She's out of our hair!"

Sulley, J, Sora, and Kairi then collided with someone—namely Randall. His ability to camouflage kicked in during the collision and the result was…bizarre. The left half of his upper body was blue with purple spots, like Sulley, and his upper right half was white and stripy, like Kairi. But his lower right half was pitch-black, like J's scales, and his left half was reddish-brown with Drive clothes on them, like Sora.

Randall quickly returned to his original color before asking, "What're you doing?!" It seemed the lizard was still grouchy.

"They're rehearsing a play!" replied some random monster.

"_She's out of our hair!_" Mike sung, hoping to throw him off.

THIS caused J to slap the circular Cyclops and growl, "Shut up, Wazowski."

"Did ya guys hear about the kid breakin' out?" Randall asked, nonchalantly, but they knew that he was after Boo. He then asked, "Pretty crazy, huh?"

"Uh…yeah. Crazy." Sora replied, shakily.

"If you ask me, I think that Waxford has a hand in it!" Mike replied, pointing to some monster who was basically a mass of eyeballs, and those eyes began shifting uneasily. "Look at that real shifty look in his eyes…"

Randall obviously believed that lie, seeing as he walked over to the eyeball monster. "Hey, Waxford!" he called, trying to get the monster's attention.

"Whew. Too close." Was Sora's simple statement. However, Mike was dragged aside by…an EXTREMELY ticked-off Celia.

"MICHAEL WAZOWSKI!" she screamed, "LAST NIGHT WAS ONE OF THE WORST NIGHTS OF MY ENTIRE LIFE! BAR-NONE!" Her hair of snakes glowered at Mike, menacingly, and began rattling their…well…rattles.

"Uh…I thought you liked sushi!" Mike whimpered, trying to hide things.

"SUSHI?!" Celia screamed, unable to believe these things, "YOU THINK THIS IS ABOUT SUSHI?!"

Mike had ONE ace in the hole—he quickly kissed Celia as Randall glanced over, earning him a slap on the face from his "Schmoopzy Poo" Randall pushed this aside as he glanced at the newspaper. He then saw something in the corner—an upside-down picture of Mike!

"Wazowski!" he hissed. He glanced over to see that Mike had fled the scene, leaving a VERY ticked off Celia.

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Mike tore through the factory like there was no tomorrow, which there probably would've been if Randall had heard about the sushi thing. He jumped over a trashcan and raced into the locker room. He saw Sakuzy and Joyex and quickly asked, "Have either of ya seen Sulley?!"

"Other than when you guys came back, no." Sakuzy replied, "Sorry."

Mike groaned, then took off at top speed again. Joyex chuckled a little before saying, "Boy, Mike looks like he's in trouble."

Joyex opened a spare locker, which was, unfortunately, the one Sulley, Sora, and Kairi used to stow the toys found in Boo's room.

"Ya mean like WE are?" Sakuzy asked as he tried to get it off him…too late. A passing monster saw them and gasped in horror.

"TWENTY-THREE NINETEEN! WE HAVE A TWENTY-THREE NINETEEN!" the monster screamed. The CDA members then burst out of the bathroom stalls and advanced on them.

"Oh, crud." Sakuzy cursed.

Joyex, without warning, grabbed Sakuzy, heaved him over his shoulder, and ran forward, yelling "NO!" as everything went into slow motion. He shoved a CDA member away and whacked one with Sakuzy, sending them to the ground. Joyex continued his dramatic run through the locker room, then made a spectacular football dive…only to be caught out of midair and tackled to the ground by the suit-clad monsters. The curse that escaped the Nobody's lips would've made J blush…nah, it probably wouldn't have.

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Sulley, Kairi, Sora, and J began running to try and find Boo. They saw her, running happily, and a trash can. They tried going farther, but two CDA members stopped them with a "Halt."

"Yup! That's him." said one of the monsters, "The guy from the commercial!" He then handed Sulley a piece of paper on a clipboard and asked, "Could you sign this to my daughter?"

Sulley sighed, but motioned with his head for Sora to go on and look for her elsewhere.

Boo clambered over to the trashcan to where the two "gay monsters", as Joyex called them, were talking and not paying attention.

"And so, I said, 'If you talk to me like that again, we are THROUGH'!" one of them said.

"What'd she say?" his partner asked.

"Aw, you know my mom. She sent me to my room."

Boo tried hopping out of the trashcan, but couldn't. She then ran away, leaving one of her costume's eyestalks inside it.

Meanwhile, Sulley, having finished the autograph and tried getting to the trashcan, which he and Kairi thought had Boo inside it. However, the two monsters dunked it into something that looked like a disposal.

_Oh no… _they thought the same thing at the same time.

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Sora rushed down the hall, trying to find Boo, but so far. He had no luck. He needed time, time to think, to plan. As though fate had heard his thoughts, Sora spotted a black recliner right in the middle of a hall. "Well, that's something you don't see every day." Sora said to himself as he went over to the chair, "A lazy boy in the middle of a factory."

Without any regard, Sora slumped into it, but hadn't even summoned a single thought when the chair moved. "Would you mind getting off my nose?" it asked in an all-too-familiar voice.

Sora leapt off the chair in surprise and turned to see that the chair's seat was its mouth with buckteeth and a small, bead-like nose on its tip. Right where Sora leaned his back on was a pair of eyes.

"Goofy?" Sora asked, scratching his furry head.

The furniture monster squinted to get a better look at the strange creature in front of it, then recognized said creature. "Sora!" Goofy cried out, waving his "arm", "THERE you are!"

"What're YOU doing here?" Sora asked, "And where's Donald?"

Sora's second question was answered when he took a step back. He stepped on…something slimy and squishy, like some toy he used to play with as a kid. He recoiled and turned to see that he had stepped on a white blob of…something. It looked kind of like someone had spilled a large amount of glue in one particular place. But this blob grew a bill and a pair of eyes, and judging from its response, it was somewhat grouchy. "HEY! What's the big idea?!"

"Oh. There's Donald." Sora said, trying to wipe some of the stuff off his paw.

Donald suddenly realized who he had back-sassed and cheered up in an instant. "Sora!" he quacked, happily, "Scott and the others sent us to find ya when you didn't come back."

"It's okay." Sora explained, "We just ran into a bit of trouble, that's all."

"Well, how can we help?" Goofy asked, moving his arm as best he could into a salute pose.

"Try and find a little girl. She's probably around three." Sora answered, "And she's wearing a kind of costume."

Goofy nodded. "Uh-huh…"

"Oh, and go out and look for Riku. I haven't seen him since we finished scaring people." Sora added.

"On it!" Donald replied. And without further ado, Goofy walked away on some form of spidery legs and the duck-turned-blob oozed behind him.

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J slunk through the halls, trying to locate Mike. He figured that, since Sora took off, trying to find Boo elsewhere, he would try and find the walking eyeball. He saw the little guy was all tuckered out and quickly said, "Mike, we've got to…"

However, the portrait of Waternoose glanced over to them and Randall quickly revealed himself and grabbed J's tail with one hand and slammed Mike against the wall with the other.

"Where's the kid?!" the lizard demanded.

"Bite my scaly butt, Boggs." J snarled.

"Doesn't matter!" Mike spat, "We're NOT gonna let you cheat your way to the top!"

"What're you…" Randall then seemed to realize what Mike was talking about and said, coolly, "Cheating…Right…" Randall fingered his chin with one of his three-fingered hands. "I think I have a way to set this all straight. Tell me, what happens when the bell rings in five minutes?"

Mike seemed lost for an answer, but still replied. "I…get a time-out?"

"NO. Everyone goes to lunch." Randall replied, frustratedly, "And when that happens, the Scare Floor will be…?"

Mike paused, then cautiously asked, "Painted?"

"EMPTY! IT'LL BE EMPTY, YOU MORON!" Randall jabbed a finger at the clock. "You see that clock?!" He grabbed Mike's hands and pointed them up as he filled in, "When the BIG hand is pointing up and the LITTLE hand is pointing up, the kid's door will be in my station. BUT when the big hand is pointing DOWN…" Randall then, painfully, twisted Mike's right arm to a downward-pointing position…over the previous one. "The door will be gone. You have until then to find it. Understand?"

Mike just whimpered in agreement as Randall let go, then went off to…well, someplace else. J mentally sighed to himself. At least that kid would be out of the way.

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Meanwhile, Sulley and Kairi were trying to find Boo, who they still thought was in the garbage can. They sprinted into the disposal room, where the garbage was thrown into some giant cylinder, where it was rolled flat by a steamroller. Sulley passed out in an instant while Kairi simply stared in shock.

Sulley staggered back up to his feet to see the trash getting crunched underneath constantly moving metal presses. His response was to pass out again.

Sulley crawled back up with his hands over his eyes, but when he peeked out to see the trash getting sliced and diced by some giant blade, he passed out, once more.

Kairi ran towards a conveyor belt, uneasily dragging Sulley with her. Both went over to where the garbage was—a large cube with a broken light bulb on it. Sulley whimpered while Kairi felt like she had been through the disposal herself…as Sulley passed out for a fourth time.

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Sora dashed through the halls with the agility of a cat. Now that he had Donald and Goofy helping him out, the job of locating Boo and Riku was going to be a bit easier.

"Now, where is…" what Sora was going to say next was cut off, seeing as he ran, headlong, into Mike and J.

"I was wondering when you'd catch up." J simply said, brushing suddenly shed fur off his shoulder.

"C'mon! We've gotta find Sulley!" Mike shouted.

"Well, I know where he and Kairi are." Sora pointed out, making things a whole lot easier for them.

"Then, let's go!" Mike shouted, taking off. J simply grabbed Sora by the scruff of his neck and ran off after the circular Cyclops.

The three continued until they saw Sulley moping around, heaving around something, and Kairi with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Guys, we found a way and…" J was immediately cut off by Mike, who asked…

"Uh…Sulley? That's a cube o' garbage."

Sulley moved the cube to show the remains of one of Boo's mock eyeballs. THIS made Sora feel like someone hurled a javelin through his chest. NOW, he had to comfort Kairi. She had an attachment to Boo, despite how short it was.

"I can STILL hear her voice." Sulley whimpered.

A sound rang through the air…something in the distance that sounded like Boo's laughter. "Hey, I hear it, too." Sora commented.

Soon, several voices were laughing with glee. "In fact I hear tons of 'em. How many kids you got in there?" Mike asked, pressing an invisible ear to the cube.

The four glanced around to see a group of monsters and (thank the Lord) Boo, still in her suit.

"Boo!" Sulley shouted, running over to the girl.

"Kitty!" Boo exclaimed.

"You had us so worried!" Sulley scolded to her "DON'T run off again."

"My, what an affectionate father." A woman monster said.

"Uh…actually, she's his cousin's sister's…" Kairi said, picking up after Sulley.

"On THAT note, we're leaving." J hissed.

A small monster then crawled over to Mike and said, in a young voice, "Mike Wazowski."

"Yeah, yeah, now just…" Mike tried shooing the child away, but it obviously took that as saying "bite this" and clamped his sharp teeth on the cyclops' hand.

The resulting scream from Mike caused Boo to burst into laughter and the bulbs in the immediate area to burst. The young monsters screamed in fear as they ran around in circles while Mike tried to get the little monster off his hand.

"C'mon!" Sora said, amidst the chaos, "Let's get outta here!"

"First we've gotta lose the kid." J pointed out, taking off with Mike to the Scare Floor, "We have until the bell rings."

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Sora and co. tore through the Scare Floor. Mike immediately saw the door in Randall's station. "There it is!" he exclaimed "Just like Randall said!"

"Wait. Randall?" Sulley asked as everyone except Mike and J stopped.

"What?" J asked, "The door's right there and we can lose the kid."

"J, you know we can't trust Randall." Sora said, shaking his beast-like head.

"He's in with Maleficent AND he's after Boo." Kairi finished.

"Jeez, first they want us to get the kid, NOW…" Mike grumbled, darkly. He opened the door and gestured to it.

"Mike…" Sulley hissed.

Mike just walked in and began bouncing on the bed. Immediately, something grabbed him and stuffed him into a box.

Sora and co., sensing trouble in an instant, immediately darted under the nearest desk. The box hovered out and placed itself near a bunch of canisters, then the thing carrying it became visible again. It was Randall. He wiped his forehead before rolling the hollow canisters away. Boo made a yelp, which was silenced by Sulley…too slow.

Randall heard the sudden noise and turned invisible in a flurry of changing scales. Sora felt his heart doing a jackhammer impression in his chest as his eyes darted around to try and see where Randall had gone to. He couldn't see him, but he could certainly smell him: the lizard reeked of darkness. Randall, just to Sulley's right, turned visible mere inches from seeing them…

It was as though fate had heard them, because the bell rang. Randall heard the bell and rolled his canisters away just as the Scare Floor started filling up.

"Well, can't say we didn't warn him." J said.

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Sora and co. tore through a hallway, Sulley well in the lead and J barely catching up. He had forgotten about croc stamina. Yet, when they turned the corner that Randall turned, the lizard wasn't there: just a few canisters in carts.

"Oh, perfect…" J growled, rolling his crimson eyes.

"Search 'em all!" Sulley commanded.

They began searching, but none of them were a hollow box, and as Sora soon found, none had Mike or Randall's scent. Boo then began jumping for a tool on the wall, which turned as she jumped for it and opened to reveal a secret passageway. Every monster in the area turned on the creaking metal and saw Boo gesturing for the door.

"Oh." Kairi said, then smiled and added, "Thank you, Boo."

The hallway was dark, laden with pipes that hissed steam, but as they went through it, they saw what appeared to be cages. Behind the bars were Shadow Heartless, but the weird thing about them was that they made no effort to escape.

"I should've known…" Sora said, the very thought of Randall's possible actions.

Sulley didn't say anything, because he peered between the bars to see Fungus rush over to Randall, who still had his canisters. Randall opened up the disguised canisters and took out the box. "Kid needs to take off a few pounds…" Randall said with a grunt as he heaved the box over to a strange chair.

Randall was in for a surprise as he dumped to box's contents into the chair: Mike. "Wazowski!" the lizard said in surprise, "What? Who? Wha?" he stammered, "Where's the kid, you little, one-eyed cretin?" Randall pronounced it "kreh-tin"

"Well, first of all, it's 'cretin'." Mike corrected, "If you're gonna threaten me, do it properly." Mike took a more serious tone as he pointed out, "Secondly, I'll NEVER talk in order for YOU to cheat your way to the top!"

Randall, oddly enough, laughed at Mike's accusation. "You think this is STILL about that Scare Record?" he asked.

"Well, I did…" Mike answered, uneasily, "Up until you laughed like that." Mike made to get out of the chair as he quickly said, "But if you'll excuse me, I'll be going now…"

Mike wasn't even out of his chair when something invisible seized his wrists and forced them into special cuffs that snapped shut around them. Mike's single eye widened as the invisible beings came into sight: Heartless. These Heartless looked like deep-green lizards with circular eyes that swiveled back and forth. Their hands and feet had opposable thumbs like some sort of monkey, and their tails swayed back and forth like a cat's.

"Oh boy…" Mike said, suddenly looking up at the ceiling, where a piece of machinery moved. "What is that? It's moving right AT me. I don't like that!"

The machine came to a stop and had a strange funnel of sorts at its front. Right on the joint of the machine was the Heartless symbol. Randall patted it. "Say 'hello' to the Scream Extractor." He said, coolly.

"Hello." Mike said, fearfully

"I'm still working out the bugs in it." Randall added "But when I do, Maleficent will have an entire army of Heartless and Monstropolis will have enough power to last a lifetime! I will revolutionize the Scaring Industry so that even the great James P. Sullivan will be working for me. Now, tell me where the kid is!"

"Uh…" Randall walked away towards Fungus. "Wait, c'mon! We'll have a Latte!" Mike begged, but was soon calling out, "Help! HELP!! HEEEELLLP!!"

Randall then took a seat next to Fungus and moved a few switches. The Scream Extractor then began to move towards Mike and extended. Mike began screaming before he shut his mouth. It proved in vain as the machine's vacuum became so strong that his lips flew open and began to get sucked towards the mask.

"We've gotta save him!" Sora hissed.

"But how?" Kairi asked.

Sulley then noticed something…something that could really save Mike. It worked, because just as Mike was resigned to the worst, the suction stopped.

"WHAT?!" Randall demanded as the machine froze in place. He wheeled on Fungus and shouted "WHAT DID YOU DO WRONG THIS TIME?!"

"I-I don't know!" Fungus replied, nervously, "I calibrated the…"

"JUST CHECK IT!" Randall barked, earning a panicked response from the assistant-scarer.

"I think it's the Scream Intake valve…" Fungus said, walking over to the machine.

Randall's chameleon-esque eyes were narrowed in suspicion. Something was fishy around here. He got low to the ground and crawled along the length of the cables that connected the machine to their source.

Fungus was working on the Scream Extractor, the Chameleon Heartless on patrol, as J skittered around on the ceiling, carrying Sora and Kairi. Sulley was clinging onto the lizard's back.

"Can't you go faster?" Sora asked, under his breath, upon noticing that the lizard anti-hero was slowing down.

"Not…with…passengers." J hissed, through gritted teeth.

"Shh!" Kairi shushed, "This could be our chance!"

Mike was apparently trying to try and convince Fungus to let him go. "Listen, Fungus, I have a sweet car." Mike said, coolly, "If you let me go, I'll…let you have a ride in my car. Whaddya say?"

Mike's plan was obviously in vain, seeing as the latter glanced over before saying "I-I'm sorry, Wazowski. But Randall says I'm not allowed to fraternize with victims of his evil plot."

Fungus was suddenly grabbed by a pair of blue, furry hands and yelped as he was jerked upward. The Chameleons turned at the sudden noise only to meet their demise in the form of two Keyblades and a pair of croc jaws.

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As Randall explored the tangle of chords, he suddenly spotted what was causing the Scream Extractor to malfunction—the machine was simply unplugged. He plugged it back in and heard the machine start up again. He then walked to the main controls to see…

"WHAT?!" Randall shouted. Instead of Mike in the seat, it was Fungus, who was going pale. Strangely enough, the Chameleon Heartless were nowhere to be seen. Randall, without any hesitation, deactivated the machine with a few keystrokes and the mask retracted, showing that Fungus' lips had swollen and turned red. "Where'd Wazowski go?!"

Fungus wheezed something inaudible before he pointed, feebly, to the right. Randall took off in a purple, scaly flash while Fungus rolled out of his chair…and passed out.

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Sora and co. tore through the factory, Mike in hand. "THAT was too close for comfort!" Sora gasped.

"We've gotta leave the city!" Mike said, hurriedly, "So long, Monsters Inc.! So long Monstropolis! So long, Mr. Waternoose!"

"Mr. Waternoose!" Sulley exclaimed. He changed directions, immediately.

"Hey, where're ya goin'?!" Mike shouted.

"One way to find out." Sora replied.

"We've gotta follow him!" was Kairi's response.

Sora and Kairi changed directions immediately. J sighed before saying "I do this against my better judgement…" he then grabbed Mike and took off.

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"No, no! You're trying to SCARE the child, not lull it to sleep!" Waternoose shouted to a newbie who was in some complex position that involved waggling fingers and a snake tongue. "How many times do I have to tell you, it's ALL about presence, about how you enter the room!"

"Mr. Waternoose!" shouted Sulley as he, Sora, and Kairi burst into the room.

"Ah, Mr. Sullivan." Waternoose greeted, "Brought some friends, I see? They could do with this. Reset the simulation!" The room, which was all one big animatronic of sorts began resetting itself to where the child was in bed and under the covers.

"Mr. Waternoose, it's…" Sora was cut off as Waternoose shoved Sulley into the room and the lights dimmed.

"Come on, roar!"

Boo somehow wriggled free of Mike's hand and clambered into the simulator, unseen by some monsters…but she was certainly spotted.

"Boo! Get BACK HERE!" Kairi hissed, trying to grab her and missing in the process.

J suddenly had an insight of what was going to happen. Sulley didn't get to the top of the Scare Chart for nothing, and if he was going to be his scariest, this spelled trouble for Boo. "Oh no…" the gator said, his red eyes wide, "Boo, you REALLY need to get back here."

"Mr.…" Sulley was cut off once again by Waternoose, who was refusing to listen whatsoever.

"ROAR!"

Sulley heaved a sigh; might as well. He took a deep breath, then let out a roar that would have impressed Simba and Beast. The animatronic child screamed, but unknown to most monsters, another scream was amidst the noise: Boo's. The simulation ended and the scare students were thoroughly impressed.

"…and I hope you ALL learned a valuable lesson!" Waternoose said as the newbies left the scene.

"Sulley?" Kairi asked, quietly. When Kairi saw that she had Sulley's attention, she pointed to Boo. The little girl was in a corner, whimpering.

"Boo?" Sulley said as he approached Boo, only for her to recoil in fright. "It's okay." He said, quietly, "It was just a practice…" Boo, however, was far from convinced as she ran away. Unfortunately, as she ran, she tripped and her hood flew off.

Waternoose saw her and, judging by his response, he was VERY surprised that Mike and Sulley had something to do with this. "Wha?! The child!" He asked.

"Mr. Waternoose, we can explain." Sora said, staying close to Boo in case the CEO tried something funny.

"Yeah. This is ALL Randall's fault!" Mike added.

"Randall?" Waternoose asked, stunned.

"Yes, him. He's trying to kill us now, is causing the Heartless problem, and he's built a secret lab right here in this factory." J finished, wanting to get the message through to all of them.

Sulley, at first, saw no big deal in what he had done. THAT all changed when he got a good look at two screenshots of the simulation: one of himself, one of Boo. He was horrified at the way he looked and at how scared Boo was.

"Now you know how wrong scaring is." Kairi said, solemnly.

"Oh, how could it come to this?" Waternoose asked. He inhaled, deeply, before asking, "Does anyone else know?"

"No." Mike replied.

"Good. I doubt this company could do with any more damage." Waternoose said. Sulley then stood up as Waternoose continued. "I'm sorry, James."

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A door flew up into the air as Waternoose groaned. "I never thought it would come to this." He said, more to himself than to anyone.

Another door came down—this one made of pure steel and…far from Boo's door as one could get? "Uh…sir?" Kairi asked, pointing at it, "That's not her door."

"I know. I know." Waternoose replied. A scent suddenly sprang into Sora's beastly nose. Just as he recognized it, Randall turned visible, a vile grin on his face, and swung the door open. The gateway now showed a raging blizzard, rather than Boo's bedroom. "It's yours." Waternoose finished.

Just as Sora realized that they had all been suckered, Randall sprang. Before anyone could even try to resist, Randall had pushed Sora and Kairi through the door and kicked J in to join them. To top it all off, Waternoose shoved Mike and Sulley in and within the short span of ten seconds, all five of them were face-first in the snow.

Sulley was the first up and made to get back through the door, but Waternoose slammed the door shut. The blue monster quickly opened the door in an attempt to get back in, but was only met with a simple doorframe and a blizzard.

"BOO!" He screamed.

Chameleon Heartless

A lizard-like species of Heartless that specialize in stealth. Randall controls them, and for good reason, too. They can go into most rooms unseen to strike seemingly from nowhere.


	210. Return to Monstropolis

Chapter 210: Return to Monstropolis

Sulley couldn't believe it had actually happened. He opened the door, hoping it would activate, take him somewhere, anything to get back to his world and rescue Boo. It was a futile effort, seeing as the door went nowhere.

"No." Sulley said, desperately, "NO. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" Sulley shouted, slamming the door again and again with each "no".

"It's too late, genius!" Mike shouted over the howling wind, "We've been banished! WE'RE IN THE HUMAN WORLD!"

"I knew that kid was nothing but…" J almost finished a particularly insulting sentence, but he immediately froze in place.

"J!" Shouted Kairi as she got a better look at him. She waved her hands in front of J's face to no avail. Only the gator-creature's eyes moved and even blinking had become slow.

"Guys! We've gotta get J out of the cold!" Sora said, dragging J back by the tail with almost no result.

Mike, however, continued throwing his rage at Sulley. "All you had to do was listen to me!" he shouted, "JUST ONCE!" Sulley didn't respond, just sitting at the doorway. Mike, out of pure frustration screamed "YOU'RE STILL NOT LISTENING!" With a cry in fury, Mike jumped on Sulley and the two tumbled down the frozen slope.

"Guys, fighting ourselves won't get us out of here!" Kairi shouted. She and Sora jumped down, the latter dragging the motionless J by the tail. They stumbled, however, and were rolling down the hill in seconds. When they finally stopped rolling, they looked up to spot Mike and Sulley, still fighting.

"Guys!" Sora said, trying to restrain Sulley to no avail, "Knock it OFF!"

As Sora pulled back on Sulley's arm, Kairi was trying to drag away Mike, who was squirming against her. Suddenly, a shadow loomed over them and all four gasped at the sight of a shadowy figure. It towered over them before exclaiming, in a nice, but somewhat-familiar voice (1), "WELCOME TO THE HIMALAYAS!"

As the creature got closer, Sora's small group could get a good look at what it was. The strange being was taller than Sulley, had no visible nose, and was covered in white fur with the occasional patches of blue skin.

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"Abominable? Can you believe it?" the monster, who they found out was the Abominable Snowman, asked, "Do I look ABOMINABLE to you?" Sora certainly didn't think so. "Why don't they call me the Adorable Snowman or the Agreeable Snowman, for cryin' out loud? I'm a nice guy." Abominable then picked up a tray of yellow balls of snow and offered it to Mike. "Snow cone?"

Mike recoiled as a nasty thought entered his head. Abominable recoiled and replied "Oh, no. Don't worry. It's lemon!" He glanced over to Sulley and asked, "How 'bout YOU, big fella?"

Sulley had stayed at the mouth of the cave, looking out at the blizzard. He only spoke once, but it didn't answer Abominable's question. "Did you see the way she looked at me?"

Abominable then glanced over to Sora and Kairi, who appeared to be cuddling up to J. "Aw. Isn't that nice? Never thought that three creatures like YOU could love up like that." The snowman commented.

"We're NOT loving up to him." Sora stated, not loving that thought in the slightest, "We're trying to keep him warm."

By this time, J had thawed enough to simply say "Cold…" over and over again.

What did J feel like at this point? He felt as if he was locked in a freezer, unable to shiver, and all he could do was slow down. Even blinking was slow, and he barely had enough strength to move. Sora and Kairi were warm-blooded in this world, and they also had a layer of fur to keep them warm and active. Such was not the case for J, a cold-blooded reptile with no fur or warm-blooded metabolism.

"Ah, I know what it's like. Bein' banished." Abominable commented, "Take my buddy, Bigfoot. When HE was banished, he fashioned himself an enormous diaper made of poison ivy!" After a slight chuckle, Abominable added, "Wore it on his head like a tiara. Called himself 'King Itchy'." When he found that nobody seemed to find this comforting, he tried another tactic "Or that bat guy who showed up last night. He was REAL grouchy…"

"Bat guy?" Sora asked, actually getting up from J in curiosity. He had no sooner asked this when Abominable moved aside and pointed to a corner. Right there was the all-too-familiar bat creature. "Riku?"

The bat said, in a sarcastic voice, "No, I'm Adam West. YES, I'm Riku."

"What happened?" Kairi asked, remaining at J's side to keep him warm.

"Well, I was fighting Heartless when I found that they were coming out of Monsters Inc." Riku answered, "I found that Randall AND Waternoose were in with Maleficent together. However, they somehow found out about me and forced me through a door that led here." He jabbed a thumb at Abominable. "Now, I'm the roommate of this weirdo."

Abominable didn't seem to notice this shot at him as he commented, "Yup, nothin' beats bein' banished with your best friend!"

"He is NOT my friend!" Mike spat, "He RUINED my life and for what?! A KID!" Mike tossed one of the snow cones at Sulley, the projectile narrowly missing him.

"Mike!" Kairi hissed.

"WE HAD IT MADE!" Mike shouted as he tossed another snow cone at Sulley, "BUT YOU WENT AND RUINED IT! BECAUSE OF YOU, WE WOUND UP IN THIS FROZEN WASTELAND!"

"Wasteland?!" Abominable asked, somewhat offended by what Mike said, "I think you mean WONDERLAND! I mean, look at all this snow!"

"I am." Growled J, thawing a little more, though he barely had enough strength to move, "And look where I am now."

"Well, if you don't like the snow, there's the cutest little village down there!" Abominable said, eagerly, "And you haven't even tried all the free yak's milk!"

"Wait…" Sulley asked, "What'd you say?"

"Yak's milk." Abominable said, completely missing the point, "Milkin' a yak ain't exactly a picnic, but, once you pick all the hairs out, it's very…"

"No, are there kids there?!" Sulley asked.

"Yeah, plenty o' kids." Was Abominable's answer, "Tough kids, sissy kids, kids who climb on rocks…"

"How far is it?!" Sulley demanded.

"Just down the mountain, a three-day hike from here." Abominable said, a bit uneasily at Sulley, who had kinda entered his bubble.

"THREE DAYS?!" Kairi asked in disbelief. By that time, Boo would probably be a Heartless.

"WE NEED TO GET THERE, NOW!" Sulley shouted, pounding the cave wall out of sheer frustration. Amidst the shaking, an icicle shook free of the ceiling. It fell on the floor with a clatter and rolled towards some equipment…sled equipment.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Kairi asked Sora.

"I think I am." Sora replied.

Sulley then began to quickly make something that would be able to take him down the mountainside…and fit someone of his size on it.

"You're gonna go out there?!" Abominable asked, then pointed a finger at Sulley. "Oh, no! Rule number one out here—ALWAYS…" he then noticed what he was about to say before fixing it "No. NEVER go out in a blizzard!"

"We don't care!" Kairi replied. She then glanced over to the half-thawed reptile and asked, "Are you coming?"

"No." J replied, flatly.

"Why?" Kairi asked.

"Well, for one thing, I can barely move my fingers in the cold." J hissed. For an example, he balled his left hand into a fist…it looked strained. "For another thing, I NEVER liked that kid."

Sora was shocked at this. Sora didn't do little kids like Kairi did, but he didn't HATE them. "What?! Why?"

"She only brings me bad memories." J replied, darkly, as he tried in vain to move away. He did so, albeit slowly.

"And why does she do that?" Sora asked, cocking an eyebrow. J's response was to emit a low, guttural growl. Sora took that as a signal that the subject was ended right there. "How could you leave a little girl to the Heartless like that?! I kept thinking you were changing. But THIS shows you're not." Sora emitted one last, wolf-like growl, then turned to help Sulley and Kairi with the sled equipment.

Abominable looked at this situation, then shakily commented, "Oh, look! We're outta Snow Cones! I'll just go and make…some more." Without another word, he slowly made his way to the mouth of the cave.

Sora handed Sulley a piece of wood and a lantern, earning only three words from Sulley. "We can still…" Sulley never finished his sentence, because someone cut him off.

"WE?" asked Mike, "There is no 'we'. You three are on your own."

Sulley sighed before saying, "I'm sorry, Mike. I'm sorry for everything. But Boo's in trouble and I think the three of us can save her."

"Good luck with that." J said before muttering, "They're dead."

"I heard that." Sora said, joining Sulley in his journey.

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Kairi thought that this was one of the most uncomfortable times of this entire journey…along with the mistletoe incident at the North Pole, when she had hugged Sora in Atlantica, and when the perverted bugs were after her in Ant Island. Her current position was that she was squashed between Sora and Sulley, who, with the exception of Kairi, were side-by-side on the sled. Above them was Riku, using the wing membranes that attached his arms to his chest to glide down the mountainside. He was thankful for his vision, without it, he would have crashed into something by now.

The sled journey wasn't exactly smooth for any of them, hitting snow banks and avoiding rocks. The steering wasn't exactly a picnic, because they had to work together to steer it, Sulley turning right, Sora turning left, and Kairi as brakes. In a blur of fur, they sped past Abominable. "Hey, don't you want more snow cones?!" he called.

"PASS!" Sora shouted back as they raced down the mountain.

Sulley had attached a light to the front of the sled as he was building it to help them see what was in their way. However, steering was another problem, because there was a rock in their path and they couldn't steer away in time. All Sora could do was close his eyes and brace for impact. The three were catapulted forward and landed in a nearby snow bank, landing face-first in it. Riku came in for a landing a few meters away and quickly tried to aid them.

Sora steadily got back on his feet and sprinted over to Kairi, who was still on the ground, moving steadily. "Kairi, you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." Kairi groaned, massaging her head as she sat up. "Nothing too serious."

Sulley remained in his position…that is until he heard the faint sounds of children screaming. The four of them looked to the distance and, just as Abominable said, there was a village and lights were flashing on in the town.

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Sakuzy and Joyex were standing in front of a door. Sakuzy was looking exasperated and Joyex…nervous, judging by how his eyes were darting from side-to-side like crazy.

"Don't worry, Joyex." Sakuzy said, assuming a soothing voice, "I got an easy job for us in Nepal. Nice, quiet Nepal, where no monsters are waiting to tackle us."

"Good point!" Joyex replied, opening the door and ready to go in. He was least expecting, however, for Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Sulley to burst out of it.

"Hey, guys!" Sora shouted.

"We've gotta save a kid!" Kairi added.

Sakuzy and Joyex just stared at the sheer oddity of the situation. "Well, that was weird." Sakuzy stated. He then realized that a sock was left on his tentacle…a few moments too late.

"TWENTY-THREE NINE…" the passing monster never finished his call, seeing as Joyex grabbed him by the throat, tore the sock off Sakuzy, and opened the door.

"Twenty-three nineteen THIS!" Joyex roared as he proceeded to stuff the sock into the monster's mouth, toss the monster into the door, and slam it shut.

"Looks like our work here's done." Sakuzy said, walking away with Joyex.

"Hold it right there!" commanded a CDA member, causing both the squid and the monkey-thing to freeze in their tracks and slowly turn around, "Number one would like to see you two."

"Oh, crud." Joyex groaned, planting his forehead in his furry hand.

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Pete stood with Waternoose, Randall, and Fungus. Pete now had a body resembling Sulley's, only it was black and the tail had kind of a triangular tip analogous to a demon. The big boy still retained his head, though. "Maleficent sent me to see how that there Scream Extractor's doin'." He reported, proudly.

Randall snickered, then suggested, "How 'bout we take it for a test-run, then?"

Waternoose ignored Pete and Randall's chatter. "I should NEVER have trusted the Heartless to YOU." Waternoose barked at Randall, who was now in the process of strapping Boo into the chair. "Because of you, I had to banish my top scarer!"

"When Maleficent conquers the universe, we won't need scarers anymore." Randall waved Waternoose's comment aside before adding, "Besides, those Key-bearers and mutations were sticking their noses in the wrong places. And Sullivan had it comin' to 'im."

"Sullivan was TWICE the scarer you will EVER be!" Waternoose shouted.

Randall glowered at the CEO's accusation, but shrugged it off. "Pete, get the machine ready." Randall ordered, earning a salute from said cat-man.

"Alrighty, then!" he said, pressing a dial.

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Sulley reached the secret entrance, but unlike last time, he didn't open it with the secret knob. He pulled the door off its hinges and the three burst into the room, just in time. The Scream Extractor was moving ever closer to a screaming Boo.

"Kitty!" she said, happily.

"Just when you think they're gone for good." Randall growled before snapping his fingers…on all four arms. In bursts of shadow, Chameleon Heartless materialized into being and began to advance on the three.

"SULLEY!" Sora shouted.

Sulley roared like a lion before charging into the Heartless. As one jumped at him, the big blue monster caught it with a well-timed punch causing it to vanish in a puff of black smoke. With another determined roar, Sulley took the Scream Extractor by the nozzle and ripped it off its hinges to pin Randall, Waternoose, and Fungus to the wall.

"I'm sorry." Sulley apologized, ready to free Boo of her shackles.

Sulley suddenly growled in pain, because a Chameleon Heartless extended its long tongue and latched onto his shoulder. The pain was, apparently, due to the small spikes on the tongue. Sora completely dismissed his Keyblade as he ripped the tongue off Sulley's shoulder and swung the Heartless in a circle to bring it smashing into the wall.

"Now, c'mere, kid. Uncle Pete's gonna take care o' you…" Pete said, reaching to get Boo. However, he was least expecting Sulley's blue fist to smash into his face and send him staggering to the side.

"If you want her, you'll have to come through ME." Sulley said, positioning himself between Boo and Pete.

Pete snuffed in a manner that said "fine", then took a position similar to a boxer. Sulley did the same. Within seconds, the two were in a heavyweight fistfight, each exchanging blows that were either met or evaded. But both fought for different reasons: Pete fought for Maleficent, Sulley did it for Boo.

Meanwhile, the Chameleon Heartless were just as much of a nuisance to Sora, Kairi, and Riku. Sora swung the Ultima Weapon into one of Chameleon's heads, leaving it stunned for a moment. In the next second, he seized it by the head and smashed it into the ground. But just seconds after he did it, a Chameleon ran over and dug its sharp teeth into Sora's arm, earning a scream in pain. Kairi heard him, then swung Flowering Strength into its midsection, cleaving it in half.

As Riku fought three Heartless, an idea sprang to mind. "Guys…" he warned, "You may want to cover your ears for this!"

Sora, Kairi, and Sulley barely had time to do so when Riku opened his mouth and a loud screech emitted from his mouth. Pete and the Heartless clutched their heads in pain as the sound almost made Pete's ears bleed.

Riku stopped the screech in time for Sora and Kairi to free Boo and take her away. Sulley gave Pete one last sucker punch, then ran off after them with Riku in hot pursuit.

"STOP THEM!" Waternoose commanded.

"Yes, sir!" replied Pete.

Pete had no sooner said this when a white blob sprung out of nowhere, screaming the familiar scream of Donald Duck. It wrapped itself around Pete's legs, leaving the big guy to struggle to regain his balance.

"TAKE A SEAT!" Pete had just recognized the goofy-sounding voice when something smacked him in the knees. As he bent down to fall back, he landed himself in a strange chair, which was actually Goofy. To prevent Pete from escaping, Goofy wrapped his "arms" around him, leaving the fat cat to only struggle against the blob and furniture.

"If you wanna job done RIGHT, do it yourself." Randall mumbled before blending in like a chameleon. The Chameleon Heartless were soon to follow.

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Sora and co. tore through the network of pipes, just trying to get out of there and with no real plan. Riku's sensitive ears suddenly picked up a sound he had heard before—movement.

"GUYS!" he shouted, but was shoved aside by something invisible.

Sora summoned his Keyblade as Riku was attacked. However, Kairi was knocked to the ground and Sora followed soon after. Sulley glanced around to try and get an idea where Randall was. A fist then made contact with the back of his head and Randall reappeared just as the catlike monster fell to the ground.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that!" Randall snarled before turning invisible.

Something flew through the air and smacked Sulley on the back. Something cold. "Mike?" Sulley asked.

"J?" Sora asked, staggering back to his feet.

Standing right in front of them were Mike and J. "Yes, I know." J growled "I shouldn't have the right to come back, but I did some thinking."

"Besides, we're friends, aren't we?" Mike asked.

The invisible foe: Heartless or Randall slammed Sora into the wall, the hand with his Keyblade twisted behind his back. "WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!" Sora said, trying to warn them.

"No, I'm not attacking you, it's just that…" Mike didn't notice Sora getting slammed into the wall and Sulley getting strangled, because right now he was talking to Boo. "Oh, don't start crying. 'Cause then I'll cry and we'll never get past this." Boo walked over to Mike and made some indistinguishable noises. "I know, he's too sensitive."

"Uh…Mike? I don't think…" J tried saying.

Mike was fed up with this, because right now, Sulley appeared to be doing no more than standing there and making funny faces and gagging noises. "LOOK! I'M POURING MY HEART OUT HERE! THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS PAY ATTENTION!"

Mike, now infuriated with Sulley, tossed a snowball at him, but it splattered over something invisible. Riku thrust out his hand and a Dark Firaga flew out and struck the invisible thing off Sulley. Randall became visible again as he slumped to the floor, dazed.

"Hey, it's Randall…" Mike then realized what was going on while he was talking with Sulley. "Oh."

Sulley quickly caught his breath, then went over to the pinned Sora and pulled back a fist. "SULLEY!" Mike screamed.

The exclamation was for nothing, though, because Sulley's fist stopped a few inches from the back of Sora's head. With a pained-sounding chatter, a Chameleon Heartless turned visible, then fell to the floor and winked out of existence.

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"I can't believe you came back, guys!" Sora shouted in disbelief.

"Someone's gotta look after the big lug!" replied Mike, shrugging as he ran.

"Wait. How'd you guys get off the mountain?" Riku asked, curiously.

"Let's just say I used an ingenious method." Was Mike's smug answer.

"YOU USED ME AS A TOBOGGAN!" J snarled. Mike's response was to laugh, sheepishly.

"Uh…Mike?" Kairi asked, "We've got company."

Mike glanced around and screamed in terror at what he saw. "MIKE WAZOWSKI!" screamed the oncoming Celia, who pounced on Sulley "EITHER YOU TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON OR WE ARE THROUGH!"

"You want the truth? Here's the truth!" Mike replied before quickly explaining, "Waternoose and Randall are working with the Heartless and we're trying to put the kid back in her door! And right now, Randall's right behind us AND he's trying to kill us!"

"YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THOSE LIES?!" Celia barked, her snake hair hissing menacingly.

"Boo!" exclaimed Boo, hopping out of Kairi's arms.

Celia screamed before letting go of Sulley. Mike called back, "GOOD-BYE FOREVER, SCHMOOPZY-POO!"

Celia just watched them make their way through the factory. All this while, Mike had been telling the truth. She then glanced around to see Randall in hot pursuit and got an idea…

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Sora and co. finally arrived at the Scare Floor, but they hadn't lost Randall. Riku's face showed concern as he put Boo's mask down again.

"Guys, if they spot the kid…" Riku tried saying, but was cut across by J.

"Forget the rules, Riku. Sometimes, rules are for saps."

"_Attention, everyone._" Celia said over the P.A. system as Randall approached Sora and co. "_Randall Boggs has just broken the all-time Scare Record!_"

"WHAT?! I DIDN'T…" Randall's objections were drowned out as swarms of monsters rushed over to congratulate him, at the same time blocking his procedure.

"Go get 'em, Googly Bear!" Celia said, under her breath.

Boo's Door was right in front of Sora and co. now. It was now or never However; Sora's sharp eyes spotted something or things coming towards them—namely more Chameleon Heartless.

"C'mon, guys!" Sora shouted, grabbing onto a random door, "We're going for a ride!"

The rest got onto his or her own separate doors, and the doors rose up to the conveyor belts and were soon on their way. Unfortunately, Randall had the same idea and took off after them on his own.

Abominable Snowman

A former inhabitant of Monstropolis, he was banished for hither-to unknown reasons. He's a nice guy and enjoys serving "lemon-flavored" snow cones and his life in the Himalayas. He first appeared in _Monsters Inc._ 2001

Sulley's Frightfest

_(1) Abominable was voiced by John Ratzenberger, who also did Hamm from Toy Zone, Mack from Radiator Springs, and PT Flea from Ant Island. He's appeared in every Pixar movie to date._


	211. Door Chaos

Chapter 211: Door Mayhem

Sora and co.'s doors flew through the factory's storage and there, they beheld an incredible sight…The room where the doors were kept was possibly the largest room they had ever seen: even bigger than Disney Castle. Sora gaped at the sight of so many doors, but then looked at where the railing was going: a steep drop like on a roller coaster.

"Uh…oh." Sora said, his eyes widening by the second. He was NEVER a fan of roller coasters.

Without any form of warning, the door that Sora was holding onto went into a lightning-fast drop. His scream mixed with everyone else's…Boo's included. Though this scream wasn't of terror, it was of excitement. He also noticed that the door that Sulley was on suddenly hummed to life.

As they continued to ride around on the conveyor belt, Sora spotted Mike and Sulley's door just below him and dropped down to latch onto the door's top. Behind him were Sora, Kairi, and Riku on another door. Just when Boo's door was in range, the railway changed and it went the complete opposite direction.

"Where's Boo's door?" Sulley asked, knowing that Randall was right behind them.

"There!" Sora pointed out, just as said door slid into a place a good distance away. Kairi's group had stopped a short distance from them on a wooden door just to their right.

"Oh no." Riku said, his bat-like ears picking up the sound of many feet on a hard surface, "Randall's coming."

Riku was right, because at that instant, Randall peeked into the place they were now hiding and had grabbed onto another door.

"Mike, make her laugh!" Kairi said, quickly.

Mike groaned, then pulled back his eyelid and snapped it back to his eyeball with a yelp. THIS action caused Boo to laugh out loud and, faster than any scream could have done, all the doors hummed to life.

"Split up!" Sora shouted.

Both squads nodded, then went into their own separate doors. Randall jumped at Sora, Sulley, and Mike as he shouted "Gimme that KID!" However, the trio entered a door, causing the lizard to slam, headlong, against its wooden surface.

Kauai…

In the tropical paradise of Kauai, Mike, Sulley, and Sora burst out of a beach hut on a sunny beach. "Why couldn't we get banished here?" Mike asked.

"Move!" Sulley shouted in response.

Sora looked to his left and spotted his old buddy, Stitch. He quickly said, "Hey, Stitch!"

Stitch simply made a questioning sound as Sora and co. went through another door, back into Monstropolis.

Monstropolis…

J, Riku, and Kairi opened their current door and clambered up to another one. However, they did see something…Randall crawling towards them.

"Just go through one!" Riku snapped.

Without any hesitation, Kairi chose a random door and opened it before slamming it in Randall's face.

Land of Dragons…

The bat-tiger-gator team arrived in the Chinese world just below the mountain range, but they appeared to have come into a dead-end.

"Riku, it slides! IT SLIDES!" J hissed.

"Oh, right." Riku slid open a sliding door and the two ran through the room into the next closet. Outside, one could see the mountain range in the distance.

Monstropolis…

When J got out to another door, he spotted Boo's Door…several meters below them. "Crud! We're further than when we started!" he cursed.

"Well, let's try THIS door, then…" Kairi said, going up to another and helping Riku up and into it.

Springfield…

A yellow-skinned man in a white shirt and blue pants was watching TV on the couch. This was just a perfect day to be lazy, he thought. (His name was Homer Simpson)

Then, the strangest thing happened to him. He could've sworn he saw a tiger-girl, a bat-boy, and a strange alligator thing dart across his living room. "'Scuse us, sir." The bat said, quickly, before vanishing up the stairs.

Homer stared, wondering if what he saw was real. "Funny." He said, fingering his chin, "Usually, I only see monsters in my dreams. So, I must be dreaming…" He thought it over and got an idea. "Maybe if I go to sleep HERE, I'll wake up!" Homer then lay down on the full length of the couch and went to sleep in an instant, snoring and drooling freely.

Monstropolis…

A door opened up from the floor and Sora's group clambered out of it. Unfortunately, Randall was still hot on their tails as he came down the railing, riding on a door.

"Quick!" Sora said, opening up another door on the ground, "In there!"

Mike, without any form of complaint, jumped into the door. There, the strangest thing happened to him.

Manhattan…

Mike jumped down the door, but then his center of gravity changed and he landed on his back, rather than his feet. "That was weird." He said, trying to get back up.

Sulley and Sora fell into the room and landed right on top of the circular Cyclops, squishing him against the floor. Sulley got up and ran, but Sora took a moment to see Spider-Man web sling across the buildings, whooping. He then grabbed Mike and took off.

Randall got through the door and glanced around to see nothing but buildings in the background. He growled before crawling through the next door.

Monstropolis…

Randall stuck his head through the door, looking EXTREMELY ticked off by now.

"GIMME THAT…" Randall was cut off by the fact that the door slammed on his head.

Mike slammed the door closed, showing every hint of satisfaction. To add insult to injury, Mike said, "I hope THAT hurt ya, lizard-boy!"

"There's Boo's door!" Sora shouted, pointing to the white and flowered door.

"JUMP!" Sulley shouted, jumping to the next door and the next. Sulley swung to the next door with ape-like agility. Sora caught onto the door with his Keyblade and heaved himself in after Sulley shoved Boo in. Sora saw Boo cowering.

"Randall!" he spat.

"You called?" someone asked as Sulley was punched out, quickly followed by Sora. The Keyblader-turned-beast clutched Sulley's tail like a rescue line, but unless he could get back up to the room, he would slip soon.

Speaking of which, Randall turned visible and glanced down to see Sulley clinging onto the ledge of the door and Sora trying to climb back up. "Look at everyone's favorite Scarer, now you USELESS, PATHETIC WASTE!" Randall stomped on Sulley's hand, causing him to let go and dangle by his claws alone.

"Now, we're hanging by a thread." Sora muttered, almost out of breath. Now, he had made it so that he was holding onto Sulley's shoulders.

"And Maleficent said you'd be more of a challenge, you BRAT!" Randall placed his foot on Sulley's remaining hand before hissing, "And don't worry! I'll take GOOD care of the kid!"

Boo scowled at Randall, then forgot her fear in an instant. She screamed in rage as she jumped onto Randall's head and gave his fleshy flaps a good tug. Randall screamed in utter agony as he writhed around, trying to get free, changing colors nonstop in the process.

As Randall continued to struggle underneath Boo, she took a baseball bat off a shelf and smashed it on Randall's head five times, causing him to change color with every hit. Something then grabbed him by the throat, namely the huge hand of Sulley.

As the furry monster grappled with the lizard, Sora got an idea—if it worked with J, it would probably work with Randall. After all, he had seen what the cold could do to a reptile in the Himalayas.

"BLIZZAGA!" Sora shouted. An ice-ball flew over to Randall and the lizard froze in place. "Looks like ALL reptiles get slow in cold weather."

Boo dropped the bat and began roaring at Randall in, what she thought, was a threatening fashion. "She's not scared of YOU anymore." Sulley said, smugly.

"And I think that YOU'RE out of a job." Sora added, Randall's eyes shifting nervously.

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"C'mon, c'mon! See the Keyblade Master hit a home run!" Mike said, in a commentator-esque fashion. Sulley had Randall by the neck and body and was slowly swinging him back and forth between himself and Sora. Sora was slowly moving his Keyblade in almost exactly the same fashion as a major league slugger. Behind the trio was an open door leading to who-knows-where.

"Come on! Can't we just talk this out? I mean…" Randall begged.

"PITCH!" Sulley shouted, hurling a shrieking Randall at Sora, who whacked the lizard thing with his Keyblade. The impact sent Randall into the open door, which Mike slammed shut.

"And he's outta here!" Mike shouted.

Marshlands…

A teenage boy ran over to his mother and exclaimed, "Mama! Another gator got in the house!"

"ANOTHER GATOR?!" demanded the mother as Randall slunk out "Boy, gimme that shovel!" The mother picked up a shovel, then proceeded to beat the living tar out of Randall, showing every hint of satisfaction.

Monstropolis…

Sora and his team were standing before the door. Sora locked the door with his Keyblade and Sulley smashed the red light before asking Mike, "Wanna do the honors?"

"Sure thing." Mike took his foot, then pushed the door over the ledge, sending it to the floor, where it broke into splinters.

"Thanks for the help, Sora." Sulley said, shaking his hand.

"S…" said someone. Sora glanced down at the source to see Boo, who was trying to say something. "Sowa."

"Oh, that's cute." Sora admitted, "She's trying to say my name. She didn't get it right, but it was close enough…"

As if on cue, a door flew over to where they were and deposited three monsters—namely Riku, Kairi, and J. "What'd we miss?" Riku asked.

"Well, we won't be hearing from Randall Boggs again and Boo tried saying my name." Sora reported, "Other than that, nothing."

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Sora and co. got the first door over to where Boo's was and Sulley held her out. "Time for you to go…" Sulley tried opening the door, but the power was gone…again. The power had gone out while they were trying to get there.

"Not again!" Kairi groaned.

"Mike, make her laugh!" Sulley ordered.

"Okay, I've got one. It'll be right through the roof." Mike held out his index and middle fingers, then poked J in the eyes.

J recoiled as he shouted, "OW! YOU SON OF A…" J tried swearing, but Kairi clamped his jaws shut again. His angry grunt was still heard…easily, too.

"Uncle J, we're trying to make her laugh, so try not to swear." Kairi said in a slightly irritated voice.

On seeing his failed attempt, Mike rolled his eye and asked, "Okay, how about this?" Mike placed his face between the door and the doorframe. He clamped the door down, squishing his face. No laughter.

"Sure, she laughs when other people get injured, but…" the rest of Riku's sentence lowered into muttering.

Suddenly, Boo's door began to move back towards the Scare Floor. And the only guys on it were Mike, Sora, Sulley, and Boo. "Guys! Don't worry about us!" Sora called to them, "We'll get you back to the factory…somehow!"

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Waternoose was standing before all the members of the CDA. His legs made clattering noises as he turned around to face them, announcing, "Now, when the door arrives, you will have your child and the criminals responsible for this mess."

The door slowed to a stop before lowering itself to the floor. Mike sidled out with what appeared to be Boo in his arms.

"Alright, alright, you've caught us." Mike admitted, "Here's the kid, but before you arrest me, I have one thing to say…" Mike stuck out his tongue to show an all-too-familiar sock stuck to its surface, which he peeled off and tossed at a random monster, whose number was 003. He happily finished "Catch!"

"TWENTY-THREE NINETEEN!" shouted the monsters as they tackled their fellow, who smacked himself on the head moments before several monsters piled themselves on top of him. Mike made a run for it and several other agents followed in hot pursuit.

What the CDA didn't notice, however, was that Sora and Sulley were running off as fast as their legs could carry them. Sulley was holding Boo…without her suit, while Sora had the girl's door slung over his shoulders.

"No, wait! THEY have the child!" Waternoose shouted in vain. The agents didn't hear him, so with an annoyed groan, he tore off after Sora and Sulley, shouting "SORA! SULLIVAN! GIVE ME THE CHILD!"

Sora and Sulley continued their sprint through the hallway, not even daring to look back at their pursuer. The two darted into a room with another door and slammed the doors shut behind them. Sulley, with pure monster muscle, grabbed a pipe from the wall and tore it free from its hinges. Sora took a hand in it and used Magnera to maneuver the pipe between the two pulls and twisted them around like they were made of rubber.

"Sullivan! Open this door NOW!" Waternoose ordered, trying to get through. Sulley ignored his former boss, pulled the original door off its hinges, and placed Boo's door in its threshold instead. "I'm warning you! DON'T go in there!" Waternoose warned. Sora went in first while Sulley, in the most defiant way possible, slammed the door in Waternoose's face.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sulley tucked the child into bed, Sora at his shoulder. "It's okay, Boo. You're safe now." He said, soothingly.

"Be a good girl, okay?" Sora asked with equal compassion.

The two turned, but then started when they found out that Waternoose had already gotten into the room and was now towering above them. Ultima Weapon flashed into Sora's hand as he snarled, "Leave her alone! She's home now!"

"I can't risk it. She's seen too much. ALL of you have!" Waternoose snarled.

"But kidnapping children?!" Sulley demanded in disbelief.

"And working with Maleficent and the Heartless?!" Sora added, pointing his Keyblade at Waternoose like an accusing finger.

"I'll kidnap a THOUSAND children and summon MILLIONS of Heartless before I let this company die!" Waternoose roared in response, "And I shall silence ANYONE who gets in my way!" In a split second, Waternoose smacked Sora aside with one hand and Sulley with the other. He made to grab the kid in bed, expecting Boo, but it turned out to be the mechanical child back at the simulator room. He had been suckered. "Wha-?!"

Sora laughed out loud at the CEO's mistake and the simulation ended. As the wall slowly rose like a garage door, he saw Mike, Riku, Kairi, and J standing at the controls.

"I don't know about you, but I saw SEVERAL mistakes." Kairi said, barely holding back laughter.

"How about we watch our FAVORITE part again?" Mike asked.

"On it." Riku replied before rewinding it over and over again, so Waternoose continually said 'I'll kidnap a THOUSAND children and summon MILLIONS of Heartless' over and over again.

"He's toast." J said, coldly.

"Take 'im away, boys." Said one of the CDA.

Several of the yellow-clad monsters grabbed Waternoose, immobilizing him in seconds and began to drag him away. Waternoose struggled back to scream at Sulley, "I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY, SULLIVAN! MONSTERS INC. IS DEAD! WHERE WILL PEOPLE GET THEIR SCREAMS NOW?! THE ENERGY CRISIS WILL ONLY GET WORSE BECAUSE OF YOU!"

As the CDA dragged a struggling Waternoose away, two monsters walked over—one was 003 and the other was 002.

"Excuse me, but…" 002 pulled off his mask to show…Sakuzy, "Hey, guys."

The monster that was 003 pulled off his mask to show Joyex, who thumped Mike on the head.

"OW! WHAT?!" Mike demanded.

"You tossed the sock at ME, you idiot!" Joyex shouted, his black fur bristling.

Sora stammered before asking, "H-How'd YOU guys end up in the CDA?"

"It's a funny story, actually (1)." Sakuzy replied before explaining, "Well, after being tackled by the CDA multiple times, we settled on an exchange with their number one. We give our temporary service and they gave US this…" Sakuzy reached into a bag on his back and pulled out a Scream Tank.

"By the way, Number one wants to meet ya." Joyex added, "I'm sure ya know her…"

The two parted to show someone oozing towards them. That someone was… "Roz?" everyone asked.

"Hello, boys." Roz greeted before saying, "Nearly two and a half months of undercover work nearly went to waste. If you Key-wielders hadn't arrived, I never would have suspected that the Heartless infestation went all the way up to Waternoose."

"Incidentally, Sakuzy, what's so important about a Scream tank?" Sora asked, pointing at the yellow container with his claw.

"That's what I thought at first, but then Roz showed me this." Sakuzy replied. He unscrewed the top, causing the scream to burst out. Suddenly, a pale yellow Pure Heart flew out and J caught it.

"Another Heart down." J simply said as he tossed it in the air and caught it again.

Boo, at that moment, chose to walk out and hugged Sulley around the leg. Her sudden appearance startled some of the CDA members…except Sakuzy, Joyex, and Roz. "Ah, the girl." Roz simply said.

"I just want to send her home." Sulley replied, picking her up.

"Very well." Roz then spoke into some communicator disguised as a watch, "Get me a door shredder."

Sulley was shocked as he asked, "You mean I can't see her again?"

"I'm afraid that's the way it's gotta be." Replied Sakuzy, grimly, "This world's meant for its inhabitants to be able to go out and back in. Not for people on the other side to come in."

"I'll give you five minutes." Roz said, seeing the look on their faces.

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Sora and co. were standing in front of Boo's door for what could be the last time. The red light hummed to life. It was certainly going to work this time.

"Sorry for…heck, it's not my thing." J mumbled, indistinctly.

"Go on, grow up." Mike said on receiving a hug from Boo.

"Be a good girl." Kairi finished, picking her up. Boo cooed and stroked the sides of Kairi's furry face. She closed her eyes in both relaxation…and sadness.

Sulley opened the door and took Boo into the room. With a moment's hesitation, Sora followed. When Sora did enter, he saw that Sulley had his arms full of what appeared to be Boo's toys.

"Oh, c'mere…" Sulley said, playfully. He put the toys down, then lifted Boo clean off the ground. She giggled in glee as Sulley continued to "fly" her around the room.

_Can't let him have all the fun…_Sora thought with a shrug. He made a gesture to Sulley, and the bigger of the two handed her to Sora. The cat-dog-creature held Boo in the air, then gently tossed her up, earning a gleeful squeal from her. He then nuzzled her with his muzzle, which she hugged in return.

When she let go, Sora put her in bed and helped to tuck her in. Sulley, in an ironic twist of fate, took a teddy bear from the ground and made it dance. "_Oh, it's a happy bear…_" he sang, playfully. When Boo pointed at the closet door, Sora nodded.

"Don't worry." He assured her, "No one's coming through here to scare you anymore." Boo nodded in agreement and Sora turned to leave…but not before saying, "Goodbye, Boo."

Boo waved as she replied, "Bye, Sowa."

Sora and Sulley walked out of the room and closed the door behind them. Thinking that they would be in there waiting for her, Boo hopped out of bed and opened the closet door. However, to her surprise, no one was there.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

The flowered door was put through the Shredder, where it was chewed to splinters in a matter of seconds. The knobs fell out with a 'clunk-clunk'.

"None of this ever happened, boys." Roz said to the CDA, then turned and addressed Mike Wazowski, surprisingly. "And I DON'T want to see any paperwork about this."

As Roz and the CDA exited the room, Mike noticed that one extra thing came out the shredder—a single splinter of what used to be a door, with a fragment of pink and white on its front. Mike picked it up and handed it to Sulley, who clutched it as if it were a treasure.

It was to him.

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Sora and co. were walking out of the factory and Mike was laughing. "You should've seen Waternoose when the wall came up!" the circular cyclops chuckled.

"I hope we can get a copy of that tape!" Joyex simply said, grinning, smugly.

"But, you put hundreds of people out of work, because the factory's shut down." Sakuzy pointed out.

"And the energy crisis will only get worse." J added.

"AND angry mobs will be after you when it does." Riku replied.

"But hey, at least we've got the laughs." Sora finished, hands folded behind his head.

Sulley froze in place and muttered the word "Laughs…" From that day on, Monsters Inc. was powered by laughter, not screams. Joy, not fear.

Homer Simpson

A lazy, drunk, fat, bald man who always strangles his son. He has done everything from save Christmas to wrecking the space-time continuum as we know it. His show is the longest running animated show on television. He first appeared on _The Simpsons_ 1989.

_My line if I did something incredibly stupid and/or embarrassing._


	212. Revelations

Chapter 212: Revelations

Gummi Ship…

Sora and co. were beamed back into Quartz by the tractor beam and J took the time to observe his human body. The look he had was one that someone would have when seeing an old friend you haven't seen in years. "So good to have a warm-blooded metabolism." J said, his voice bordering on some form of happiness.

Scott kicked himself off the chair to ask Donald and Goofy, "I take it ya found our leader?"

"Yup." Replied Goofy.

"However, they didn't find the Pure Heart." Donald added "So, we helped stop the Heartless!"

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Maleficent growled in pure rage as green fire exploded around her. Pete smiled in a nervous fashion, hoping not to get a thrashing from her. "Easy, Maleficent, or you'll pop a blood vessel." The chubby cat warned, trying to calm her, but there was a hint of fear in his voice.

Maleficent looked as if she would like nothing better than to horribly maim the cat, but her temper vanished. She simply took up a dignified stance before saying, "We shall bide our time to…regroup. Call another meeting with any surviving members."

"Yes, ma'am!" Pete replied, throwing up an elaborate salute. However, on seeing the malicious glower from Maleficent, he quickly hurried off to find any remaining members.

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Gummi Ship…

J's crimson eyes followed Kairi under his sunglasses. Why not tell her now? With every Pure Heart they gained, the chances of their deaths increased.

"Kairi." He simply said, removing himself from his usual position.

Kairi jumped slightly, but sighed when she realized it was J speaking. "Yeah, J?" Kairi asked.

J simply beckoned her to follow. She did so. Sora watched to two go off with slight curiosity. Sure, he knew that there was nothing going on between the two, but still he was a bit suspicious. Fortunately, he had learned his lesson. He wasn't suspicious enough to jump to conclusions…and certainly not enough to punch J again or start another row with Kairi.

"Sometimes I just don't get that guy." Sora said with a sigh.

"Neither do I, mate." Scott agreed, "And I know what I'm talking about. We've traveled together for years."

"How're you friends with the guy, anyway?" Sora asked out of simple curiosity.

"Well, we've been through some of the same experiences." Scott explained, suddenly growing serious, "J's parents were murdered when he was ten and me dad took me out into the Outback and left me for dead when I was just nine."

This actually struck something in Sora. Scott and J had both lost their parents—Scott had been abandoned and J had been orphaned. "Still, you wouldn't neglect a little girl." Sora murmured.

"Heard that." Scott pointed out, then he removed his hat and asked, "But what girl are you talkin' about?"

"There was this three-year-old girl in Monstropolis who a friend named Boo." Sora explained, "J REALLY didn't like her, or for her to be anywhere near him. He constantly shunned her and didn't even want to save her from a Heartless-user. He just said that she 'brought painful memories'." Scott fell silent as something dawned on him. Sora figured out the expression in an instant and he asked, "You know what he was talking about. Don't you?"

"Yeah. But right now, I'm about to tell you something I have never told anyone else." Scott replied, the playful Aussie voice long gone. "First, you must promise me that you won't tell J or anyone else what I'm about to tell you." When Sora nodded, Scott removed his hat, then spoke again. "You see…he wouldn't like a girl at that age, because…he was almost a father."

Enter flashback…

_Scott was sitting with J's love interest, Maria Walker. At the moment, J was out doing a bit of personal business. This did, however, give him time to talk with her and give advice, as the two were a young dating couple. "What did you want, Scott?" Maria asked, eyes shifting nervously._

"_I just noticed you've been acting strange lately." Scott replied. Then, with a shrug, he asked, "Is there…anythin' wrong?"_

"_No. Nothing." Maria said, hurriedly, as she shook her head._

_Scott kept a long, very uncomfortable silence. But after looking at Maria, especially around her midsection, he asked, "J's the father, isn't he?"_

_Maria looked like she had just seen a ghost as all the color flushed from her face. She was almost speechless as she asked, "How-how did you…?"_

"_I've lived in the Outback for most of my life." Scott answered, keeping a concerned look on his face, "And I cared for animals as well as track them and hunt them. You may only be a few months, but you show all the signs of pregnancy. That and you're very thin, so the change is noticeable. So, is J the father?"_

_For a while, Maria was unable to speak. And when she did, one of her hands moved to rest on her belly, which was slightly larger than when he had previously seen it. "Yes."_

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"She wanted to find J and tell him the news, but fate apparently had different plans. So, when Maria was killed, the child she was bearing died with her." Scott finished, voice ringing with melancholy. "You can see what that did to him—the person who killed Maria killed his unborn child as well. It didn't hurt J when he found out about her pregnancy. It killed him."

Sora could just stare as Scott's story came to a close. He knew that J had suffered a lot of pain…but THIS was the cruelest blow ever dealt to the shapeshifter.

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"Why'd you bring me in here, J?" Kairi asked as the two entered J's room. She wasn't afraid: just tense.

J closed the door behind him, then removed his sunglasses. He wanted this to be directly between them, so eye contact was absolutely necessary. "Did you keep the scroll I gave you that one night?" J asked.

"Yeah." Kairi replied.

"Hand it over." J said, but not enough for it to be a forceful demand. Kairi hesitated for a moment or two, but pulled it out of a hip pouch and handed it to J, who unrolled it. "I bet you're wondering why I've been protective of you." J said, turning the unrolled scroll over to Kairi before finishing, "Time to find out."

Kairi took the scroll and let her eyes study it. She quickly found out that it was a family tree. At the top was the title "Radiant Garden Royal Family". Barely under it, she saw a far younger version of her own face.

"Me…" she said in amazement, "But what else is here?"

"Look a little harder…" the shapeshifter answered.

Kairi's eyes traveled to a few inches to the right of her picture—she saw a girl with black hair and blue eyes the same shade as her own. A few millimeters to the side was a boy with the same hair and eye color.

"My eyes may be red now." J pointed out, "But before that man killed my parents, they were blue."

"Oh." She said with a nod, but when she saw two of the branches of this tree connect. It hit her like a bullet as her eyes widened and her mouth opened in shock. "Are you saying…?" asked Kairi.

J nodded. "One of the few things left of my house." He put a hand on Kairi's shoulder and said two words to change their lives forever. "We're cousins."

Kairi was shocked. For a second, she stared into space wondering if this was for real. Then she stared at the floor, then back at J's face. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

"What if I was wrong and we had nothing to do with each other?" J asked in return. "My mother and your father were brother and sister, your father being the older of the two. My mom got married and the result was my younger sister, Karen, and myself."

J suddenly answered Kairi's question before it even came out her mouth. "If you're wondering why YOU don't have powers like I do, it's because my father had the mutation, for loss of a better word, in his DNA. Neither of your parents didn't."

Kairi was struck dumb. She'd gone her whole life thinking that she had no family, but now she was proven wrong. She slowly turned to the door, walked out, and left her euphoria to wait for later.

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Sora flopped back onto his bed. He suddenly heard something and Quartz's head appeared, instantly.

"Sora, rest well." the Crystalli reported, "The next world is only a day away."

"Good night, Quartz." Sora mumbled. He then took in what the Crystalli just said and asked, "What's the next world, anyway?"

"It is a world called Ivalice." Replied Quartz.

_So, there you have it. J and Kairi are related, and THAT is why he's so protective of her. Satisfied?_


	213. The Odd Bunch on the Ship

Chapter 213: The Odd Bunch on the Ship

Ivalice…

Sora was flying through the clouds. The only reason he WAS doing this was because April was holding him under the arms. J, as an eagle, flew over. Next to J was Ryan, who was having a bit of trouble flying, seeing as he was carrying Sakuzy.

"I thought you could fly faster!" Sakuzy shouted to Ryan.

"I'm sorry." Ryan apologized "I'm just not used to flying with passengers. And you REALLY have to cut off on the donuts!"

"Why does EVERYONE think I eat donuts?!" Sakuzy demanded of no one in particular.

"Because you weigh as much as an anvil." Ryan growled. With a small yelp, the two began to plummet for a few seconds. Ryan regained his composure…for a few seconds and began falling again (1).

_I'll go get him._ J mumbled in his mind. He changed back and began to fall for a few seconds. He convulsed before changing into a large pterosaur and pulling out of the dive. He flew after the two and caught Ryan by the hood.

"J!" Ryan gagged, "You're suffocating me!"

_Well, if that's the price of getting your butt saved, so be it._ J replied, indifferently.

_Several clouds floated across and momentarily parted to form the word 'Ivalice'. The letters quickly dissipated as the clouds began to fade away._

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A group of seven were in a ship. One, who was unsually muscular said, to one who was a good bit younger than the former, who was middle-aged. "Catch 'em." He commanded in a gravelly voice.

"Sure thing." Replied the younger man.

"Allow me." Said someone with a sophisticated voice, "I'm the leading man, and besides, I know how to work this."

The third person fiddled with some of the controls and took the wheel of the ship. In his opinion, it was best to leave this to the professionals.

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J growled as he saw some ship flying over to them. _That's just what we need._ J commented, sarcastically, _Some idiots to try and kill us…_

The ship hovered over the group. A hatch opened in the bottom and the five were sucked into its interior. For a while, the small group remained in darkness as J shifted back into his human form. Sora glanced around to try and get a good view of where they were.

However, lights flashed on with unsuspecting suddenness and leaving Sora to shield his eyes for a minute. Sora saw seven people in front of them—a boy, in his late teens, with platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, a black vest over a bare chest, and a pair of dark brown pants.

Next to the boy was a girl with waist-length blonde hair and a small piece of cloth over her otherwise bare upper-body.

On this girl's right was a man clad in black armor with a scar, blonde hair, and a muscular build. Something about his face seemed to tell that he had seen many fights…namely, a scar oh the left side of his face.

On his right was a younger man with an elaborate vest over a white shirt and a gun in his left hand. His hair was combed back and was a brownish-gold color. He also had a strange look in him: something both playful and proud.

On the man's right was a brown-skinned girl with white hair, and rabbit ears, much to everyone's surprise. (Sora had to rub his eyes for a second to make sure they were working) She was also clad in a skimpy outfit of black armor, which showed a lot of tummy, and a small "skirt" of white cloth.

On the rabbit woman's right was another woman with shoulder-length brown hair and an elaborate robe of sorts. She looked stern, but not so much as the guy in armor did. And on the woman's right was…

"Petross?" Sora asked.

"Surprised to see me here?" asked the Restoration Committee's medic as he walked out, arms folded. There was no mistaking his build, his wardrobe, or his voice. "I guess I never told you that I came from this world."

"Ya see, Petross kinda brought me up, but that was BEFORE this world was swallowed by darkness." Added the young man with platinum blonde hair. He held out his hand to Sora, "So, you've gotta be this Sora Petross told me about."

"Yeah. That's me." Replied Sora.

"Anyway, I'm Vaan. And I can say it's nice to meet the Keyblade Master in person." greeted the boy. He couldn't have been much older than Sora. Sora took his handshake and noted that Vaan had a very firm handshake.

Vaan released Sora's hand, then went from right to left as he introduced them, "THESE are my friends. An old friend of mine named Penelo…"

"Hi!" chirped the blonde girl, Penelo, waving.

"Yeah, she's quite energetic. That's Basch, an ex-knight who joined us sky pirates once to clear his name." Vaan continued, gesturing to the man with armor.

"Whatever." Grunted Basch, closing his eye.

"Does he have attitude problems?" Sora asked.

"Pretty much." Petross replied, "He DID get disgraced by his own brother."

"This pompous wind-bag is Balthier." Vaan continued, gesturing to the man with the coat.

"The leading man is never pompous." The man, Balthier, replied indignantly. "Demanding, yes. Pompous, never."

"Save it, Balthier." Petross grunted, "EVERYONE knows that you're not the main character of this fanfiction!" After a round of awkward stares, Petross suddenly realized what he just said, then proceeded to rub the back of his head, sheepishly, and apologize. "Sorry. Crescent's antics are starting to rub off on me."

"He's gotten to everyone at one point or another." J mumbled.

"So, Petross, you're not alone." Ryan finished.

"Can I continue?" Vaan asked, "Thanks." He gestured to the rabbit woman and said, "This is Balthier's friend, Fran."

Fran didn't answer, but nodded to give some form of greeting. "She's not much of the chatty-type." Penelo explained, "But when she does talk, she does it well."

"Still a good companion." Balthier added, "And that's why she's my second-hand and not YOU…as well as a good mechanic and weapons expert."

Vaan rolled his eyes. "And, THIS," Vaan shouted, getting everyone's attention. He then gestured to the woman with the robe, "Is the old princess. We just call her Ashe."

Ashe simply nodded and said, "A pleasure."

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Ruby and Spinel walked through the roads of some city, flanked by an army of Brawlers and Snipers. "So, we're simply here to lure those idiots out?" Spinel asked.

"Basically." Replied Ruby, "And maybe get a few on our side, too."

"Can I smack 'em around?" Spinel asked, enthusiastically, and flexing the fingers of her gauntlet.

"Just don't over-do it." Replied Ruby, "We DON'T want Sapphire scolding us again."

Spinel, probably out of sheer boredom or just showing what she could do, brought her fist smashing into a nearby building. The result was that the metallic knuckle knocked out a good bit of it. She smiled with pure satisfaction at the results.

Ruby just rolled her eyes at her partner's scrappy behavior. Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby spotted something that was white fly past her. "Looks like we're not alone." She commented.

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Aboard the massive aircraft, which Vaan said was called the _Galbana_; Sora's group had begun a bit of small talk among them.

Apparently Vaan was found by Petross when the sky pirate was nine. The medic caught Vaan trying to pick his pocket. Petross stopped his attempt and took him in after finding out that his parents were dead. Things continued until the Heartless began to appear. The world was consumed and Petross wound up in Traverse Town…until the Restoration Committee was formed and they saw his medical wonders.

"What about Balthier?" Sora asked.

Vaan glanced over Sora's shoulder. Balthier gave him a look that suggested that, if Vaan told Sora, the former would be shoved out of the craft while it was still in midair.

"He…doesn't like to talk about it." Vaan replied.

Suddenly, the giant ship bucked, as though someone had dropped a one-ton weight on the roof. Within seconds, several creatures with pale skin and spindly limbs fell from the ceiling: something that Sora hadn't seen in a LONG time.

"NOBODIES!" Sora exclaimed.

Vaan

The leader of a group of Sky Pirates. He's on good terms with most of the crew…especially Penelo. Balthier, however, annoys him to no end. He makes excellent use of his sword, though, and that's a good thing. Petross brought him up since he was nine, but it stopped when the world was consumed by the Heartless. He first appeared in _Final Fantasy XII_ 2006.

Penelo

A good friend of Vaan, Penelo has known him since they were very little. She's one of the important members of the crew of Sky Pirates. She wields a staff with a moon-shaped blade on the tip. She first appeared in _Final Fantasy XII_ 2006.

Balthier

Something of a braggart, but can easily back it up. He's always saying that he's the "leading man" and often uses the phrase when he's referring to himself as a leader. His right-hand is Fran, though no one knows how they really met. He first appeared in _Final Fantasy XII_ 2006.

Basch

A disgraced warrior who used to be a knight to the kingdom of Dalmasca. He joined this group of Sky Pirates to help clear his name…which was ruined by his own twin brother. He also has an attitude problem to rival J. He first appeared in _Final Fantasy XII_ 2006.

Fran

A rabbit-woman who left her tribe for unknown reasons. She rarely talks, but, when she does, it's filled with wisdom. She's the right-hand…woman of Balthier and she didn't get there for nothing. She first appeared in _Final Fantasy XII_ 2005.

Ashe

The deposed princess of Dalmasca. The name she goes by is merely a shortened version of her actual one. She hopes to get the crown of Dalmasca back, but it is a task she'll have to do herself. She first appeared in _Final Fantasy XII_ 2005.

_(1) Imagine that part from Iron Man._

_By the way, for the more confused readers, Dalmasca is the country that most of this motley crew came from. Ivalice is the world._


	214. Uneasy Truce

Chapter 214: Uneasy Truce

Suddenly, the giant ship bucked, as though someone had dropped a one-ton weight on the roof. Within seconds, several creatures with pale skin and spindly limbs fell from the ceiling: something that Sora hadn't seen in a LONG time.

"NOBODIES!" Sora exclaimed.

"SLAG!" Petross cursed as one of the Dusks tried attacking him. He grabbed it by the head and crushed it, destroying it immediately, "I THOUGHT THESE THINGS WENT DOWN WITH ORGANIZATION XIII!"

"Well, obviously, they didn't." J remarked, thrusting his fist into one and spinning around to kick another.

Ryan tossed blasts of sun into Nobody after Nobody, disintegrating them. April flew into a pair and flew out the window. The two struggled, making indistinct noises.

"What's that?" April asked, voice ringing with mock curiosity, "You want down? Okay." April then threw the two down into empty space. The pair tried floating back up, but Ms. Goodeve flew straight into them, keeping her arms out, pinning the Nobodies to them. She then kicked the Dusks down and sent them, careening, to the ground with sickening crunches. She then flew back up to the ship with near-sonic speed.

Meanwhile, Sora swung his Keyblade down on Dusk after Dusk. But at this time, he found that all the members of Vaan's troop weren't so helpless. To prove it, Vaan pulled out a sword and began hacking through any oncoming dusk. His movements were swift and he kept his blade in one hand for better maneuverability.

Balthier pulled out his pistol and with just one movement of his trigger finger, blasted right through three of the Nobodies. His aim was impeccable, as was his timing. "The leading man is always prepared." He said, blowing the smoke away from his barrel.

One of the Nobodies leapt out to try and attack Balthier from behind, but it vanished in a pop of white light. Fran had a bow in her hand and had just pulled back on the string. An arrow made of pure white energy positioned itself in the bow, and when Fran released the string, the arrow shot forward and caught another Nobody right out of the air. One of the Dusks noticed their attacker and sprang for her, but Fran jumped, nimbly, around it and gave it a good whack with her bow's end. Apparently, the bow was more than just a long-range weapon.

Basch pulled out a long, two-handed sword and began slashing through Nobodies with pure brutality. Unlike Vaan, Basch's style was based more along the lines of brute force than speed and agility.

Petross was smashing the Nobodies with his bare hands. The large man's lightning-fast reflexes combined with his immense strength never ceased to amaze Sora. It worked with Crystalli, and it worked real well with the Nobodies as well.

Ashe easily carved through them with a large sword, which she wielded with one hand like a fencer. She would often avoid the attacking Nobodies without even leaving the ground as Penelo jumped through them, slicing and jabbing at them with a long staff with a moon-shaped blade on the tip of it.

"VAAN!" Sora shouted.

"On it!" Vaan replied.

Sora charged at Vaan, who held out his sword, which Sora placed his foot on and sprung off. Vaan tossed his sword at the Nobodies as Sora activated Sonic Blade in midair. The two blades sped forward, pinning Nobodies on them. A Nobody looked ready to attack Penelo, but a blade-like chakram spun through it, cleaving the white husk in half.

"I remember that weapon." Sora growled before snarling, "RUBY!"

"Didn't think you'd get there so fast." The red Crystalli said, appearing in red light next to Spinel, who appeared in reddish purple.

"And I know you from Kauai." J snapped, "You're that girl who tried tangling with Kairi."

"Don't remind me that I lost." Spinel snarled, clenching her gauntlet-clad hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Petross warned, slipping his brass knuckles onto his fingers.

"Why not?!" Spinel demanded, throwing her fist at Petross, who counteracted with his own. The two fists slammed together with the force of charging bulls and the result was that Spinel's gauntlet crumpled under the blow. She winced in pain as she inspected her weapon, gingerly flexing the fingers of her gauntlet.

"That's why." Petross replied, popping his knuckles.

Sakuzy came around after impaling a Dusk on his Keyblade and glanced around to look at the two newcomers with a look of disgust. "What do you two want?" he spat.

"We were originally sent to locate this world's Pure Heart." Replied Ruby, ignoring Sakuzy's initial rudeness, "But these Nobodies are sabotaging our efforts. And as I could see, they're giving you just as much hassle. So, we would like to propose a truce." Ruby held out her hand "It's a symbiotic relationship—your Keyblades and powers blended with our Crystalli abilities and our drones."

"I don't like it." Sakuzy responded, the Eagle Feather Keyblade flashing into his hand, semi-consciously.

"Truce." Sora replied, the complete opposite of what Sakuzy had expected. "But we WON'T be happy about it."

"On the same side as the CRYSTALLI?!" Sakuzy demanded before moaning, "Somebody shoot me…" Spinel raised a brow and looked ready to summon her Snipers, but Sakuzy quickly added, "THAT was sarcasm."

"Oh, crap." Spinel swore out of sheer disappointment.

"We found that most of the Nobodies are located in a long-abandoned fortress." Ruby stated, going over to one of Balthier's maps. "The fortress should be Northeast of here." She said, pointing out an area of the map, "So, if you want to get done sooner, I would suggest that you get this hunk of junk moving."

A resonating "click" ran through the air and Ruby turned to meet the barrel of Balthier's gun from close enough to kiss it. "I would watch what you call 'junk' if I were you." He warned, a brow raising directly at her.

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"I'm NOT happy." Sakuzy mumbled.

"And I'm not surprised." Sora replied.

"I've spent the last two years of my life trying to take out the Crystalli," Sakuzy muttered, darkly, "And here I am, working with them."

"FYI, Sakuzy, you're not my dream date either." Spinel pointed out, still trying to pop the dents out of her gauntlet.

Balthier was piloting the _Galbana_ towards the direction that Ruby gave them. The said Crystalli Host was trying to flirt with Basch…with no success.

"I don't date alien-possessed weirdoes." Basch said, stubbornly.

"Same here, Basch." Sakuzy added, "Same here."

J was sulking in a corner. He did NOT want to make eye contact with any Crystalli, especially the females. The two just reminded him of Peridot. Peridot. The very MENTION of her name caused J's hot blood to come to a boil. He'd kill her if it was the last thing he did…

"Is this the place?" Sora asked as they approached some ancient ruins.

Ruby took a look down below and took out her map. "Yes." She replied, "Take us down…"

"Oh, I wish I could…" Sakuzy growled.

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Sora and co. were beamed down into the ruins. Spinel flexed the fingers of her glove, which she had repaired by this time. "Remember, when the threat's gone, we're after the Pure Heart." Spinel hissed.

"Every man for himself." Sakuzy growled in response.

"Uh…do I get a say in this?" Ryan asked.

"Stay outta this!" Sakuzy and Spinel barked, causing the kid to jump in surprise.

"Well…okay." Ryan replied, defeated.

The whole troop came to a two-way intercession in the ruins. One doorway led one way while the other led another. "Okay, I'll take the right entrance with Sakuzy, Ruby, Vaan, and Petross." Sora stated, "The rest of you try the other one."

"And try not to get killed." Ryan added.

"Yeah. Try to come back alive." Sora replied, catching onto Ryan…badly, too.

"No worries about that, Sora. I'm a leading man." Balthier said, proudly. "And you know what they say about the leading man—he NEVER dies."

"Not always the case." J corrected.

The groups split up, but there was something amiss. Sora failed to notice the winks that passed between Ruby and Spinel.

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With Sora and co., they continued through the caverns. The atmosphere was tense, seeing as Sakuzy and Ruby kept giving the other the evil eye. Petross didn't exactly look happy, either. He had a suspicious look on Ruby all the time.

"You can hardly trust these kinds of people." Petross answered when Sora asked him what was wrong, "They lie and take advantage of these situations…"

Before anyone could take in what Petross had just said, a flurry of white lights enveloped the area around them. In a split second, Dancer Nobodies popped into existence, the kind controlled by the late Demyx.

"How predictable…" Sakuzy growled, summoning his Eagle Feather.

Ruby, however, held out a hand to stop them from trying to kill them. "Save your energy. My bodyguards can have their fun with them." Ruby said, coolly. She snapped her fingers and stood back.

In the next five seconds that followed, several giant chunks of crystal smashed through the roof of the ruins before crashing into the ground. In a flurry of moving parts, the burly beetle shape of Crystalli Brawlers stood in front of her, barring them off from the Nobodies.

"Kill them." Ruby said, calmly.

The Crystalli Brawlers followed Ruby's orders without question and each one charged with the force of a charging bull. The Dancers evaded the Brawlers' massive fists, but when they tried their hand, the Nobodies couldn't do much to the Crystalli's thick armor. It was a standoff: the Nobodies could barely harm the Brawlers and the Crystalli couldn't seem to catch the swift Dancers.

"They'll be there for a while." Ruby stated as she rolled out her crimson eyes, "Let's get outta here while they're still here."

The group took off, leaving the but didn't notice Ruby pulling out her chakram…

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With the other group, the atmosphere was very similar—tense. As Sorcerer Nobodies came for them, Fran suspiciously glanced around, her large ears twitching to catch any unfriendly noise. She managed to get away long enough to whisper something in Balthier's ear, though…possibly speaking her mind to others.

Spinel was already bored with these white husks and had summoned her Snipers to take them on. "As much as I wanna scrap, I got more important things to deal with." She said, almost disappointedly. As the group ran away, Spinel flexed the fingers of her gauntlet behind her back…

_Vaan's Valor Strike._


	215. Fission

Chapter 215: Fission

Ryan's gang continued through the ruins until they reached the end of the tunnel. He was MORE than disappointed to find that the road ended in a dead-end. "Crud." Ryan swore.

"Nothing to do now but go back and try and find Sora and the rest." J stated.

"Not quite." J barely had enough time (and sense) to dodge around the punch that came from Spinel. She pulled the gauntlet out and flexed the fingers.

"SABOTAGE!" Ryan screamed. He tried taking off, but nothing happened. "Dang." He swore as Spinel approached, "No sunlight…"

Spinel almost delivered a punch that would have sent Ryan into the ground when something bounced off her metal-clad fist. And it happened again, causing her fist to jerk backward. Balthier had apparently taken Fran's advice and fired at Spinel once, twice, thrice. The third shot hit Spinel's shoulder, causing reddish-purple blood to pour from the bullet wound. It didn't matter, because the injury quickly healed over.

"And you call yourself a leading man?" Ryan asked.

"Can we talk about this later?" Penelo asked, her staff at the ready.

"Go for the CRYSTAL if you wanna kill her." April said, picking up Ryan and hovering in the air.

"Thanks for the tip." Basch said. He pulled out his blade along with Ashe. Fran got her bow and loaded an arrow.

"Crew, let us attack." Balthier said, loading his gun and aiming it at Spinel's thigh.

The sky pirate opened-fire at the Crystalli, but she was more than smart enough to not stay in one place this time and dodged around the oncoming bullets. Just as the Crystalli landed, Ashe and Basch teamed up and swung their blades at Spinel.

Spinel wasn't worried as she raised her gauntlet-clad hand to block Basch, then moved aside to evade Ashe. For her, taking on two opponents at once was merely difficult, not impossible. When she had enough fun parrying and dodging, she reared back her fist and delivered a punch that sent Basch into the cave wall, creating a crater. Basch was thankful for his armor, because if he didn't have it, he probably would have died on contact with the wall.

Spinel spun around with arcane agility and grabbed Ashe's sword and kicked the deposed princess away. Penelo jumped in and brought her staff down only to meet the crimson gauntlet, but Spinel had expected the attack to end there. It didn't, because Penelo landed on the ground and swept the ground, tripping the Crystalli up and causing her to fall on her back. She aimed to jab her staff at her thigh and end the fight, but Spinel ended that hope by grabbing her staff and aiming it elsewhere. Slowly, she got to her feet and smiled.

"Too easy." Spinel taunted before kicking the girl away. She then snapped her fingers and another Sniper appeared to take the oncoming arrow from Fran. Another one turned invisible in a waver of color and tackled the rabbit woman. It looked she had tripped over her own two feet.

"My turn." J snarled before turning into a black rhino. He charged at Spinel, who had just registered he had charged and held out her gauntlet to block: a desperate move, but it worked nonetheless. The glove blocked the brunt of the attack, but not the force. It drove her back by a good ten feet and sent her skidding backward. Ryan then zipped over as April finished tying a sun lamp to him.

"THINK FAST!" Ryan shouted. Balls of sunlight appeared in his hand and he hurled them at Spinel. Spinel's reaction was to jump into the air and absorb the sun-balls and send them right back at him.

"I'm afraid I'm not out yet." Said a deep, accented voice. It belonged to Fran, who had just knocked another set of arrows. She had apparently gotten loose of the Sniper, because she loosed all the arrows into Spinel's back.

"Fran," Balthier said with a sigh, "What would I do without you?" After a pause, he added, "Don't answer that." and continued shooting at Spinel. The Crystalli placed her gauntlet in the way of the bullets, barely blocking them from her vulnerable crystal.

The simple action of parrying gave J enough time to shift into a gorilla and charge. Before the crimson Crystalli Host could counter, J had seized a sizeable rock in each hand and began to pummel her with them. He continued doing it until she fell to the ground and his rocks crumbled. The ape threw away the remains of the rock in his right hand, seized Spinel by the shoulder with his left, then brought his fist into the Crystalli's face.

Spinel spat out a tooth from the experience and asked, "Is that all you've got?" With one flex of her arm, her gauntlet-clad hand slammed into J's gut and sent the ape to the ground, winded.

Several Snipers appeared as J shifted back and got back to his feet. "I could ask you the same thing." The shapeshifter jumped at one of the beasts and changed in midair to become…a walrus. The shapeshifter-turned-sea mammal crushed them under his new weight of about two tons, then changed back, leaving the wreckage of all the snipers.

"Sure, ya can kill my Snipers." Spinel spat. She then thrust out her gauntlet-less hand, showing a purplish-red Crystalli Shell, "But I'm not comin' out without changin' at least ONE of you!"

Spinel took the crystal in hand, then threw the Shell at them like a throwing knife. The person it approached was April. She stared, wide-eyed as every microsecond brought it closer to her. Her thoughts flew, immediately, to what would happen if it landed…

It never came.

A blast of solar energy hit the projectile mere seconds before it so much as touched April's shirt. Ryan blew his smoking hand like one would a freshly fired pistol with a suave-sounding "yeah". Spinel screamed in frustration before vanishing in her respective color.

"Too close." J simply said.

"Thanks, Ryan!" April exclaimed. And before the kid could even register what happened, she hugged him and lifted him clean off the ground.

"Uh…thanks." Ryan wheezed, "Now, could you let go? I can't breathe…"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and co. arrived at the end of their tunnel, but unlike Ryan's group, he had more success. What was weird was that there were several strange carvings around them as well as what appeared to be hieroglyphics. And, smack dab in the center, was a heart that seemed to be made of a golden mist.

"The Pure Heart…" Sora said, in awe.

"And, with that, our truce's over."

Sora barely saw it coming and reacted instantly. And in the short span of a few seconds, he dodged around an oncoming chakram, which was in the space his head occupied mere moments earlier. "WHAT THE…?!" Sora was forced to summon his Keyblade to block another oncoming chakram.

"Looks like the truce's over." Vaan said, pulling his sword out.

"Best news I've heard all day!" Sakuzy said, showing a hint of satisfaction, summoning the Eagle Feather.

The Future Key-wielder jumped at Ruby, who called her chakram back in time to block the oncoming blade. Petross then charged and got ready to throw a punch at the red Crystalli. The said villainess dodged around the blow, leaving a disoriented Sora. Sora knew what would happen if Petross' fist came into contact with him. He didn't want to find out. He immediately jumped out of the way and Petross' fist smashed through the cave's wall, leaving a crater equivalent to one left by a small meteorite.

_Note to self,_ Vaan thought to himself, _Do NOT tick Petross off…_

Vaan didn't have anymore time to think as he blocked an oncoming chakram. Sakuzy sprung in and began spinning his Keyblade.

"AEROGA!" Sakuzy shouted as the resulting tornado blew through. However, Ruby ducked around it. The Future Keyblader pulled out a small container with a look of temptation on his face. _NO!_ he scolded himself, _You PROMISED not to use that monster…_He put it back in his pocket as he sprung towards Ruby and thrust out the Eagle Feather. "BLADE!"

An energy spear shot towards Ruby and impaled her, actually scraping the wall her back was to. Crimson blood poured out, but were soon stopped by the Crystalli healing factor. Sakuzy's head snapped over to Sora and he asked, "Do you remember the Limit we did, early on in the journey?"

"Yeah. Justice Force. It didn't work against Amethyst…" Sora replied.

"Yeah, well Joan wasn't the smartest pupil in class." Sakuzy stated.

"IT'S RUBY, MORON." Ruby snapped on hearing her REAL name.

"Strange." Sakuzy replied, casually, "It wasn't that long ago that you were Joan—underachieving flirt of the class."

"SHUT UP!" Ruby screamed, tossing her chakram at the heroes. Sakuzy used his version of Aeroga to thwart the attack and then nodded at Sora, who returned the favor.

"SAKUZY!" Sora shouted.

"Justice WILL be served!" Sakuzy shouted, flying towards Ruby. Sakuzy slashed at Ruby and jumped back to grab Sora's Ultima Weapon before flying back and bringing both Keyblades down on her.

Ruby's response was to fall backward and start…laughing? She lifted her head and held out a blood red Crystalli Shell.

"Prepare to see the light, Sakuzy!" Ruby shouted, her voice sounding almost crazed, then tossed the Shell at Sakuzy like a dart. However, the Shell was quickly seized by Petross' large hand. The medic quickly maneuvered the diminutive Crystalli in between his index finger and thumb just as the spidery legs snapped out from the body. The Shell's spindly legs thrashed violently, trying to get free of the medical officer's sausage-like fingers, but Petross simply tightened his grip until the thing squealed in pain combined with a crunching noise. The medic dropped its shattered remains with several clatters on the floor.

"The hand's faster than the eye." He said in a sagely tone, flexing his fingers to make a point.

"Doesn't matter." Ruby hissed, "With the amount of damage we did to the cave, you'll ALL DIE!"

"F.Y.I, you'll die, too!" Vaan barked.

Ruby laughed a low, evil-sounding chuckle as she corrected him. "Not precisely." Ruby smiled a crafty smile, then vanished in a flash of red light.

"Ah, slag." Petross simply swore as the walls began to tremble.

"We've gotta get outta here!" Sora shouted.

"No need to tell us twice!" Vaan replied. Sora and co. then took off through the cave's catacombs. They had no time to lose here…

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

The others tore through the caves, Ryan staying at the head of the crowd. However, a piece of falling debris hit his sun lamp, so his super-speed came to an all-too-abrupt end.

"Oh, dang!" Ryan cursed as he felt himself slow down.

"Let's just get out!" April shouted, grabbing Ryan's hand and running. Without his super-speed, the little guy had trouble just keeping up with her.

"Why can't ya just fly out?" Ryan asked amidst the falling debris.

"Simple, idiot." J replied, "If she takes off, she'll run into more risk of getting killed by falling chunks of the ceiling."

"Why can't you call me by my PROPER name?" Ryan asked, trying not to scream, "Is that too much to ask for?"

"Have these two had this argument before?" Penelo asked.

"Pretty much." April replied.

"We must keep moving." Fran said, "Conversation will only slow us down."

"Exactly." Ashe agreed, "Every second we waste, this cave comes closer to coming down on top of us."

"We gathered that!" someone barked as Sora and co. darted past.

"Well, with that in hand…" J simply said before morphing into a cheetah and taking off at top speed.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

The group ran through the caves as the tunnel began to collapse because of the chaos it had seen.

"We'll never make it out at this rate." Petross growled. He had already done the math in his head: with the amount of rocks falling and their current speed, he only estimated that J would make it out unharmed.

"Not on my watch!" Sora said, determinedly. His hand flew over to April's shoulder. He would've gone for Ryan, but there was no sunlight, so it would have been WORSE than useless. He then shouted, "DRIVE!"

In a flash of light, only Sora was left. His clothes were the color of a clear daylight sky and the pattern of his shorts changed to white clouds. He felt a bit…weird; there was no other word for it. Probably because this was the first time he'd done a Drive with just a girl.

Sora summoned his Keyblade to show that it was, once again, a kind that he had never seen before. Its handle was a pair of white wings similar to a dove's whereas the teeth was a cloud. _Lucky Cloud _rang through Sora's head.

"So, what can this Drive do?" Ryan asked.

Sora began to float up, looking like he was suspended by wire. He shrugged before saying, "That much is obvious…"

"What about that new Keyblade?" J asked.

"Let's find out…" Sora gave the Keyblade an experimental wave and a powerful gust of wind ripped through an oncoming piece of debris that was close to collapsing on Vaan. The Keyblade Master thought, quickly, and had an idea. He jumped into the air and waved the Lucky Cloud. The others suddenly floated into the air due to the powerful air currents pushing them up, but J looked less than happy about it.

"I can change into something that CAN fly. Got it?" The anti-hero asked, disgruntled.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Sora apologized. The wind carrying J dissipated and the shapeshifter turned into a bird of prey, probably an eagle or a falcon. "LET'S GO!" Sora shouted.

The group took off through the cave, and at higher speeds than usual. The wind was one of the fastest things, so they didn't have to waste energy running and there was no threat of tripping. Because of the time that elapsed, part of the cave entrance was blocked.

"Get me in front!" Petross shouted. Sora did so with a movement of Lucky Cloud and the medic held out his fist. With one punch from his brass-knuckled fist, all of the debris was cleared.

Sora and co. flew upwards, aiming for the _Galbana_. For a while, it seemed like a pretty easy task, but that was shattered with one word from Ashe. "NOBODIES!"

Sora looked where the deposed princess was pointing and saw a swarm of several Dusks. They looked like a giant cloud of wavering, white locusts.

"No problem!" Sora replied. In a blur of light blue, he took off after the Dusks. Once in range of them, he swung Lucky Cloud in a horizontal slash. A burst of wind blew at the swarm of whiteness and actually parted the gathering, destroying several in a flash of lights.

As other Dusks gathered to attack, Sora started spinning his new Keyblade and the air current acted like a shield, blowing away any attackers. The Nobodies, being the lightweight creatures they were, were swiftly blown away as if they were feathers in the breeze.

"And I've got the light!" Ryan shouted, flying after the Dusks.

_Better make sure he stays out of trouble…_J groaned in his head, then flew off with a flap of his wings.

In a burst of solar blasts and flashes of falcon talons, all the Dusks were gone, though Sora did the most damage. He had to admit that the wind was a very powerful thing.

"Now, let's get back to the _Galbana_!" Sora shouted. The entire crew flew up to the ship.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora sat, exhausted, on the ground as his drive ended. In a split second, April was standing next to him, looking a little nauseous. "That was…fun." Sora gasped, a smile on his face, "No wonder…you enjoy it…so much…"

"Could you have at least given me the heads-up?" April asked, "I can see why some people don't like that too much…"

"The good news is that we got out in one piece." Sakuzy said, "But the bad news is that we didn't get the Pure Heart…"

"Ahem." Vaan said, pulling the cloud-like Pure Heart from his pocket.

"How did you…" Sakuzy was cut off.

"I'm a pirate. Slight-o'-hand's what I do." Vaan answered Sakuzy's unasked question. He tossed it to Sora, who tossed it to J.

Petross sighed before tossing Sora something with a simple, "Take this." Sora caught it—it was a serringe, similar to the one they used to cure Pearl.

"The last cure?" Sora asked.

"Yeah. Since you left, the Crystalli haven't appeared in Radiant Garden." Petross said, seriously.

"What's so bad about that?" Ryan asked, "I thought you'd be glad if those things didn't harass you."

"It's because the worst is yet to come." J explained, as though it was the simplest thing in the world. "We know how to kill them now and they know it. That's why they're holding back: to build up their forces and overwhelm us with everything they've got."

Petross nodded, then rubbed the back of his head in an embarrassed sort of way and said, "I've gotta get back to Radiant Garden. The Restoration Committee will need me back there, seeing as they don't have Aerith anymore. And the tryouts are a real pain…"

Sora clutched the serringe in his hand, then pocketed it. "I guess this is goodbye then." When Petross nodded, Sora added, "Say 'goodbye' to the others for me. Will ya?"

Petross nodded. "THAT I can assure you."

As Petross walked off to parts unknown, Sora reminisced about their journey and how far they came. It only seemed like yesterday that Sakuzy and Joyex came, but now their journey was almost over. And they had to give it their all this time…

_(1) Don't be fooled. Walruses may look goofy, but they're as heavy as two cars and have been known to smash open boats with their head and tusks alone._

_That would be April's Freedom Drive. In this mode, Sora can fly and use the Lucky Cloud Keyblade. With it, Sora can control the wind and air around him in either offense or defense._


	216. Return to Twilight Town

Chapter 216: Return to Twilight Town

Twilight Town…

Sora and co. arrived in the town in constant twilight. This was the closest world and Scott had a good feeling that they would find the world's Pure Heart a second time…even faster than last time thanks to the radar. Ryan whooped as he leapt in the air and shouted, at the top of his lungs, "HEL-LO, Twilight Town! I'm BACK!"

"What's with him?" Riku asked, almost questioning the kid's sanity.

"Twilight Town's the little guy's 'omeworld." Scott explained, "If you thought all of us came from Radiant Garden, you're dead wrong. Most of us met in Traverse Town, where I met Leon. Hence me Camp Greenlake name."

Scott's little explanation was cut short when an all-too-familiar voice rang through the air. "I thought I told you not to show your sorry face here again!"

"Uh-oh." Ryan said, but had just realized who said that when something hit him across the face: a rock. He touched the wound gingerly, then took off as Seifer's gang began pursuing him.

J stared after Seifer, then chased after him and his gang. J may not have looked like it, but he was fast, even in his human form.

"Boy, this place sure has memories…" Sora sighed. It was HERE, that he met Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Here, he fought his first Nobodies after losing a year for some reason. And, it was here that he felt something when the said gang mentioned Kairi. He didn't entirely understand what the feeling was, but it felt like his stomach was filled with helium, floating away…

"Sora, come back to earth." Joyex said, snapping his fingers.

"What?" Sora asked.

"The last Pure Heart's out here, somewhere." Sakuzy stated, "It'll be easier to find one we've already used, but, most likely, the Crystalli won't let us get to it without a fight."

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

J sprinted down the alleyway of Twilight Town in search of the pain in the neck when suddenly he heard someone speak. "Hi there."

J turned to see three odd…things. Whether they were cats or dogs, he couldn't tell. Two were male, but one was obviously female. One had a blue shirt and a red hat, one had khaki pants, and the girl had a pink skirt and a flower in her hair. Even though J didn't consider them threats, he kept a wary eye on them.

The thing with the hat waved and asked, "How are ya?"

No answer, so the girl took a pretty pose and sweetly asked, "How are you?"

Still no answer, and the one in khaki pants asked with slight irritation, "HOW ARE YOU?!"

J still wasn't saying anything. Deep down, he knew that these things wanted him to talk. He wasn't going to give them that pleasure.

The girl turned and suggested, "Maybe he's a mute?"

"No way!" the one in khakis objected, "I've seen that guy before and I KNOW he can talk. Real grouch, too. Wish he'd lighten up…"

"Well, why isn't he doing it now?" the one in the hat asked with a shrug.

While these things were discussing on why the shapeshifter didn't respond, J had turned himself into a black housecat. And the three "Animaniacs" didn't even notice him transform into the feline and go off to, well, somewhere else.

_Numbskulls…_the human-turned-cat thought as he sprinted down the alleyway.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

J changed back when Seifer's gang lost sight of Ryan. He strolled through the world in forever twilight. He found the infinite twilight…surprisingly monotonous and actually wondered WHY Ryan found this place so amusing.

J's attention suddenly went to that of the three hotshots of Twilight Town: Seifer, Rai, and Fuu. Making sure that his shades were secure on his face, he advanced.

Fuu was the first to notice him, pointing her finger at him and saying one word, as she usually did. "You."

Rai turned to see what Fuu was talking about just as J stopped walking. "Hey, you're that freak's friend, y'know?" he said, popping his knuckles.

J adjusted his shades and said, "I'm afraid that 'friend' is not what I'd call him."

Now it was Seifer's turn to walk towards J, but the shapeshifter didn't back down. Both were tall enough to look each other in the eye. "You're not that freak's friend?" he asked, "Then would you mind telling us where he is?"

J didn't answer directly, but simply asked, "And what do you plan on doing to him when you FIND him?"

"Genocide." Fuu responded.

"Freaks like that kid are too dangerous to be around people like us." Seifer said, filling in for Fuu, "We'll just turn him in so they can gas him."

J's gloved hand clenched while he kept his glove-less one behind his back as he simply stated, "Then you can just start with me."

Seifer gestured with his head and both Rai and Fuu advanced on him, evil grins on their faces. Both made to seize his arms, but J actually sidestepped both of them, tripping Fuu in the process. Rai threw a punch at him, but J suddenly held out the hand behind his back and intercepted. In an instant, Rai pulled back, clutching his hand in pain. It seemed that a while back, J had taken a loose brick and had used it to turn Rai's own strength against him.

While Rai shook the pain out of his near-broken hand, J felt something seize his wrist from behind. He didn't even have time to free himself when Seifer seized his other hand and held it behind him. They may not have looked it, but Fuu and Seifer were very strong when working together.

"That hurt! Y'know?!" Rai growled as he charged, pulling back his uninjured hand.

J had to think fast…something he did incredibly well. He noted the position that Fuu and Seifer were in and instantly found that if the right amount of weight was between them, they were going to get hurt…a lot.

J acted fast and jumped to land both his feet into Rai's midsection, sending him back. But rather than land on his feet again, he let himself fall. The sudden change of weight caused Fuu's and Seifer's heads to collide with each other, releasing their grips on J. The shapeshifter flipped back to his feet just as Rai came for him again. He dodged around the punch and appeared to run towards the dead end. Rai had him now…or so he thought.

The instant J was encountered with a wall, Rai close behind, he ran three steps up the wall, springing off on a fourth. J flipped right over Rai's head, and since Rai couldn't stop in time, he collided with the brick wall. Rai fell to the ground with a dazed look and remained that way.

_One down…_

When Fuu saw that Rai had been outsmarted and beaten senseless, she made her move. Unfortunately for her, J saw it coming and happened to notice the trashcan between the two. As soon as she was close enough, J jumped in the air and sharply hit the can's lid with his foot. The lid flipped into the air and caught her full in the face, knocking her unconscious.

"Was that all?" J asked, more to himself than anyone. He then sharply raised his arm and the back of his fist caught Seifer, who had tried to grab him. "Now, listen to me." J growled, "His name is not 'freak' and he is a person just like you or me. He can think and feel just like us, so why don't you treat him like a person and NOT a monster?"

By now, J had Seifer backed to the wall, his hands around the collar of Seifer's jacket. "Is that CLEAR?" J asked, acting as though Seifer hadn't heard him.

Seifer simply met J's glare with one of his own. But he hadn't even thought of a single remark when he noticed J glance up. In the blink of an eye, J had taken them both to the ground just as the wall Seifer was up against exploded in a burst of debris.

When J got up from the ground, he was covered with dirt and small pieces of debris. He growled as he slowly got to his feet and looked up to see the culprits for the blasts: Crystalli Hawks in their terrestrial form. Now, despite the fact that these thugs had tried to hunt Ryan down, J had to protect them. They may have deserved punishment, but NOT death.

"Wait here…" J ordered, then sprang to the opposite wall to grab hold of a fire escape. And after clambering to the top, he began to hop rooftop-to-rooftop. The Hawks took notice, then shifted to their aerial forms to take pursuit.

As J raced across the rooftops, he had one thing on his mind. Find Ryan and rendezvous with Sora and the others; looks like the Crystalli had plans for this place.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and co. dispersed through the town, trying to find the Pure Heart. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi had formed a team while Sakuzy, Joyex, April and Scott formed another.

"How do we find the Pure Heart?" Donald asked, irritably.

"You know that we usually find it due to dumb luck." Sora explained.

"Lookin' for somethin'?" asked someone. Sora and co. saw the gang of Twilight Town—the hot-tempered Hayner, the somewhat large Pence, and the kind, and only girl, Olette.

"See ya found Kairi." Pence said.

"And…who's this?" Olette asked, blushing at the sight of Riku.

"I'm Riku." Riku replied, unperturbed by Olette's behavior.

"We're looking for a red, heart-shaped thing." Sora said, getting to the point, "It's about the size of my hand and made of crystal. Have you seen anything like it?"

"Nah." Hayner answered.

"No." Olette answered, still a little red in the face.

"Nuh-uh." Pence said, shaking his head.

Sora heaved a sigh in defeat, but such was not the case for the others. "Well, do you have any idea on where it is?" Kairi asked with a shrug.

"I have one." Pence answered, putting a finger up, "A jewelry store just opened up last week. Said they found a huge gem to start things up."

"Good place to start as any." Kairi said. It was the best lead they had so far.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sakuzy, Joyex, Scott, and April walked in the direction they went.

"Good times." Joyex sighed.

_Enter flashback…_

_Joyex had popped up in Twilight Town after Joey fell into darkness, trying to use it like Adrian. Obviously, he failed, because now he was in the place where all Nobodies began their life._

_All the way on Destiny Island, Sakuzy had just seen his friend vanish and saw the pink heart float away. He quickly reached out and managed to grab onto Joey's heart as it tried to float away to Kingdom Hearts. For a while, he held on, but the heart was stronger than it looked. For a while, the struggle continued, but it came to a sudden end when the heart snapped in half._

"_Oh, crap!" Sakuzy swore as he lost his balance and fell to the floor. He still felt something in his palm and opened his hand to show that half of the heart was still there. "Half of Joey in my hand." Sakuzy said, voice ringing with nostalgia. Maya walked over and Sakuzy asked, "Is there anything we can keep this in?"_

"_How about your birthday present?" Maya asked before pulling out the heart-shaped locket that Sakuzy used to hold onto._

"_It'll do." Sakuzy said before placing the heart below it. It flew up, but Maya clicked the locket open and it flew right into it before vanishing. Sakuzy held out his Keyblade. A beam of light hit the locket and it swung shut, locking itself._

"_I'll need that." Sakuzy said, gently taking the locket from Maya._

"_What'll you be needing it for?" she asked._

_Sakuzy began walking away as he simply said, "Leverage. We're going to Twilight Town."_

_Twilight Town…_

_Sakuzy now stood in Twilight Town and was currently standing in front of Joyex. "So, if I go with you, you'll give me that half of a heart?" the Nobody asked._

"_No. I'll give you half if this fragment, seeing as I'll be making sure you…behave." Sakuzy replied, "Still, a quarter of a heart's better than no heart at all."_

_Joyex thought before taking Sakuzy's hand. Why not? It would certainly keep him from going down the same road as those Organization XIII guys._

"_You've got a deal, Sakuzy." He said. Sakuzy popped the locket open before grabbing the half heart. He snapped it in half and tossed the top half to Joyex. It phased into the Nobody's body in a glimmer of light._

"_That was weird…" Joyex said, feeling the place where the heart touched._

"_So, what's your name?" Sakuzy asked, "Oxej?"_

"_No." Joyex said, shooting down the idea instantly, "That sounds like a skin disease. I think I'll go by…Joyex."_

_End flashback…_

Joyex grinned as he stared into space. Those really were good times. And after he came back to Radiant Garden on this time-travel adventure, he ended up with the other half.

Joyex's trip down memory lane was cut short when the sound of a blast cut through the air. A Crystalli Shell had embedded itself in a wall, narrowly missing Joyex's nose. There, right in front of them, was a small battalion of Crystalli Soldiers.

"Strewth." Scott simply sword before causing his wrist-spikes to spring out. He charged in with April, Sakuzy and Joyex, ready to fight to the end.

Animaniacs

A trio of cartoons, known as the Warners. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot are their names, and causing mayhem is their game. Though they seem to know J, we don't know where or how they know each other. Often outsmarting those out to get him, they do, however, fail to notice J escaping. They first appeared in _Animaniacs _1992.

_There ya go, Captain A. It took quite a while to fix it all out, but D-Dude and I reached an agreement. Hope you're happy. And D-Dude says he's sorry for removing them…and if he didn't get them right. He just hasn't watched the Animaniacs since he was six._


	217. Joyride

Chapter 217: Joyride

J darted through the streets, staying out of sight from the skies. If the Hawks were here, he couldn't risk an aerial attack, especially with their current number. FIRST, he had to find his hyperactive, little neck pain.

"Now, if I were Ryan, where would I hide?" J asked himself. The first thing that came to mind was the alley where they were chasing him. "Maybe he's a bit more subtle than I thought." J said, slightly impressed.

He took off, following familiar landmarks, then saw the dead-end alleyway that Ryan often found a good hiding place. "I know you're there, pest. Now show yourself."

For a second, nothing happened, then several bricks shifted and Ryan tumbled out of a hole in the wall. He got back on his feet and began to dust himself off. "How'd you know I was here?" he asked, clapping dust off his sweatshirt.

"This is where you always went to hide from Seifer." J explained, but he suddenly seized Ryan and pulled him into another alleyway that was much better hidden from the skies.

"Hey!" Ryan exclaimed in surprise, "What's the big idea?"

J placed Ryan onto his feet and shushed him before speaking in a hushed whisper. "Long story short, Seifer's gang wanted to march you to the gas chamber, I thrashed them, and saw some Crystalli Hawks. I think Turquoise is involved." J hurriedly explained.

"Same here." Ryan agreed.

"Why?" J asked.

"Because she's making a run for it now." Ryan replied, pointing to a sky-blue cloak whipping away.

The curse that escaped J's lips would have made Cid Highwind blush and he sharply punched his open palm. Then, out of the corner of his eye, J spotted a motorcycle and raised an eyebrow in its direction. It had a spare seat, which made it perfect for the occasion.

"I know that look." Ryan said, his voice quivering slightly, "I find it unsettling…"

J jumped into the motorcycle and Ryan, after a second thought, hopped into the spare seat. "Can't you keep up by running?" J asked.

"Remember, my powers aren't at their full potential at sunset, which this world is in, constantly." Ryan replied. He then added, hopefully, "Y'know, if driving this thing's too tiring for you, maybe you can sit back, relax, and maybe I can…"

"Buckle in." J simply said before revving it up and taking off at high speed. Ryan screamed as they started chasing after Turquoise. Sure, he may have been able to go at high speeds, but you know what they say. _Being in the driver's seat and passenger's seat are two different things._

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Turquoise jumped through Twilight Town and she actually grinned. It was fairly easy to take on this world. The Crystalli had to ARRIVE in order to win. She scoffed. This sounded a bit like Spinel, but she would've preferred a decent fight. The mayor originally tried negotiating with them. She nearly laughed.

Negotiation with the Crystalli was a joke. Even when they went to talk it out, they didn't give a second thought about what the enemies wanted. When they took a world, it was either obey them, get out, or get killed.

"They're following me." Turquoise said after hearing the revving of a motorcycle. She only had to turn her head, slightly, and see the black hair and red hoody belonging to J and Ryan. "Peridot's gonna love this." She said to herself.

Turquoise called down one of her Hawks, and as it flew down to meet its master, the Crystalli Host jumped on its back, riding it in a surfboard fashion. She caught her balance, then had the Crystalli Hawk go a little faster. She wasn't trying to get away, just trying to make them follow her a bit more…enthusiastically.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

"HOLY CRUD! HOLY CRUD! HOLY CRUD! HOLY CRUD! HOLY CRUD! HOLY CRUD! HOLY CRUD! HOLY CRUD!" Ryan screamed.

J heard a ringing over the motorcycle and plucked out a cell phone, which he tossed to Ryan. "Answer it." He said over the noise, "I can't now. I'm driving."

Ryan fumbled with the phone, but managed to catch it in both hands. He then opened the phone and immediately heard a familiar voice.

"Oh, hey Scott." Ryan said, calmly, "No, I didn't steal anything. Well, J did, but I didn't…No, we're fine. Just chasing some rock-head. Yes…Uh, no she IS a rock-head. It's Turquoise."

"Full throttle." J said as he spotted Turquoise jumping onto a Hawk. The motorcycle suddenly sped up by a considerable amount.

"OH, COME ON, MAN! I'M FIFTY YEARS FROM RETIREMENT!" Ryan shouted before closing the phone.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora never really thought he'd have to go to a jewelry store. That necklace he got Kairi for her birthday was the only exception until now. As expected, the red Pure Heart was on display, seated on a velvet cushion.

"This is too easy." Donald said, proudly.

"Help! Help! HEELLP!!!" Someone screamed: an abnormally high-pitched voice.

Sora and co. turned to meet a familiar-looking black mage with a strange hat. It was none other than Vivi, and he appeared to be screaming in fear and banging on the door to the shop to open up.

Sora cautiously opened the door, but Vivi had barely made it across the threshold when something else tried to go in with him. It was the familiar dinosaurian Crystalli Fossils. One met Sora with a snarl, but he quickly slammed the door on its face, slamming the side of its head with the door's side. It snarled and thrashed until Riku smashed its head with Way to Dawn.

When the Crystalli Fossil remained in the doorway, as limp as a rag, two more burst into the store, shattering the window in the process. One emitted a hiss-like snarl as it slowly advanced towards the Twilight Town Trio. But it hadn't even tried to snap at one of them when it was met with Goofy's shield. The two flew several feet back and actually shattered one of many display cases, scattering jewels everywhere.

Goofy got up and clutched his head from the shock of getting hit while the Fossil rolled back to its feet and shook the dizziness out of its head. When the Fossil was finished, it searched out its easy meal, but was more than surprised when Donald landed on its back and wedged his staff in between its teeth. The Fossil thrashed like an angry bull while Donald simply tried to hold on. Donald's little joyride came to an abrupt end when Sora used a Blizzaga and a spike of ice impaled the dinosaur-like Crystalli.

The second one, right now, was on top of Riku, trying to get at him with its teeth and claws. It suddenly shrieked in pain and reared its head back as Kairi dug her Flowering Strength Keyblade into its back. This gave Riku enough time to raise a hand and blow the Fossil's head off with Dark Firaga.

"Fossils." Sora said, his Keyblade still at the ready, "From what Sakuzy and Joyex told me, Topaz must be here."

While the others nodded in agreement, Riku said, "Let's get the Pure Heart out of here…before they decide to show up."

Sora had just taken the heart in his hand and pocketed it when Kairi's voice rang through the air. "Guys…we have company!"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Back with Ryan and J, the anti-hero and hyperfreak were neck-and-neck with the Goth Crystalli. The Hawk she was riding on was right above them and a meter or two ahead of them. The motorcycle tore through the streets with no regard whatsoever of traffic. People dove out of the way and took cover as J shot past them. However, among the people, one didn't get away in time, namely an old raisin of a man.

"Oh, look. A motorcycle." The person, named Hans Moleman, said…moments before getting hit by the motorcycle and sent onto the nearest curb with a feeble-sounding scream.

"OKAY, WE'VE CAUGHT UP TO HER! CAN YA STOP NOW?!" Ryan asked, desperately.

"No." J replied, "If I stop now, she'll get away."

"BUT IF YOU DON'T STOP NOW, YOU'LL CRASH INTO SOMETHING!" Ryan screamed as the bike narrowly missed a car.

"My plan exactly." J answered. He pulled Ryan out of the passenger's seat, placed him directly behind him, and simply commanded, "Take the wheel." J then jumped off the motorcycle, changing into an eagle that flew at the Hawk.

"Hey, I can't drive this." Ryan simply said, noticing the motorcycle's controls, "I'm toast…"

J changed back to land on a Hawk's wing to meet a disgruntled-looking Turquoise…or at least she LOOKED disgruntled, but she always looked like that. Her immediate response was to throw a fist at J, who ducked to the side to avoid it. He had to retain his balance and did so, though without much ease. He returned the swing from the Crystalli with one of his own. Turquoise simply ducked around the attack and drew her forearm blades.

With lightning-fast velocity, Turquoise swung at the shapeshifter, each slash probably having a fatal result if they ever hit…which they didn't. The shapeshifter leaned around the blows with the agility of a limbo dancer, as he couldn't risk jumping. He quickly learned this problem when he jumped a sweep kick and nearly fell a few hundred feet to his death. He quickly grabbed hold of the Hawk's wing and held on tight.

J was now dangling from the wingtip of a Crystalli Hawk, barely holding on with a white-knuckled deathgrip. Turquoise towered over him, then bared her sharp forearm blades as though she was going to carve J's fingers off and watch him fall. But she had just summoned the urge to swing when something grabbed her by the leg and began jerking her forward. Turquoise barely caught herself just in time to see J's gloved hand wrapped around her ankle. But before she could retaliate, J had pulled her off the Hawk completely.

For one split second, J thought he had won, but then felt something on his own ankle. Turquoise was now dangling from his leg by one hand and tugging at him hard. Either she was trying to get back up or take him plummeting down with her. J thrashed his leg violently, but no matter how hard he tried, Turquoise's grip was true.

J glanced at the Hawk's path, and what he saw made his crimson eyes widen in surprise. The Hawk was headed right for a building at what seemed like terminal velocity. J did NOT want to see what was in the said building, so he did the only thing logical: he let go of the Hawk. The Crystalli saw the oncoming obstacle and swerved to miss it…half a second too late. The corner of the building clipped the wing off and the Hawk went spiraling to the ground.

J and Turquoise tumbled through the air in a free-fall, each exchanging punches as they fell. At the last blow, J pushed away from Turquoise and turned into a bat to flutter away. Turquoise, however, teleported just moments before she hit the ground.

J flew back to the ground and changed back in midair to land on his feet. But he was barely registering his surroundings when someone spoke. "Well, J. It's been a while, cutie…" a female voice purred.

J didn't need to wheel around to recognize Peridot. Her voice was MORE than enough for him. Still, he turned to face her and saw her just on the roof of a house, gazing down on him. Every feeling he felt before entering here quickly shriveled away out of the pure heat of his rage. He pointed an accusing finger at her as he growled, "You…"

With a simple push of her legs, Peridot jumped down from the roof and landed on the ground. Her claws flashing into existence, she acted before he even knew what was going on. She had pushed him into a wall, her forearm pressed against his neck and her other hand positioning the middle of her three claws right between J's eyes.

"You change, I stab." She warned in a hiss.

J pushed against her forearm with as much strength as he could, but the Crystalli matched him. "What do you intend to do to me now?" J asked, his voice full of contempt, "Kiss me again? Convert me?"

Peridot put her free finger to her chin in mock thought. "I suppose kissing you is optional, but for the converting…" She paused to think a while, "Nah. We're still busy training the new guy. And I'm pretty sure he's someone you know."

Before Peridot could say any more, a motorcycle exploded from an alleyway and crashed into her, freeing J in an instant. She staggered to her feet, stunned, but still alive. She had just seen J come for her, murder in his eyes, and made her escape in a flash of green light.

J cursed at the fact that she had gotten away, then grunted in disappointment and walked over to the unfortunate Ryan Syrus, who was lying in a heap, the bike's remains not too far from him. There was also a puddle of…something, not too far away. Ryan rolled over onto his back to look at J.

"Please don't tell anyone I puked." He said, weakly.

"Oh, thank goodness. You're alive." J commented, sarcastically.

"Y'know, it's a surprise that it didn't have airbags." Ryan said as he staggered up. But just as he took a step forward, an airbag deployed. "D'OH!" he said before falling back down.

"Let's get ya outta here, shorty." J said, heaving Ryan back to his feet. Ryan staggered as he gained his balance just as J saw something going on in the town. "Can you fly?" J asked.

"Yeah. Maybe." Ryan replied. J stood the motorcycle back up…the most damage that had been done was that the spare seat had fallen off. When the motorcycle roared off through the streets, Ryan took off and followed J in the air.

The two tore through the town and saw Sora and the rest…along with Joyex, Scott, April, Quartz, and…Maya? But where was Sakuzy?

_What happened to Sakuzy? Stay tuned…_

_In the next few chapters, Summon Charms will GO WILD!!!_


	218. Summons Go Wild

Chapter 218: Summons Go Wild

"Fossils." Sora said, his Keyblade still at the ready, "From what Sakuzy and Joyex told me, Topaz must be here."

While the others nodded in agreement, Riku said, "Let's get the Pure Heart out of here…before they decide to show up."

Sora had just taken the heart in his hand and pocketed it when Kairi's voice rang through the air. "Guys…we have company!"

Sora turned and saw that Kairi was now facing four Crystalli of a kind that he hadn't seen before. THESE Crystalli were similar in size and overall function of the Brawlers, but there were VERY noticeable differences.

These Crystalli looked mainly about upper body strength and they had four arms. One pair looked like they would be where any other human's arms would be and were huge and bulky, terminating in claw-like fingers. But the second pair seemed to be slightly smaller and came out of its shoulders, their fingers resembling tubes of sorts. Their legs were like pillars and their heads seemed to look like crude replicas of human skulls.

After a quick flip-through of the Pocket Guide to Crystalli, Donald found them. "Crystalli Destroyers! WATCH OUT!"

Donald made the right call, because one of the Destroyers raised its lower right hand and a blade made of the same material as its skin sprung from its seemingly armored left forearm. After unleashing a surprisingly metallic roar, it charged with its blade at the ready.

Sora ducked under the Destroyer's blade and met another swing with his Keyblade. It wasn't easy, because the Destroyer was almost twice his size, and Sora buckled under the weight of the attack. Rather than try to parry the next attack, Sora dove between its legs and rolled back on his feet to smash his Keyblade in its back. The Destroyer staggered forward, as though it had been shoved, then turned to face Sora and threw its right fist forward. The fist didn't stop and raced at the Keyblade Master like a projectile, narrowly missing him. The Destroyer raised its stump of a hand and let out a low growl. Sora watched as the hand raised itself on its fingers, then scuttled towards its master like a crab. It fitted itself on the Destroyer's wrist and the Crystalli flexed its fingers to put feeling back into its hand before it went after Sora again.

Riku darted to the side as the Destroyer made to impale him on its wrist pike. Responding to the attack, Riku hurtled a Dark Firaga at the oncoming Destroyer. The ball of dark flame hit the Destroyer full in the face, but it failed to slow the Crystalli down, just stun it for a second. At that time, the upper right hand shifted into a gun of sorts in a flurry of moving parts. The gun opened fire and several crystal bullets pelted the floor, embedding their sharp ends into the floor of the store…but not one hit Riku.

"Get outta here!" Riku said, his attention on the Twilight Town Trio. They did what he said without any form of questioning.

A Destroyer roared as it activated the upper left hand, turning it into another cannon. As it opened fire on Donald and Goofy, they found that its shots didn't fire crystal shards, but bolts of energy. On contact with glass, the blasts shattered them, often burning holes right through the protective cases.

Donald jumped away from the energy bursts like mad while Goofy blocked them with his disk-shaped shield. Two shots reflected off its surface and when they stopped for a second, the royal knight hurtled his shield at the Destroyer and the discus-like shield spun right through the cannon. The Destroyer howled in pain, but was only pained further when a burst of lightning went straight through it. A hole went right through its chest plate and it fell to the ground with a CRASH.

Sora suddenly noticed that conditions were getting cramped in the jewelry store and he knew what had to be done. "Guys!" he shouted, "Let's take this outside!"

There was no need to tell them twice, but a Destroyer was blocking Sora's progress while the others were out. He quickly took out the Barbarian Charm and did what he had to. "DAVE!"

In a burst of light, Dave the Barbarian appeared in front of the Destroyer and gulped. "Ba-Jabbers…" he said, nervously. But with a quick prompt from Sora, the cowardly hero set to work. He began to spin like a tornado, his sword outstretched. The whirling blur of steel carved right through the Destroyer's Midsection. As the Crystalli fell to the ground, Dave screeched to a halt and staggered around, dizzily.

"Overdid it again, huh?" Lola asked, rolling her eyes as she and Dave vanished back to their homeworld.

Sora jumped over the remains of the Destroyer and met up with the rest of his group, their Destroyers all having been disposed of. But Sora's moment of victory was short-lived, because small hordes of Crystalli were already coming for them.

"Uh-oh…" Donald and Goofy said together.

Sora looked at the hordes and saw that they consisted of almost every kind of Crystalli imaginable, Destroyers included. He exchanged looks with Riku and Kairi, then held up his Summon Charms. Riku and Kairi held up their own and nodded just as the waves began.

The first Crystalli to attack were a group of Fossils, springing at them like Raptors. Sora ducked to avoid one, then held up the Hunter Charm. "VAN HELSING!"

Mist shrouded the ground as Van Helsing, world-renowned monster killer stepped out to meet the Fossils. He loaded his crossbow, then asked, "What are we up against, and how do we kill it?" And with a simple move of his trigger finger, Van Helsing opened fire on the oncoming fossils.

The bolts coming from the crossbow fired nonstop, hitting the Fossils and killing them instantly, if not, mortally wounding them. This summon wasn't like the time Sora used him in The Underworld, because the arrows were coming at twice the rate and twice the number now. The Fossils were dead in an instant.

Next came the Brawlers, their huge, beetle-like shapes unmistakable to them. Rather than fight muscle with muscle, Riku pulled out the Apple Charm. "GURGI!"

In a rustle of bushes, Gurgi sprang out and landed on a Brawler's face. "Crunchies and munchies!" the dog-monkey-thing said, annoyingly.

As the first Brawler tried to get the fuzzy thing off its face, its comrade took notice and pulled back its fist. Gurgi saw it coming, because he sprang off and the second Brawler ended up punching its comrade's face in with a very audible "CRUNCH". Gurgi was now on the back of his attacker just as another Brawler took notice of him. Again, the dull Brawler attacked and ended up clobbering its own ally, punching a hole in its back.

Again and again, Gurgi leapt from Brawler-to-Brawler, making them attack each other amidst their attempt to get him. The process continued until there was only one surviving Brawler left…which Riku carved to pieces with the Dark Aura.

Next came the masters of stealth amongst the Crystalli: the Snipers. In waves of color, they vanished from sight and began to try and shoot down their targets with well-timed, thin bursts of energy. Kairi easily remembered what made them visible again…especially from her time at Kauai. She pulled out the Lion Charm. "ASLAN!"

Arriving from the ruins of the Stone Table in the midst of a magical-looking sunrise, Aslan strode to Kairi's side. "Let's go." He said, sagely, "And you might want to cover your ears." Everyone did so as Aslan unleashed a loud roar that not only made the remaining hordes of Crystalli jitter in pain, but reveal the hidden Snipers.

"Uh-oh…" they said in a robotic-sounding voice.

Aslan, not even waiting for Kairi to get on his back, made a spectacular leap at a Sniper. The sheer force of the great lion's pounce brought the fragile Snipers to the ground and shattered them like glass on impact. Only once or twice did he clamp his teeth on one's head before he vanished in several golden sparkles.

The next wave of Crystalli was the Mariners, which were sprinting at the group like their Fossil predecessors. Their targets were Donald and Goofy, both of which readied themselves.

"CATCH!"

Donald fumbled with the summon charm that Sora tossed him, then caught it to get a good look at it. It was the Shark Charm. He shrugged. "BRUCE!"

The Mariners froze in place at the sight of the massive Great White Shark, which was showing off all of its triangular teeth in a malicious-looking grin. "Hello." The shark greeted in his deep, Australian voice.

Rather than snap them up like he did in the forest of Narnia, Bruce began to swim in circles as an orb of water encircled him, the waves spreading out in massive waves. The waves were so strong that they caused the Mariners to tumble away, helplessly, in their wake. By the time the waves finished and Bruce disappeared, the Mariners were broken remnants of what they used to be.

"Wow." Donald said, looking at the Shark Charm in amazement.

Ninjas were up next as Goofy caught one of Sora's other charms: the Monkey Charm. Hoping they'd do something good before the ninjas made their move, Goofy called out, "CENSOR MONKEYS!"

The blind, deaf, and mute monkeys appeared in their own flashes of light, each in their suits. "A'ight, fellas. Set these guys up!" the blind monkey said, doing sign language for the deaf one. All three snapped their fingers and the ninjas' red visors blinked out, as did their hearing mechanisms. Blind and deaf before they could even move, all they could do now was stagger around searching for their target…making them easy prey for Goofy.

"C'mon!" Goofy called as he charged through them with his shield. The Ninjas couldn't see or hear the knight coming even if he had bells on his shoes, so they went to the ground in pieces.

When all the ninjas were destroyed, Goofy shook hands with all three monkeys. "Thanks, fellas." He said, gratefully.

"Anytime, Mr. Goof." The blind monkey said, shaking Goofy's hand…with his other hand. Before Goofy could even figure out what had happened, all three vanished back to their homeworld.

The sound of solid, rolling wheels heralded the arrival of Crystalli Dashers. As they glided through the city, Sora pulled the Gorilla Charm out. "JOE!"

Joe burst from trees that magically appeared from the ground. He landed with a CRASH in front of the trio and beat his chest with a roar. Rather than charge at the oncoming Dashers, Joe began to pound the ground with his fists, causing the very ground to tremble beneath their feet.

The Dashers, however, didn't have feet like any other person's…more like they were wearing skates the whole time. When the ground beneath these skates shook, they lost their balance and fell to the ground. While some simply fell forward, others skidded into walls, and others crashed into each other, killing themselves on impact. Those few that survived couldn't get back up and ended up with a Keyblade in their midsection, either Ultima Weapon, Way to Dawn, or Flowering Strength.

Buzzing foretold the sound of an oncoming swarm Crystalli Parasites. Kairi remembered how much she hated them at Beast's Castle, but had her secret weapon against them. Thanks to one little charm, she'd have enough energy to get through them. She pulled out the Cook Charm and called out, "REMY!"

In a puff of blue smoke, Remy the rat appeared with his giant pot and a cooking spoon in his hands. "Let's go, go, GO!" he said. Then, much to Kairi's surprise, Remy clanged on his pot with the spoon with each "go" he said.

It was as though a sudden change in wind had blown at all the Parasites. All the little insectoid Crystalli were sucked into the pot, each one shrieking in panic as they entered the boiling water. Remy stirred up the little Crystalli, then stood back as all the contents in the pot turned into health orbs.

Kairi stared at what the little rat had done. _If I knew he could do that, I would've had him do THAT at the castle…_ she thought to herself.

Riku readied Way to Dawn as snarling Crystalli Beasts stalked towards him like hungry leopards. When one pounced at him, he struck it out of the air with one swing of Way to Dawn.

Sora watched as Riku carved through the Beasts, but noticed a few coming at the silver-hair from behind. He quickly pulled out the Arrow Charm and called out, "Robin Hood!"

A figure leapt from trees and turned out to be Robin Hood, the outlaw of Sherwood Forest. "Alright! Let's have a go!" the fox said, eagerly. The Sherwood Archer cocked an arrow, which appeared to be made of solid gold rather than wood and iron, and let it fly.

The projectile flew through the air and caught one Crystalli Beast, but rather than just stick out like any other arrow, it went right through said Crystalli and pierced another two Beasts.

By this time, Riku turned to the Beasts behind him and brought his Keyblade into one's mouth, the blade exiting the back of the Crystalli's head. He turned to meet the last one, which snarled at him in a menacing sort of way. "Come and get some…" he challenged. The Crystalli Beast met Riku's challenge by charging like a cheetah. But it wasn't even in Riku's striking range when an arrow struck it in the side, striking it dead in an instant. Riku stared in disbelief, then turned to Sora, who still had Robin Hood out.

"Mine." Robin Hood said, fingering the bowstring. Without another word, he vanished back to his homeworld.

Jets soared onto the scene and all five friends dove out of the line of fire. Good thing, too, because aqua-blue laser fire scorched the ground where they had been standing just moments ago. Deciding to battle flight with flight, Sora pulled out the Eagle Charm. "MARAHUTE!"

Clouds parted over a moon as Marahute descended from the sky to meet the Hawks head-on. With a loud eagle screech, Marahute began to flap her wings rapidly at the Hawks, which had just made a wide turn. A huge gust of wind similar to a tropical hurricane began to blow the Jets off-course. As they struggled against the wind, they barely managed to stand still. But then Marahute ramped up the power of her wings and soon sent the Hawks flying away. She only flew back to her home of Mugwomp when the Hawks fell like fighter planes that had been hit.

Sora turned and dodged an oncoming crystal blade…one second too slow. The blade nicked his shoulder and blood stained his jacket. Paladins: the most deadly Crystalli to have ever been created. Six of these Paladins crossed their blades in an "X" shape and advanced on him. Using the only Summon he hadn't used, Sora called out, "ZANE!"

A portal of darkness opened up and the sentient Heartless stepped out of it. "Time for some fun stuff." He said with a sinister-looking smile. He spread out his hands and Oathkeeper and Oblivion appeared in his hands. In another shower of sparkles, Kingdom Key and Ultima Weapon appeared in a manner similar to the Organization XIII member Xaldin.

The first Paladin pounced like a cat, its swords aimed for the kill, but Zane met it with a parry of Oathkeeper. He struck with Oblivion only to meet the Crystal Sword of the Crystalli Paladin. As the Paladin swung again, it met Kingdom Key and hadn't even summoned the urge to swing again when Ultima Weapon impaled it, the blade exiting its back. It fell to its knees while Zane used the Oblivion Keyblade to decapitate it.

Two more charged Zane only to meet a Keyblade each. As Zane turned to fend off two more, the previous ones charged again only to meet the two telepathically controlled Keyblades. With one deft movement, he repelled them, then sent a fireball of dark energy at another oncoming one. The burst of flame blew its head off and its knees buckled before it fell, lifelessly, to the ground.

The remaining four Paladins swung and were met with a parry from all four of Zane's Keyblades. Yet as they pushed against him to keep the Heartless busy, he spun and decapitated them all. "Cake." He said, dispelling his Keyblades and disappearing into darkness.

Now, there were only two kinds of Crystalli left: the Neo Soldiers and another small battalion of Destroyers. The Neo Soldiers' staffs sparked to life as they advance, while the Destroyers took out all their weaponry from cannons to arm pikes. Now, there were only two summon charms left…and Kairi's remaining one wouldn't do so well. Riku's, on the other hand, could. He pulled out the Cactus Charm and called out, "CACTOID!"

The Cactoid erupted from the ground like the plant it was, then started to inflate like a balloon. Sora remembered Riku's tales of its summons at Gamma Quadrant and Prydain and quickly shouted, "Hit the dirt!"

Everyone that wasn't a Crystalli dropped to the ground just as the Cactoid exploded. It was as though someone set off a grenade in a bucket of green paint and a pincushion at the same time. Hundreds of needles shot out like bullets and pierced every Neo Soldier and any Destroyer that wasn't careful. The needles penetrated their armor as though they were acid-tipped and hit the Neo Soldiers in the one place they couldn't keep fighting without…their chest: the life source. The bomb of stakes back at Land of Horrors came to Sora's mind…with surprising accuracy, too.

When Cactoid disappeared, Sora noticed that there were still a few more Destroyers looking more than ready to brawl. He and his friends would have gone ahead and fought, if not for the snap of fingers. The Destroyers froze in place, then shifted into their meteor forms and took off into the atmosphere and out of sight.

"Well, I'm almost impressed." A crafty voice said.

Sora and co.'s eyes shifted to where the voice came from—it was a figure on the rooftop. It was too far to clearly distinguish who it was, but they could tell that his eyes were the color of fresh blood and a crystal was adjacent to his heart.

"Who are you?!" Donald squawked, pointing his staff at him like an accusing finger.

"Since you asked so nicely, my name's Bloodstone." Replied the figure, voice turning into a sneer. Sora readied his Keyblade, but rather than spring, the person, named Bloodstone, simply chuckled, "No worries. I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Then why'd you send your lackeys after us?!" Sora snapped.

"It was their choice, not mine." Bloodstone replied, almost casually.

"Did they 'choose' to attack the others?!" Riku demanded.

"No." Bloodstone stated, coldly, "J and Ryan's fates are unknown to me. As for Scott, April, and Joyex, they were…shocked to see me."

"What about Sakuzy?" Kairi asked, angrily.

"You'll see." Bloodstone stated. There was a tremendous crash and Bloodstone simply said, "That's my cue. I'll be seeing you." Bloodstone then jumped from rooftop to rooftop until he was out of sight.

"What's he gonna do?" Goofy asked.

"I don't know." Sora replied, "But I don't think it'll be anything good…"

Kairi almost forgot about what had happened in the store and now noticed that Sora and the others looked a little tuckered. She pulled out the Fox Charm. "TODD!"

In a flash of green light, the small red fox appeared and began to playfully bounce around like a ball. "This'll help!" he said, jumping in the air and releasing health items. Everyone got their fair share and felt their strength return.

When they were fully healed, Sora and co. ran off to where Bloodstone was going. It took them at least ten minutes to catch up and, when they did, they saw Quartz, who was cradling a bloody figure in his giant hand.

"What happened?!" they all asked in surprise.

Crystalli Destroyers

One of the most powerful forms of Crystalli. They're extremely strong, can cause blades to spring out of their wrists, and could probably trump a Brawler if they had the chance. Their user is Bloodstone…whose identity is currently a mystery.

_These Limits are in Summon Ownership Order…_

_Sora: Dave's Blade Whirlwind, Van Helsing's Arrow Blizzard, Joe's Earth Shaker, Robin Hood's Golden Arrows, Marahute's Hurricane Force, and Zane's Keyblade Wrath._

_Kairi: Aslan's Almighty Assault, Remy's Cook-Off, and Todd's Healing Heart_

_Riku: Gurgi's Trick Attack and Cactoid's Needle Storm_

_Donald: Bruce's Tidal Wave_

_Goofy: Censor Monkeys' Sense Disable_

D-Dude designed the Destroyers…kinda based them off The Golden Army from the second Hellboy movie, but he added a few weapons to make them live up to their name.


	219. Conversion

Chapter 219: Conversion

Sakuzy, Scott, Joyex, and April continued their punch-out with the Soldiers. Scott suddenly pulled out a cell phone and pressed a button.

"You've gotta call someone NOW?!" Sakuzy demanded, sticking his Keyblade through one of the Soldiers.

"I've gotta see what's keepin' J and Ryan. We're gonna need their 'elp." Scott stated as he waited for someone to pick up, all the while dodging around the Crystalli Shells that were being fired. Someone finally picked up and he heard a voice, "Ryan?" Scott dodged around another blow before sticking his wrist blade through a Soldier, "Is everything okay?…Did you steal anything?…Well, that's good…What're ya doin'?… Rock-head?…Isn't the term usually 'blockhead'? Oh, that…" Scott then shut the phone and cut off the call.

"What's with 'em?" Joyex asked, barely pulling off a dodge from a Soldier's shot.

"Well, J stole a motorcycle, they're chasin' Turquoise, who Ryan called a rock-head. Then someone said 'Full throttle' and Ryan screamed somethin' about retirement." Scott reported, jumping up, catching a Soldier between his legs, and driving it into the ground with enough force to smash a coconut like a pea.

Joyex brought his Chain Thrasher through an unsuspecting Soldier and pressed the release button on the Keyblade's hilt. The chain burst out and the Nobody began spinning it around him like a lasso, crushing the Soldier's comrades underneath the combined force of its weight and the Chain Thrasher's blade.

"Too easy." Joyex said, his usual cocky grin appearing on his face.

April grabbed two and took off into the air. She slammed the two Soldiers together, causing their cranial domes to crumple before she tossed them to the ground, shattering them instantly.

Sakuzy summoned Eagle Feather and brought it through one before flicking the Keyblade. A moment later and the dead Soldier crashed into two others, causing a small riot. Sakuzy then began to spin his Keyblade.

"WIND!" he shouted. His form of Aeroga blasted through the Soldiers like a drill, ripping them from the midsection. But when Sakuzy saw there was still a decent amount of soldiers to go, he pulled out the Blaze Charm. "RED XIII!"

In a burst of red light, the catlike creature with the alias of "Nanaki" appeared. He leapt like a predator, catching a Crystalli Soldier under him. With another pounce, he sank his teeth into one's face and crushed it like a grapefruit. Again and again, Red XIII caught Soldier after Soldier until a decent amount was taken out and he vanished back to Cosmo Canyon, showing every hint of satisfaction.

"Good as ever, Sakuzy." Sakuzy turned on the familiar-sounding voice. The rest of the group did the same thing and saw a figure jumping from building to building, using something as a kind of hang-glider. Sakuzy now not only remembered the voice, but also who used that style.

"Maya?" he asked in surprise.

It was Maya. She landed in front of the group, wearing an indigo sleeveless shirt with a spiral pattern on it, khaki shorts, and a broad smile on her face. She was a far cry from "Pearl" now and she looked very much the same as when they left her, half-conscious, in the Restoration Committee's medical room. The only difference was that a bandage was wrapped around her neck to hide the hole in her neck.

"I thought you were back in Radiant Garden." Sakuzy stated as she came in for a landing.

"Well…I borrowed one of Blader's personalized Gummi Ships." Maya replied, scratching the back of her head in slight embarrassment.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Radiant Garden…

"HEY!" Blader screamed, his voice audible even to the rest of the base, "WHO MADE OFF WITH ONE OF MY GUMMIS?!"

Crescent went over to the hangar to see that one of Blader's own custom Gummi Ships…was indeed gone. The ninja with a mouth scratched his chin. "Well, according to my calculations," Crescent replied out of sheer randomness, "This problem doesn't exist!"

Right there and then, Blader took his shield and walloped Crescent over the head with it. As the crazed ninja fell to the ground, Blader muttered, "Idiot."

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Twilight Town…

"Heck, I'm not complaining." Sakuzy said as he readied himself for the oncoming Soldiers.

"Let's see if I can get the hang of this thing again." Maya said, smiling. She summoned her Keyblade—it had a golden handle, a red heart with angel-like wings as a Keychain, and two white wings on either side for teeth. It was the Two-Winged Angel.

"Together again." Joyex said, shooting his Chain Thrasher through four Soldiers at the same time, impaling them like shish kebob.

Maya swung her Keyblade in a vertical strike, cleaving a Soldier in two. She then brought it in around in a wide arc, taking out four in the short span of a few seconds. She then spun it, dramatically, over her head before holding it backwards.

"I'm a fast learner." Maya admitted, proudly.

"You sure are." Sakuzy replied, then quickly spotted a Crystalli Soldier ready to open fire on her back.

Joyex saw the Soldier and growled. He was NOT going to let her become a Crystalli Host again, especially not in front of Sakuzy. He quickly pulled out the Frog Charm. "KERMIT!"

In a flash of lights, Kermit the Frog appeared with a grin on his face. "Hi-ho!" Kermit quickly took Maya's hand in his own, then sprang off the ground so high, he almost cleared the tallest building in Twilight Town. The Soldier down below, however, ended up shooting several of its own comrades.

Kermit came down for a landing with Maya in hand. When the frog saw he had no more use here, he asked, "Can you please make my summons a bit more useful?" After making a disappointed-looking face, Kermit vanished back to his own world.

Joyex, satisfied that Maya was safe, turned back to the remaining Soldiers, then turned to Sakuzy, who nodded. Both held out their remaining Summon Charms, all of which were made to take out large numbers of enemies.

"ZEUS! WILLIE!" Sakuzy called out.

"DODGER! JAKE LONG!" Joyex called in response.

In four flashes of light, each Summon Charm brought out its designated character.

Thunder rained down from Mt. Olympus and cleared to show the almighty father of Hercules, Zeus. He took lightning bolts in each hand and said, "Now, watch your old man work!" With a heave like a baseball pitcher, Zeus tossed his lightning bolts and the spears of electrical energy caught the battalion of Soldiers, deep-frying them in bursts of plasma.

A few Soldiers were a bit confused as to what one of their opponents was. It appeared to be a dog, but when this dog howled to a tune, waves of sound came forth and cracked their armor, causing them to fall in defeat. "Not so tough." The Dodger said, suavely.

Some Soldiers stared wide-eyed at the colossus before them: a giant easily as tall as most of the buildings in this world. The giant paused, then counted off its fingers as it tried to remember correctly. "Fee…Fi…Fo…Fum! HEY! I got it right! Now, then…" Willie then proceeded to jump into the air and land on numerous Soldiers in a body slam that seemed to shake the ground.

Some Soldiers didn't seem able to find the last Summon, because it had left the ground so suddenly. They simply raised their guns to fire, but hadn't even activated their machine guns when a crimson dragon came down from the skies and breathed a stream of fire at them. The Soldiers fell to the ground, writhing in pain, until their inner mechanisms exploded like firecrackers from the sheer heat.

As the four Summons returned to their own worlds, Sakuzy pocketed the charms he had. "Well, that was fast." He said, calmly.

"Not quite fast enough."

Sakuzy had just recognized who had spoken when a bolt of purple lightning narrowly missed his head. He quickly summoned his Keyblade and blocked an oncoming blow from Amethyst's scepter. Both pushed against each other, but Sakuzy could see an uncontrolled rage in Amethyst's eyes. He guessed he was still VERY grumpy about curing "Pearl".

Sakuzy deflected the scepter, but didn't even try to counterattack when a spearhead nearly impaled his foot. Amber pulled the tip of the spear out of the ground, then swung again, missing Sakuzy by a hair.

During this time, the others would have helped him, but they had their hands full with their own fair share of Crystalli Hosts. Joyex narrowly avoided a slash from Topaz's broadsword, but had only done that when the yellow-clad Crystalli seized him by the ponytail, jerked him back, and kicked him forward.

Scott and April saw it all happen when two things happened at once. Two things spun through the air at them: Emerald's boomerang blade and Ruby's chakram. Both narrowly missed them, the only thing they did cut being a bit of April's hair. When Scott made to counterattack by firing bone fragments from his arm, something blocked it. It was the all-too-familiar arm-guard/arm-blade of Aquamarine.

"I don't think so." The nautical Crystalli growled.

Before Scott and April could register what was going on, Spinel took her turn and attacked from above. She had planned to crush the Aussie with her gauntlet, but her target moved at the last second. Yet the impact was so powerful to the ground, that a rock flew out from the ground and struck him hard in the chest. The Aussie flew back on impact and he fell on the ground, barely able to sit up due to injury.

Maya went to help Sakuzy, but in a flash of blue light, Sapphire got in her way. He used one hand to hold back Two-Winged Angel, then sharply brought it to the ground. In a blur of movement, Sapphire spun on his heel and kicked Maya in the jaw, sending her toppling to the floor.

Before he knew it, Sakuzy was facing every living Crystalli Host, save Turquoise and Peridot. This time, his friends weren't there to help him.

"You've nowhere to run now, Sakuzy. You can either come quietly, or we'll just have to drag you, screaming, back to Crystal Empire." Topaz said, popping the tip of his sword into the ground.

"We figured if all of us hit you at once, you would easily get overpowered." Amber taunted, her spear pointed at him like he was some kind of dangerous animal.

"Ah, trying the whole hunt in pack deal?" Sakuzy asked. He then asked, "By the way, where would Bonn and Yvonne be?"

"TURQUOISE and PERIDOT are off on a…personal errand." Sapphire answered, coldly.

Out of the blue, a lone Soldier fired one last Shell before Joyex stabbed it with a single shot of Chain Thrasher. Sakuzy caught sight of the shell that had missed his foot, then picked it up and held it out in the palm of his hand.

"Take some of your own medicine." Sakuzy stated, placing the Shell on his chest, adjacent to his heart.

"SAKUZY! NO!" Maya screamed, knowing what was going to happen.

Too late. The Shell extended its spidery legs, then dug its sharpened tip into Sakuzy's skin, its legs soon to follow. The sheer pain of the multiple objects piercing causing him to yell in pain. The Crystalli Shell's remains glowed a bright white for a few seconds before changing into a blood-red crystal.

"I knew he'd fold sooner or later." Amethyst said, grinning smugly.

"You wish." Sakuzy growled.

This response caused every Crystalli Host's eyes to widen. "WHAT?!" Topaz asked in sheer anger.

Sakuzy's eyes flashed open, showing that they were now blood red in place of his blue ones. "My name is Bloodstone, but you can call me your EXECUTIONER!" In a flash of crimson light, Sakuzy was in lightweight robes the color of fresh blood.

In a burst of blue light, Sapphire's fan-blades flashed into his hands. "You still stand against Lord Diamond?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Sakuzy's response was to hold out his hand and summon Eagle Feather. But then he swung out his other hand and…

"TWO?!" Amber said in surprise.

In Sakuzy's left hand was another Keyblade, which appeared to be made out of crudely carved crystal. Its keychain was a spiky orb of crystals and its teeth were lethal-looking crystal spires.

"This is Crystalli Wrath." Bloodstone sneered, holding out the new Keyblade, "And it'll be your demise."

"Yeah, yeah, we've heard you talk." Emerald groaned, "Are we fighting or what?!"

"EMERALD!" The other Crystalli growled.

"Whoops." Emerald said, his eyes wide in realization of what he just said.

"Sorry. Where are my manners?" Bloodstone asked. He held out his Keyblades in the traditional battle pose before shouting, "I'LL CRUSH YOU!"

The Crystalli summoned out their various weapons before charging at Bloodstone. The battle began in almost the blink of an eye…to Joyex and the others.

Bloodstone leapt so suddenly in the air, he seemingly vanished and landed right behind Amethyst, who had just fired a burst of energy at him. With one movement, he kicked the purple Crystalli in the back and sent him skidding.

As Amethyst went tumbling, Bloodstone parried a blow from Amber's spear. The orange Crystalli Host made to spin and catch him with the other side of her spear. But just as she turned around, Bloodstone used Crystalli Wrath to trip her up and then stabbed her midsection with Eagle Feather. Orange blood gushed from her body, but she wasn't dead.

Bloodstone's Keyblades sharply parried Topaz's oncoming broadsword once, twice, and thrice. And on the fourth strike, he brought the sword to the ground and ran up the blade's length before kicking Topaz in the jaw. The impact sent him on his back in an instant.

Bloodstone instantly jumped into the air to dodge Ruby's oncoming chakram and jumped behind her. Not wanting to be vulnerable, Ruby sharply brought her fist into the side of Bloodstone's face, actually landing a blow. But that was the only blow he got, the injury being no more than a bloody nose. Bloodstone wiped the deep-red blood off his face, then dispelled one of his Keyblades to catch her fist. As they struggled, Bloodstone suddenly did a backflip in the air and Ruby's chakram came back at her like boomerangs. She didn't see them coming, for the new Crystalli Host blocked her view and she ended up with her chakram lodged in her ribcage.

Moving onto his next target, Bloodstone caught Emerald's boomerang blade out of the air. Spinning completely around as he caught it, he tossed it right back at the green Crystalli. Emerald ducked under his weapon, almost catching himself with his hand, then leaned right back to his normal position only to meet Bloodstone's oncoming fist.

Bloodstone moved in to kill Emerald there and then when something smashed into his side: Spinel's right fist. The metallic gauntlet slammed into him to send him flying sideways, breaking a rib and piercing a lung in the process. But thanks to the Crystalli Shell in his system, Bloodstone's body mended itself in seconds. After spitting out blood, he growled at her, "That all you got?"

Spinel popped the knuckles of her right hand, then charged again, determined to knock all the teeth out of Bloodstone's skull. But she hadn't even pulled back her fist when he hacked at her legs, blood pouring from her damaged thighs. With another movement, he tossed the two Keyblades into the air and punched the reddish-purple Crystalli unconscious.

Sakuzy caught his Keyblades as if he knew how long they were going to take. And just in time, too, because Aquamarine had charged and began to slam his huge arm blades onto Bloodstone's Keyblades. Each strike shook Bloodstone to the core, but he held his ground and began to push against him, working up from one knee until they could look each other in the eye. Bloodstone suddenly swerved away from Aquamarine's strikes and began to spin them in circles before producing one slash that broke the tips off Aquamarine's blades. Bloodstone then delivered a slash in an 'X' formation that narrowly missed Aquamarine's crystal. The blue-green Crystalli fell to his knees, blood rushing from his wounds, and fell to one arm.

Bloodstone's gaze then shifted to Sapphire, who was applauding slightly. "Well done, Sakuzy. Well done." He complimented, a cold kind of tone in his voice.

"My name is Bloodstone." Bloodstone corrected, "Get it through your thick head."

Sapphire did NOT attack in a rage like all the other Crystalli did. Rather he simply drew out his fan-blades and said, "Fine, BLOODSTONE." He put as much contempt into Bloodstone's name as possible, "If you're going to kill me, then go on ahead. Humor me."

Bloodstone smiled as he crossed his Keyblades. "With pleasure…" He charged and took a swing with his Keyblades only to meet thin air. Sapphire was gone.

"Never try to attack what you can't hit." Bloodstone turned to the source of the voice to see that Sapphire was now right behind him, acting as though he was inspecting his fingernails.

"Shut up and FIGHT ME!" Bloodstone roared, taking another swing at his former master. But with each swing, Sapphire simply sidestepped them. Even in this powerful form, the blue Crystalli was TOYING with him…and it really ticked him off.

"All that power, yet you can't even hit an old man." Sapphire said, surprisingly calm, "I see no difference between you and 'Bloodstone', Sakuzy." As Sapphire turned to leave, Bloodstone glowered at him.

"You want power?" Bloodstone said, pointing Crystalli Wrath at his back, "I'll show you POWER!" Energy began to gather at the tip of Crystalli Wrath as he shouted, "RAGNAROK!"

Several bursts of energy shot from the tip of Crystalli Wrath, even bigger than the one Sora had often used. And Sapphire wasn't even trying to avoid it…but if he tried to reflect it, the energy would cause the crystal on his forearm to explode from containing too much.

But it never came, because Amber took the blow full on. She had leaped to intercept it in an attempt to save her ally. Bloodstone's teeth gritted as he approached the worm, who was now sprawled on the ground, her spear in pieces and didn't even have enough energy to teleport away.

Amber looked up at Sakuzy with her orange eyes, which almost brimmed with tears of terror. "Please…have mercy." She squeaked in fear.

"Sorry. I'm fresh out of mercy." Bloodstone replied, his voice icy-cold.

Not even giving her a chance to stand up, Bloodstone swung his Crystalli Wrath Keyblade at Amber, shedding orange blood with each strike and earning a scream in pain. He brought his Keyblades across her ebony body once, twice, thrice, and finally four times. When Amber fell on the ground, Bloodstone raised Eagle Feather and stabbed her in the hand…the one with the crystal on its back. Amber screamed in pain as the crystal shattered at the blade's force. Her screams were replaced by hacking noises as she violently coughed up citrine-colored blood, went limp, and lay motionless on the ground.

Bloodstone glanced at the other Crystalli. He held out his Keyblades and roared, "GIVE ME A REAL FIGHT!"

Amethyst, who had been checking Spinel's vitals smirked and actually chuckled. "Don't worry. You'll get your own soon enough." Amethyst snarled, pointing to something streaking across the sky.

Bloodstone glanced at the jagged jet-shape of Diamond's alternate form, and his grip on both Keyblades tightened. "So, your boss is here?" Bloodstone asked, "Time for me to move out…and I won't be needing these."

Bloodstone reached into his pockets, then tossed his Summon Charms over his shoulder. At that moment, the other Crystalli Hosts vanished to regroup…save Amber. Without any regard for what the results would be, Bloodstone leapt onto the roof of a building and repeated the process.

April stared at the body of Amber, which now had a trickle of orange blood coming from the corner of her mouth. "In the end, even the enemy had more heart than Sakuzy does now…" she said, resisting the urge to sniffle.

"Why?" Maya asked, falling to her knees.

"Most likely, it was a last resort." Scott answered, "He was trying to protect us…but he chose the wrong way to do it." Scott picked up the Thunder Charm and fiddled with it. "He left all his charms behind."

Joyex did a quick count of Charms, then his eyes widened in fright. "Not all of them." Joyex replied, fearfully. What he had said was enough to cause Maya to come out of her stunned state…only to have it replaced by fear. "He still has one left…" Joyex explained.

"What is it?" April asked, confused as to what the big deal was about a Summon Charm. From what she'd seen, all they did was help a person…

"It's a demon of fire, which was sealed in a Summon Charm." Maya answered, her concern for Sakuzy long gone. "Sakuzy was entrusted with it to ensure that no one would EVER release it. And I think he's planning to break that promise…"

The group glanced to the area where Bloodstone was running. An explosion of fire burst through. "That's a 'yes'." Joyex said. The group took off after the explosion.

It took them at least ten minutes to arrive. There, they saw Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Quartz, who was holding some bloody figure in his titanic hands.

"That'd better not be who I think it is…" Maya said.

Bloodstone

Who would've thought that Sakuzy would take a Shell like that? In this form, he's war-hungry and unpredictable. Who knows what would have happened if Amethyst hadn't pointed something out in the sky? He may have even attacked his own friends. Normally, Crystalli lose their Keyblades if they convert, but not the same for Bloodstone. He gained another one, which he calls Crystalli Wrath.

_The summons are in order…_

_Sakuzy: Red XIII's Predator Pounce, Zeus' Reign of Thunder, and Willie's Crusher_

_Joyex: Kermit's Frog Leap, Dodger's Street Performance, and Jake Long's Dragon Fire_

What is this Summon Charm with so much power? I'll give you a hint: it's called the "Demon Charm". And by the by, the winner will get a super-secret preview of an upcoming fanfiction.


	220. Assault on Diamond

_For my contest, none of you got it right. So, I'll give the victory to the person who got it closest--Captain A. Your sneak preview will come in a day._

Chapter 220: Assault on Diamond

Bloodstone glanced at the other Crystalli. He held out his Keyblades and roared, "GIVE ME A REAL FIGHT!"

Amethyst, who had been checking Spinel's vitals smirked and actually chuckled. "Don't worry. You'll get your own soon enough." Amethyst snarled, pointing to something streaking across the sky.

Bloodstone glanced at the jagged jet-shape of Diamond's alternate form, and his grip on both Keyblades tightened. "So, your boss is here?" Bloodstone asked, "Time for me to move out…and I won't be needing these."

Bloodstone reached into his pockets, then tossed his Summon Charms over his shoulder. At that moment, the other Crystalli Hosts vanished to regroup…save Amber. Without any regard for what the results would be, Bloodstone leapt onto the roof of a building and repeated the process. He followed the white streak's trail, knowing it was Diamond. He was ready to kill the dictator of a Crystalli…but not to stop their reign of terror.

Bloodstone halted as he saw Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy readying to fight an oncoming squad of Crystalli Destroyers. He knew, instinctively, that these were the Crystalli that he controlled. He cursed at them in his head. Had they no brains of their own? He knew the answer was 'no', because they had attacked without orders. He snapped his fingers and the Destroyers froze in place to retreat back into space. He then jumped back, far enough for the group not to make out who he was.

"Well, I'm almost impressed." He said, loud enough for them to hear.

Donald was the first to catch sight of the new Crystalli and turned to meet him.

"Who are you?!" Donald squawked, pointing his staff at Bloodstone like an accusing finger.

Bloodstone chuckled. That duck never ceased to surprise him when it came to aggression.

"Who are you?!" Donald squawked, pointing his staff at him like an accusing finger.

"Since you asked so nicely, my name's Bloodstone." Replied the figure, voice turning into a sneer. Sora readied his Keyblade, but rather than spring, the person, named Bloodstone, simply chuckled, "No worries. I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Then why'd you send your lackeys after us?!" Sora snapped.

"It was their choice, not mine." Bloodstone replied, almost casually.

"Did they 'choose' to attack the others?!" Riku demanded.

"No." Bloodstone stated, coldly, "J and Ryan's fates are unknown to me. As for Scott, April, and Joyex, they were…shocked to see me."

"What about Sakuzy?" Kairi asked, angrily.

"You'll see." Bloodstone stated. There was a tremendous crash and Bloodstone simply said, "That's my cue. I'll be seeing you." Bloodstone then jumped from rooftop to rooftop until he was out of sight. It never ceased to amaze him how clueless those five could be…Riku being the exception.

He jumped from rooftop to rooftop. He had an appointment with destiny…

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Above Twilight Town…

Quartz saw the gleam of the hull of Diamond's space-travel mode and mentally scowled. _It's time for us to settle this…_ Quartz thought to himself, determinedly.

In a burst of jet engines, Quartz blasted towards Twilight Town after Diamond. THIS could be it…

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Diamond landed on the crimson soil of Twilight Town with an earth-shaking CRASH. He actually leveled an entire house by landing on it. He inspected his surroundings and scraped his "thumb" across his "index finger". He took two massive steps forward, red eyes not wanting to miss a thing. He felt a new Crystalli Host appearing here and thought he'd check it out. He REALLY hoped it was that pain in the neck, Sakuzy. That boy was more trouble than he was…

WHAM!

Diamond never knew what hit him, because the form of his older brother smashed into him. The two skidded in opposite directions, grinding to a halt and piling up dirt in the process. As Diamond got back to his feet like some kind of feral beast, he spotted him: the antenna-like growths from his brother's head were unmistakable.

Quartz kicked himself up in a way eerily like a martial artist and took a battle position to match the way he got up. "Diamond." Quartz said as his visor slid out to cover his mouth.

"QUARTZ!" Diamond roared back at him.

The malevolent Crystalli jumped in the air and turned back into a jet again to race at Quartz. His original plan was to go at a kind of spin and clip his brother with his wing, but it didn't go as planned. Quartz jumped at him as he got close and actually grabbed Diamond's wings, catching a ride in the process. Diamond spun in hopes of losing his brother, but Quartz's grip was true, for he held on tight…even when Diamond flew right through a building and leveled an entire floor.

Quartz, wanting to end his little joyride, dipped his weight onto one side and both Crystalli went down to the ground. Diamond shifted to his humanoid form while they rolled, then tossed Quartz forward, the white Crystalli flattening a car or two in the process. He was more than surprised, however, when Quartz somersaulted back to his feet, jumped in the air, and landed behind him. Diamond turned to face Quartz, but the latter seized him by the back of the head and brought him crashing into the ground to land on his back.

Diamond roared as he latched onto Quartz's arm, dragged him down to his level, and gripped the elder Crystalli's head in his sizeable, clawed hand. "Organics don't deserve life." He growled, malevolently.

Quartz placed a hand between himself and Diamond before saying, "They deserve a better fate than YOU'VE GIVEN THEM!" With his free hand, he punched his brother square in the face, but it only made Diamond angrier.

"Is that so?" Diamond asked, his sharpened teeth grinding against each other, "If you wish to join them, then DIE!" Diamond roared, grabbing Quartz by the neck and hurling him a good distance away.

His hand shifted into the spiked ball, "JOIN THEM IN ANNIHILATION!" He aimed his spiked ball at Quartz and the weapon was thrown out on its long chain, catching Quartz in the chin and sending the old Crystalli flying into a nearby wall.

Quartz staggered up and clutched his head as he groaned in pain. It had been a LONG time since he had been hit THAT hard. It was weird. Diamond was either stronger than he remembered or he had…gotten older. He was not a YOUNG Crystalli after all, and all those centuries of wandering space had dulled his fighting skills.

"Stand aside, Quartz. Let someone with younger muscle deal with him."

Quartz looked over to a building to spot a figure with blood red robes fly towards Diamond and jab a Keyblade made of jagged crystal at the tyrant's chest. The weapon simply bounced off, causing no damage even in the slightest, and Diamond made to grab this little…attacker. He was still a little provoked that someone would attack him.

Quartz shook the cobwebs out of his head and caught sight of the new Crystalli Host. It was…Sakuzy. No. Not entirely. He had a blood-red stone placed right above his heart and was clad in robes the color of fresh blood.

"So, it's true." Diamond said, getting back to his feet, "You've finally come to your senses and joined my forces."

"You wish." Sakuzy replied, darkly. He pointed the Eagle Feather at Diamond like an accusing finger, "I'm Bloodstone, but you can call me your destroyer."

Bloodstone jumped at Diamond again, slashing his Keyblades at the behemoth, wildly. To Diamond, Bloodstone was no bigger than an insect, but because of this, he had one small problem—he couldn't catch the new Crystalli. But despite all the strikes Bloodstone gave his opponent, the Keyblades didn't even leave a scratch.

Diamond looked at the place where Bloodstone had struck him and simply brushed it off. "Do you really think a weapon THAT weak can actually harm me?" he asked, as though Sakuzy hadn't seen it before.

"You won't be head of the Crystalli forever…" Bloodstone said, malice in his tone. He delivered another flurry of angry slashes at Diamond's shoulder, but again, did no damage. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" He dodged around another oncoming hand as he continued, "AND WHEN I DO, I'M GOING TO RULE THE CRYSTALLI AS THEIR TRUE LEADER!"

Diamond suddenly seized Bloodstone around the midsection and tossed him away. Bloodstone collided with the hood of a car and put a sizeable dent in it. He took a shard of metal out of his stomach, then popped his neck. "Is that all you've got?" he challenged.

Bloodstone got back on his feet, then pulled out a black case from his pocket, clicked it open, and pulled out what was inside—a Summon Charm with a flaming, horned skull on the charm's surface that looked like it belonged to a kind of fearsome beast.

Bloodstone tossed the case aside and simply said two words to the charm—"Kill him." He then held it up and screamed, "BALROG!"

A giant fireball burst from the Demon Charm as ancient ruins seemed to appear from thin air. Out of the flames came a massive figure that could chill even the bravest of warriors to the core. The Balrog turned out to be a demonic creature with skin like burning coal and a pair of gargantuan wings, forward-curving horns, and a thick, powerful a tail. It also had a near-human shape, though it was hunched over like a beast, its four-fingered hands terminating in sharp claws. It also had a mane of open flame down its neck. The Balrog's nostrils snorted fire as it summoned a blazing sword in one hand and long, fiery whip in the other. Bloodstone jumped on top of the Balrog's head and pointed his Keyblade at Diamond.

As though it could see Bloodstone's command, the Balrog emitted a low, rattling roar and advanced on Diamond. With each step the Balrog took, the ground below its feet burned as if each area had burst, spontaneously, into flames (which wasn't too far from the truth). With a flick of its wrist, the demon of fire lashed out with its whip to wrap around Diamond's forearm. Both struggled in a test of strength as each pulled on their end of the whip. In the end, the Balrog put a little slack and actually let Diamond pull it closer. And when he did, the demon flew forward and tackled Diamond to the ground, beating the Crystalli, savagely, with its sword.

The blazing blade didn't hurt Diamond, but he could still feel the impact of the sword that was constantly coming down on him. The Balrog raised its sword and brought it smashing onto Diamond's forearm with more force than before, but the Crystalli still didn't have a scratch on him and was holding his own.

Diamond glanced down at his arm to see that its hide was slowly turning a bright red and spreading to the rest of his body. It didn't cut through, but it was enough to trigger something in Diamond. How DARE that little freak even THINK of having this pathetic creature touch him?!

Diamond clenched his free fist and brought it smashing into the Balrog's face, littering the ground with sparks. The demon roared in pain as it fell backward and landed on its back, nearly crushing Bloodstone under its weight. Diamond then proceeded to jump in the air, convert to his jet mode, and fly straight at the demon. He collided with the Balrog and the two of them flew several miles forward, Diamond ending it to revert back to his original form, land on his feet, and heave the Balrog forward. Balrog flew forward at near-terminal velocity and smashed into a building, falling to the ground with an earthshaking crash.

Balrog slowly got back to its feet, injured, but not about ready to show it. A white-hot crack in its chest probably would have been a bleeding wound. Diamond, on seeing his opponent wasn't dead, smiled a malicious grin as he placed his hands together and formed his cannon. He aimed it at his mount and fired a burst of plasma at the malevolent Summon. The blast hit the Balrog square in the chest and caused it to spin on its foot and fall on its side.

The Crystalli shifted into his aerial mode and flew off into the sky again. He went a few hundred feet above the Balrog's head before shifting back to his regular form and came crashing down on the Balrog's skull, crushing it under its combined weight and force. The being of fire and shadow exploded in a giant fireball as its life came to an abrupt end. Diamond walked out of the inferno, completely unscathed.

"Disgusting." He said, spotting the charm on the ground and crushing it with his foot. That thing wasn't coming back ever again.

Suddenly, Bloodstone flew out of the smoldering crater explosion, going for Diamond's face. But was met in midair by Diamond's hand, which wrapped around his midsection. "That all you've got, Diamond?!" Bloodstone snarled.

"Come here, you little traitor." Diamond hissed, grabbing Bloodstone by the leg. The latter slashed at the finger that was holding him…once again, to no avail.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER?!" Bloodstone roared, not wanting to seem weak to Diamond, "AM I TOO MUCH FOR YOU TO HANDLE?!"

"No. You're weaker than you think." Diamond answered, "Had you magically found a way to kill me, you would have taken your own life in the process."

At that moment, Bloodstone's crimson eyes widened. He hadn't even thought of that. Amidst his thoughts for power, he hadn't even considered that his own life would have been at risk.

"This is too easy." Diamond said proudly, then proceeded to gently flick Bloodstone's crystal. It was gentle on HIS standards. It WASN'T for the gem. Bloodstone screamed in pain as the crystal cracked, its shards littering the ground.

"Put him down, Diamond!" Quartz said, getting back into the battle.

Diamond turned on being addressed, then smiled to show all his shark-like teeth. "Well, then, I oblige." he replied, carelessly tossing Sakuzy to the ground. The futuristic Keyblader fell thirty feet to the ground and landed in a heap, blood flowing from his open wound.

Quartz, now that the hostage situation was solved, slowly started to walk towards his brother. Diamond soon broke into a run, which Quartz was doing with equal timing. Both their footsteps seemed to shake the ground and their feet instantly crushed anything in their way, whether it was a person, piece of debris, or vehicle. THIS was a true clash of the titans.

Quartz landed the first blow when he brought his fist into Diamond's face, but was caught off-guard when his brother instantly returned the favor with his own punch. Soon, the two were in a slugfest with such strength that they almost chipped each other's armor. Diamond seized Quartz around the neck, then smashed the latter's head with a headbutt. Quartz crumpled, but sharply brought his foot into Diamond's midsection to send him stumbling backward.

Diamond growled in rage as he merged his hands together to form the massive cannon. Quartz's arm instantly shifted into a cannon of his own and he charged. When they were in close range, they brought the barrels of their cannons into each other and fired. The two bursts of plasma collided and resulted in an explosion that blew them both backward. Diamond crashed into a building and slumped to the ground while Quartz tumbled across the ground.

For a while, neither moved, then both stirred. Quartz painfully got to one knee while Diamond clutched an arm as he stood on both feet. Diamond was tired, possibly hurt, but he wasn't about to show it…not in front of his weak brother.

"You have no guts." Diamond grunted, "You're not worth my time." Without any form of hesitation, the leader of the Crystalli shifted into his aircraft mode and took off into space, giving the 'retreat' command to all his hosts, who vanished in their respective colors.

Quartz staggered back to his feet, taking a little time to let his senses steady. When Quartz looked around, he saw the bloodied form of Sakuzy on the ground and slowly went over to him. "Oh, Sakuzy." Quartz said, his voice on the verge of mourning. He picked up Sakuzy's bloody form in his hand and held him steady, as though the slightest touch would shatter him. "Why did you take the shell?"

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy arrived and, when they did, they saw Quartz, who was cradling a bloody figure of Sakuzy in his giant hands.

"What happened?!" they all asked in surprise.

It took Joyex, Maya, Scott, and April a little longer to arrive. There, they saw Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Quartz, who was holding some bloody figure in his titanic hands.

"That'd better not be who I think it is…" Maya said.

J and Ryan tore through the town and saw Sora and the rest…along with Joyex, Scott, April, and…Maya?

"Where's Sakuzy?" J asked, his voice hinting concern.

Quartz rolled Sakuzy's body out, where the Keyblader lay half-conscious. "He took a Crystalli Shell, turning into the Crystalli named Bloodstone." Quartz stated, sorrowfully, "He tried attacking Diamond himself, but Diamond was stronger than he had expected and he shattered Sakuzy's crystal."

Joyex immediately fell to Sakuzy's chest. Ignoring the blood, Joyex heard a heartbeat, which was fleeting, not to mention ragged breathing. "We've gotta get him outta here, NOW!" the Nobody barked.

"No need to tell us twice." Sora replied. He looked up at Quartz and said, "Change into your Gummi mode and get us into space."

"Right away." Quartz covered the entire group with his body and shifted into his Gummi Ship mode. When he did, Sora and co. were placed inside of him. And as he blasted into space, he urgently pointed out, "We have to save him now if he's to live."

Balrog

A demon of the ancient world. It was sealed inside of a Summon Charm, never to be released…until Sakuzy called him forth. When it's called, the demon's main objective is to literally kill anything that moves…and it does a good job, too. In battle, it will create an explosion of fire and use fire as both a whip and a blade. Even when it dies, it's dangerous…because it creates a larger explosion. I don't think we'll be hearing from it anytime soon. It first appeared in _Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_ 2001.

Balrog's Hellfire Burst.


	221. Before the Storm

Chapter 221: Before the Storm

Gummi Ship…

Sora and co. rolled Sakuzy on a stretcher to the medical room. They needed to get him there, FAST! A breathing apparatus attached to his face was the only thing keeping the future Key-bearer on that fine line between life and death.

The group rolled Sakuzy into the medical room and placed him on the table.

"Never thought we'd need Petross' cure." Sora said. He pulled out the serringe and injected its contents near the embedded crystal.

"Can you make a recreation of Petross' emergency room?" Riku asked.

"I'm one step ahead of you." Quartz's holographic head replied.

In a short space of time, Quartz's interior shifted to a near-exact replica of Petross' emergency room, where they cured Pearl. Sora immediately seized the joystick and set to work, immediately. He considered himself lucky that he had been playing video games since he was six.

By the time Quartz's visual screen showed the interior of Sakuzy's bloodstream, it was soon apparent that Sakuzy's condition was NOT like Maya's. While Maya was in perfect health as a Crystalli Host, Sakuzy was near death. Blood vessels were ripped as if a mad dog had torn at them and the vital roots were barely unbroken. Sora arrived at the first root, which was one of few: Sakuzy had fewer roots than Maya due to his condition. With a press of the button, Sora blasted the root, which dissolved.

"One down, five or six to go…" Sora said.

During the whole operation, Maya sat down and held Sakuzy's hand, tightly, as if she could maintain life in her half-dead friend just by pressure alone. "He'll be fine." Joyex said, laying a comforting hand on Maya's shoulder, "Sakuzy's a fighter AND he's made of tougher stuff than most people think."

"Thanks, Joyex." Maya replied, still looking at her lover's face.

Goofy thought hard about this (big surprise there) before saying, "Well, HERE'S something that should cheer ya up!" Goofy pulled out the ruby Pure Heart. Everyone looked at this in awe. "I'm more than glad that Sora nabbed this before them Crystalli did."

"Thanks, Goofy." Kairi said.

"Another three roots down!" Sora shouted.

"No surprises." Riku stated, "Sora was always the best at these arcade games. But I still beat him with the PS2."

"DON'T rub it in." Sora snapped, intent on putting all his focus on the operation. He angled the probe to the next root and pressed the button. ZAP! It was gone.

"This is taking faster than it did to cure Maya." Kairi admitted.

"That's because we're not being attacked by Crystalli." J pointed out, his eyes closed, "And the Shell that attached itself to Maya wasn't half-dead."

"Alright…here's the last one…" Sora said, voice filled to the brim with focus. He carefully aimed the probe at the final root and pressed the button. The root was disintegrated. Sora walked over and plucked the crystal's remains out of Sakuzy's chest.

For a while, everything was still. Then, the future Keyblader took a deep breath of cool air, tightening his grip on Maya's hand.

"His vitals are returning to normal." Quartz said, a holographic form of his head appearing, "I'll handle it from here." His interior shifted back to normal and everyone except Maya and Joyex, Sakuzy's closest friends, left.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora slumped into the driver's seat of the Gummi. He tossed J the Pure Heart and the shapeshifter caught it before storing it with the others they collected. There was the one of Lifestream from Midgar and the seed from Ant Island. Adjacent to them was the sand one from Agrabah as well as the sky-blue one from Hundred-Acre Wood and the web-patterned one from Manhattan. There was the leafy one of Wangunga Jungle, the sunset one from Pride Lands, the fiery one from Land of Dragons, the one made of scream energy from Monstropolis, and the cloud one of Ivalice.

"Together with the one Quartz has, that gives us a total of twelve." J stated, "And that has to be enough to get us to his homeworld."

"It is." Replied the holographic form of Quartz's head, "When Sakuzy has recovered, we will go to the Crystal Empire."

"Someone called?" someone asked. Sakuzy, a large bandage tied across his chest and back in his original Drive Clothes.

"You're up already, Sakuzy?" Riku asked.

"Hey, ya can't keep a good man down." Sakuzy chuckled, coughing a bit while he was at it.

"Sakuzy, you should be resting." Maya snapped, grabbing Sakuzy by his arm, "Even with those Heal spells I used, it'll take you at least a day to recover."

Sakuzy was dragged away as Joyex walked in. Donald scratched his feathery head. "Does he remember anything?" the mage asked.

"Kinda." Replied Joyex, "He remembers the Shell digging into his chest, but he says the rest was kind of a blur."

"This really IS gonna be the final battle, right?" Ryan asked. The Chrysallis deal was still etched in his mind, obviously.

"Most likely." Riku replied, "Chrysallis said himself that he was a pawn."

"Good, 'cause I've had enough with duking it out with FAKE leaders." Ryan said as he slumped the other chair.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sakuzy was on the medical table. Already he felt his strength returning. He balled his fingers into a fist. He uncurled them and held his hands out. He drew his Eagle Feather Keyblade. He gripped it as if it were something fragile that would shatter if he held it too tightly.

He smiled. This thing stuck with him through all these years, since he made that drawing on the Secret Place's interior. Even when he was the battle-hungry Bloodstone, it stuck with him. He pulled it up and gave an experimental swing. It stayed there, like an old friend. He made another motion. If they were going to start the next and possibly final war with the Crystalli, he'd need to be ready. One thing was obvious—he'd need a few new tricks up his sleeve…

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Scott was kicked back in his room, which he decorated with only three pictures, not the cliché Australian things like boomerangs. The first one was of a man who looked like him, save the black hair, and a woman with brown hair, like his own. Those were of his mother and father. His mother died a few years after this photo was taken, Scott couldn't remember how, though.

The next one was his dad holding up a serringe, looking serious, whereas a younger Scott was flexing his muscles.

The final one was an exact replica of the picture J showed Sora, save having a picture of a man with a green coat, a scarf, and what appeared to be a Nintendo DS.

Scott grinned. This person was a tribute to the fighter he was now…

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Ryan pulled out a soda from the mini-fridge in his room. "Hope they're telling the truth when they say 'sugar-free'." Ryan commented before opening it and starting to drink.

His room was decorated with the things you'd expect in a room belonging to a boy his age (use your imagination, but nothing perverted). He stopped sipping his soda to look at his feet in slight shame. He only sent Peridot away out of sheer luck.

"Man," he said, putting the can down, "In most of my fights, I only won because the others came in at the right time or I was…just lucky."

The Android? It was luck that he was ready to explode, and Scott and J did most of the fighting. The Crystalli? The main parts of the army that he fought were their mindless drones. He didn't even defeat Emerald and the guy was a wimp.

He immediately turned on a sun lamp and began to practice the one way he could think of. He opened his palm and a burst of sunlight came out. He clenched his fist and it vanished. He opened both of his hands at the same time—two miniature suns appeared.

"The power of the sun in the palm of my hand…" Ryan said in awe, before asking, tone not changing, "And why am I talking like this?"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

J did what he always did before an immense struggle—focus hard on the task before him. He was going to prove that he didn't need his animal forms to defeat Crystalli…with one in particular.

His teeth clenched in anger at the mere thought.

But despite all these going on, one important conversation would take place in the night.


	222. Sora's Mural

Chapter 222: Sora's Mural

Kairi tossed around in her bed. She wanted to sleep, but it just wouldn't come. She tried everything from counting sheep to stopping every thought in her head. She then had an idea—something soothing that she remembered. Namely, when J said that they were related. It worked…for the space of two minutes.

_Not quite there._ Kairi thought. She then remembered something—the scene at Maleficent's castle, when she embraced Sora in his Heartless form. He changed back.

_Thanks for bringing me back, Kairi._ Sora said, sounding virtually the same as when she heard him say it.

Sleep took her almost immediately after that.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Kairi hovered above her mural, the stained-glass picture of herself just the same as she left it…until she noticed one key difference. There was another on her mural: J, who was in a green heart. When she touched down, Namine was there to meet her, naturally.

"Hello, Kairi." Namine greeted, then pointed to the green heart, "As you can see, your mural's changed due to a great change in heart."

Kairi nodded, but soon changed the subject. "We're getting ready to fight Diamond." Kairi stated, not even bothering for the greeting, "We could go home soon…with Scott, Ryan, and April."

"What about J, your cousin?" Namine asked.

"He turned down the offer. Remember?" Kairi asked, in turn.

"He could have changed his mind." Namine stated, "After all, he only found out you two were related recently."

"Why do you think that?" Kairi asked.

"If he'd known when you met, he would have approached you with the information sooner." Namine replied, "But, that's neither here nor there. It's time for you to see your last mural." Namine held out her hand and the hand mirror appeared in a flash of white light. Kairi knew who to choose since this started. The trips to the murals of J, Sakuzy, Roxas, and Riku were merely a warm-up for this.

"Sora." Kairi said, forcing the words from her mouth.

"I know." Namine said, smiling. As she raised the mirror, she asked, "Ready?"

Kairi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could feel a tingle going down her spine, but courage deep down was keeping the fear at bay. She wanted to do this before the invasion of Crystal Empire…or before something happened that could never un-happen.

"Yes." She said, her eyes still closed, "I'm ready."

Kairi could feel herself leave her mural, even though she couldn't see what was going on. Soon, a bright light began to sting her still-closed eyes and she began to wonder if she had enough strength to open her eyes.

She did.

Sora's mural was blue and his figure showed him standing in the middle, a warm smile on his face. Around him were the pictures of his friends. There was Riku, a blue heart around his picture.

_No surprises there. _She thought to herself, _He's an only child, so Riku was like an older brother to him._ On further investigation, she saw that Donald, Goofy, and Mickey were also on there. Also easy to figure out was that Sakuzy was in a green heart, just as her second trip to the futuristic Keyblader's mural. She then saw herself…with a red heart around her.

Kairi covered her mouth to keep herself from gasping. "Sora feels THAT way about me?" Kairi asked, almost at a loss for words.

Kairi got down on one knee to trace the red heart around her picture. She smiled and, in a manner VERY similar to when she found Sora's little drawing in the secret place, a tear fell down her cheek. She brushed it away with her finger.

An odd feeling came to Kairi right there and then. She felt someone's presence…and it was both familiar and somewhat awkward. Slowly, she turned. She froze as she saw him.

"Kairi? How'd you get here?"

Sora had just appeared on his mural with a shocked look on his face. While he wasn't angry that Kairi was here, he was shocked nonetheless.

"Um…ah…" Kairi didn't really have a good explanation, but decided to come clean in the end. She took a deep breath, then answered. "Namine had a mirror that allowed me to see people's murals. I've visited the murals of J, Sakuzy, Roxas, and Riku…and now I'm here. This is the last trip the mirror has…and I wanted the mural to be yours."

Sora let the words sink in. It kind of made sense…it wasn't the first magic mirror he had heard of, nor, he guessed, would it be the last. "Okay…" he said, nodding slowly, "I guess the better question is, 'Why are you here'?" Sora nervously glanced at the red heart that Kairi was now standing just an inch in front of. But apparently, she had spotted him.

"It's a little too late." Kairi said, trying to humor him, "I already saw it."

On hearing those words, Sora could feel himself heat up by a considerable amount. Sighing in defeat, he admitted it, albeit in a shaky voice. "It's true…I love…you." He had said it, at last. Sure, there was the time on Kairi's birthday, but he hadn't told her anything regarding his feelings. Neither did the mistletoe incident at North Pole.

For a while, both remained silent, with Kairi's eyes still wide in shock. Kairi made to speak, but then Sora asked, "What about J?" he asked, "Do you…" The Keyblade Master couldn't bear to finish his sentence.

Kairi, cut off in mid-sentence, paused to try and answer. He didn't know…but he would now. "Yes…I suppose." She answered; knowing what Sora was getting at. She would tell the truth…just sooner than she thought.

Sora hung his head and turned to look away from Kairi. "Fine." He said in defeat, "I guess we can be just friends…" He made to turn his back on her, but Kairi suddenly realized that she had forgotten the most important detail. She kicked herself for it, too.

"Sora!" she scolded, making him freeze on the spot. She walked over to him so that she was face-to-face with him and took his shoulders in her hands. "Look at me…" she said in a quiet voice on seeing his eyes were closed.

Slowly, Sora felt his eyes open up to meet Kairi's face. She almost looked on the verge of tears, yet a smile was on her face. "I do love J…but not like what you think I do." She told him, then she slowly put her head to the side of his, and whispered in his ear. "He's my cousin."

Sora backed up a bit, but not to get away from her. More to understand what she had just said. "You sure?" he asked.

Kairi nodded as she let go of his shoulders. Now, Sora understood why J had been so protective of her: she was the only family he had left…and he hers. Still, one thought nagged at Sora.

"And Riku?" he asked.

Kairi shook her head. "Riku's a good friend, but I just can't love him more than a brother figure." She then relayed what she thought and what Riku had told her on his mural. "Before our adventures, Riku could often find a way to make me laugh, but YOU could do that…and make me smile." Kairi spotted something in Sora's eyes, then added, "And no. He doesn't love me like you do. I visited his mural and we actually talked."

Sora leaned a little closer to her and asked, "What'd he say?"

"He told me he doesn't deserve me because of what he almost did." She answered, "But it doesn't matter. We still see him as a friend, and he still cares about us."

Sora smiled. "That's good to know." He told her.

Kairi was suddenly very quiet, having put Sora's fears to rest a bit, then gently took Sora's hand. "Sora…" Sora knew what Kairi was going to say, so he didn't cut her off. "I love you, too."

Kairi, without showing any kind of fear, wrapped her arms around Sora's middle, resting her head on his chest, her eyes closed. And slowly, Sora wrapped his arms around her as he looked down at her. She looked so peaceful in this position. There was no other description.

Sora gently touched her chin, coaxing her to look up at him. Her eyes were only open for a few seconds as they drew ever closer to each other. Their lips met and euphoria engulfed them.

After what felt like both an eternity and a second, the kiss ended. "I can't stay long." Kairi said, gently pulling away from Sora, "My time's almost up."

Sora nodded, seeming to say, "I understand" and looked down at the stained glass floor. Then he looked back up and said, "Thank you."

Kairi almost responded to Sora, but she felt herself leave his mural and in a short span of time, reappeared on Namine's mural. Her Nobody held out the mirror, which burst into golden sparks…never to be used again.

"Its time is up." Namine said, then asked, "You found what you were looking for?"

"I sure did." Kairi replied, turning a slight shade of pink, "I sure did."

Namine smiled. "I know…"

_A little somethin' for all you S/K fans. I can kinda hear "You'll Be In My Heart" by Phil Collins playing in this scene. Tell me what you think._


	223. Diamond's Palace

Chapter 223: Diamond's Palace

That morning, Sora got out of bed and walked out in the hall. Surprisingly, he met Kairi on the way to the main control room and stopped right in front of her.

Kairi gave him a look that seemed to ask if something did happen. Sora beat her to the words, though.

"What happened on my mural," He said, his voice barely audible, "It really happened, didn't it?"

Kairi paused, but nodded as a smile spread across her face. "Yes." She answered, "It really happened."

As the two entered the control room, they saw the whole squad and Quartz's holographic head. Around the main living quarters, J had eleven Pure Hearts in a circle around him. Slowly, Quartz brought out the final one: the one of pure diamond.

"Please," he said, seeming to beg at the crystal, "Let this work."

"Fire it up, J." Ryan said, encouragingly.

J closed his red eyes as the Pure Hearts began to circle around him. Faster and faster they spun until a beam of light ghosted right through the ceiling of the Gummi. Riku glanced outside to see the same beam shoot out into space. This beam soon stopped and began to spread out in a rainbow-colored portal just a football field's length away from the ship.

"The portal…" Quartz said in awe, "To the Crystal Empire."

Maya's face was tense…she could tell something was wrong. "I have a feeling that the Crystalli are getting ready to attack again."

"They must know we're coming." J explained.

"The time has come, everyone." Quartz announced, "We all know there's only one way to end this terror. We MUST destroy Diamond."

"How?" Sora asked, "From what you told us, even a Keyblade can't penetrate Diamond's armor."

"Leave that to me." Quartz assured them, "But if I fail, I will destroy the Pure Heart that I have bonded with."

"That's suicide!" Sakuzy opposed, "If someone who has bonded with a Pure Heart destroys it, he'll take his own life in the process."

"If it means that Diamond cannot destroy any other worlds, I will do what is necessary." Quartz said, solemnly, "It has been an honor fighting with you all. Now, let's move out!"

Quartz started his engines, then slowly made his way into the portal. The final battle was at hand now.

Crystal Empire…

Sora and co. landed in the ruins of what must have once been a great city. Great spires of crystal jutted up through buildings and up from the ground. What used to be a grand metropolis was now a wrecked ruin.

"This is all that's left of Quartz's world?" Goofy asked in a manner similar to when he was at End of the World.

"Diamond's madness has ravaged it. Only the inorganic can survive here in the long-run." Quartz stated. He decided to accompany them, seeing as this was a battle he HAD to take part in.

Suddenly, a streak of white light shot across the sky and stopped right at a tall, crystal palace. Then, it hit Sora. "Oh no! The Pure Hearts go back to the world they came from after being used."

"Which is why we have to be swift and silent." Riku said, the loom of battle showing through him. "If Diamond even finds out that the Pure Heart is here, who knows what will happen?"

Quartz looked at the place where the light had streaked off to and his expression was VERY solemn. "This is going to be difficult. The Pure Heart is now in Diamond's Palace."

"Just keep moving." Sora said, walking forward, "The Crystalli are out there, and we can't afford to stay here."

Without any need to be told twice, the others went after him.

_Several hunks of crystal flew together and compacted to form the words 'Crystal Empire'. The words disassembled and seemed to float away._

Up in space, Kang and Kodos saw the world of Crystal Empire. "Look at that world!" Kang pointed out with his tentacle, "It's shaped just like our number seven."

"Makes you think." Kodos said, casually. Since there was no more to be said, the two's flying saucer flew off to space for, possibly the last time.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and co. walked through the ruined city, weapons drawn and ready to attack at the slightest sound. Stealth was their greatest ally in this world. They couldn't afford to let Diamond know they were in his territory. A good defensive maneuver was the last thing he needed.

Scott enhanced his hearing and it was a good thing, too, because he heard something whistle through the air. "DUCK, MATES!" he barked. The group dodged and a Shell narrowly missed Sora's foot.

"Thanks for the heads-up!" Sora said, jumping over to the Soldier who fired the Shell and impaling it.

"Look out!" Sakuzy shouted before screaming, "WIND!" A tornado burst out of Sakuzy's Keyblade and blew away an oncoming blizzard of Shells.

"So much for the stealth approach…" J growled, "Diamond must've known we were coming." He took off after the Soldiers and tackled one, driving it into the others.

Sora looked at the entrance of Diamond's palace and found that a battalion of Crystalli was there to meet him. The Keyblade Master tossed his Ultima Weapon Keyblade in a Strikeraid that separated the upper and lower bodies of a pair of Ninjas. Said Keyblade carved through a Paladin's head on its return trip, and Sora caught it to slice through a Mariner that had planned on making him its next meal.

J fought hand-to-hand with a Crystalli Ninja in a flurry of punches and kicks from both sides. The fight was brief and brutal, but it came to an end when J seized the Ninja's arm and tossed it to the ground, breaking its neck in the process. J jumped over a few Crystalli and landed with his back to Sora.

"Any ideas?" J asked.

"As a matter of fact…" Sora said with a sudden smile on his face. He grabbed J's arm, much to the shapeshifter's surprise and shouted, "DRIVE!"

Before J could utter a single curse, he vanished in a flash of light and merged with Sora. When it faded, Sora was clad in black clothes with red outlines. The patterns on his shorts were silvery beast skulls. Sora opened his eyes to reveal that, while one of them was still crystal blue, the other was the same shade of red as J's.

"What the heck's going on?!" Sora's lips moved, but J's voice came out of it.

"We're doing a Drive." Sora replied, "In this, you share your powers with me."

J paused, seeming to think it over, then grunted in slight disdain. "Okay. But when we separate, we're going to pretend like this never happened. Okay?"

"Deal."

Sora summoned the Keyblade in his hand and found that it was a new kind, naturally. Its Keychain was an animal skull, probably of a big cat or a wolf. The Keyblade's shaft was a DNA symbol while its teeth were spiked projections of the helixes. The term _Genetic Ravager_ came to mind for this Keyblade's name.

_Okay, _Sora thought to himself, _Let's see what this Drive can really do…_

Sora, much to his own surprise, evaded a swing from a Neo Soldier's sparking staff. What amazed him was that he had done it without so much as training in the martial arts. Even more impressive was that he did three tight back-flips and sharply kicked the Neo Soldier in the chin. Its head snapped up so suddenly that its sensory functions died down. Now blind and deaf, it twirled its staff around aimlessly until Sora kicked it into an oncoming Crystalli Fossil.

Sora turned, then stared in shock as a Crystalli Destroyer came into view and roared a challenge at him. Sora quickly dove between the Destroyer's legs and slashed at its legs with Genetic Ravager. Oddly enough, the new Keyblade wavered with color slightly and Sora stared, curiously, at it.

"Any idea on what just happened?" Sora asked.

"One." J answered, "Focus on that Crystalli you attacked."

"What?!" Sora asked, wanting to be sure he heard him correctly.

"JUST DO IT!"

The Destroyer quickly popped into Sora's head and he felt a strange sensation: as though the Genetic Ravager had melted into his hand. Next thing he knew, he was the same size as an oncoming Destroyer and quickly looked at his hands.

"Cool…"

Sora had turned into a complete copy of a Crystalli Destroyer, but unlike the crimson ones he fought in Twilight Town, his crystal skin was the same shade of blue as his eyes, which were still prominent.

Genetic Ravager's ability suddenly dawned on Sora. He could acquire the DNA pattern of any creature or person he touched and be able to transform into it. In that form, he could copy their abilities and skills. Now, he decided to put it to the test.

Sora seized the arm of the Destroyer that came for him and with a heave, he tossed it into a Brawler that was just about ready to crush Kairi. On seeing the surprised look on her face, he assured her, "Kairi. It's me!"

Kairi didn't have time to question Sora, because now, he and Quartz would get busy with the rest of the horde. "Ready, Quartz?" Sora asked.

"Ready." The Crystalli responded.

Now that THAT was cleared up, Quartz began to step on the smaller Crystalli like cockroaches while Sora began to beat them to a pulp. Suddenly, J's voice rang through Sora's head.

_I think you'll need these…_

Sora looked at his right forearm to see a blade-like spike emerge from it and the smaller arms on his shoulders turned into their own cannons. Sora remembered what the other arm could do, then threw it forward. The crystal fist flew forward and bowled through several Crystalli before falling onto the ground. One thought from J's mind brought the hand crawling back to fit itself back on Sora's crystal hand. Sora turned just as another Crystalli Destroyer came for him and brought the crystal blade stabbing into its chest. It roared in defeat, then fell on its back, dead as a doornail.

_I could use a little help here…_Sora suggested to J through the Drive link they shared.

_Got it._ The shapeshifter responded, _You aim, I'll fire._

Sora understood, then aimed the two cannons on his shoulders at the army of Crystalli. J activated both cannons with a work of his mind and a mixture of energy blasts and a volley of crystal shrapnel began to bring down the soldiers. Each one fell so fast, no one else managed to get a blow on them.

"Nice to know they're doing a good job." Riku said with a smirk as he watched Sora and Quartz smash their way through the Crystalli.

When the last Soldier fell to the floor, Sora reverted back to his human form…with a little help from J, though. A split second later, he and J split and Sora decided to keep his word with J. From there on in, it never happened.

"Uh…guys?" Sakuzy said, uneasily, "We have company…a BIG Crystalli."

"Diamond?" April asked, nervously.

"No." Quartz answered, "If it was him, I would know." Suddenly sounding very urgent, Quartz quickly told them. "Diamond's palace has nine floors, with his throne room being on the top floor. I think that the Pure Heart is on one of the lower floors, but you have to get it quick."

Suddenly, there was a CRASH and Sakuzy glanced behind him to see a giant Crystalli racing towards Quartz. He knew what this one was, because he had seen it in the invasion. "Quartz! It's a Crystalli Colossus!"

Quartz stood to his full height, then turned to them. "GO!" he ordered, "This one's mine! I'll meet you inside!"

As the others went through the open door of Diamond's Palace, Quartz braced himself. The Crystalli Colossus was charging toward him, and he had to admit that it wasn't the prettiest of things.

The Colossus was easily as tall as Quartz, broad-shouldered, and bulky. Its arms were long in comparison to the rest of its body, like some kind of ape, and the limbs terminated in three claw-like digits. Its legs were shorter than its arms, also terminating in three talons. The Colossus' head had fierce, red eyes and a jaw-like projection that had three prominent teeth that jutted upward. Coming out of its back was a growth that looked like a giant arm and terminated in a claw that looked surprisingly like the claw of a crane game, only this claw had six prongs instead of four.

Quartz readied himself as the Colossus stampeded towards him, and just as his opponent jumped at him, Quartz took his opponent over the drawbridge where they landed with a CRASH and continued their struggle.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Diamond stood before his remaining servants, nine in all seeing as Opal and Amber were both dead.

"Go to your respective floors and stop the organics if you can. If you find the Pure Heart, bring it to me immediately." Diamond ordered, "Don't hold back. KILL THEM ALL!"

"That means I'm up first." Spinel said, popping her knuckles and vanishing in reddish-purple light.

"Then me." Emerald added before vanishing. Each of them vanished in their respective colors.

Diamond growled, but not in rage. The eight he controlled were tools, nothing more. He crouched down and began to wait for his prey to come to him…

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Diamond's palace was GIGANTIC: possibly even bigger than Disney Castle. The main floor itself was easily bigger than the throne room of Mickey's homeworld, but it was a little less…decorative.

"Man, this place looks expensive." Ryan said, looking the place over, "I mean, being made of pure diamond, a chip off the wall should be worth a fortune."

"Shut up, Syrus." J growled, causing the kid to flinch.

Sora suddenly spotted something in the corner of the massive hall. Having been adventuring and searching for certain objects, his eyesight was very sharp. He ran over and saw that it was the Pure Heart that Quartz had in his chest.

"Sorry, but you guys aren't going ANY further." Said a familiar, female voice. In a burst of reddish-purple light, the Crystalli that Kairi knew as Spinel appeared in a flash of light. She stood in front of Sora, flexing the fingers of her metallic gauntlet. "Red light." She said, coolly.

Sora beckoned to Joyex and then to the heart, and the Nobody understood perfectly. With a flick of his wrist, Chain Thrasher lashed out and latched onto the crystal heart and reeled it back in.

Donald scowled as he stepped toward the scrappy Crystalli. "Guys, go and stop Diamond. I'll handle this palooka…"

"You're not goin' it alone, Donald." Goofy said, taking out his circular shield, "I'll give ya a hand!"

"Thanks, guys." Sora said, gratefully, "Destroy her first chance you get…and try not to die." Sora added, concern in his voice.

"No worries! We won't!" Donald replied, his staff winking into existence in his hand.

The rest took off, leaving Donald and Goofy to deal with Spinel.

"YOU'RE the ones who're gonna fight me?" Spinel asked in disbelief, "A short-tempered fowl and a dumb mutt? This should be quick."

Spinel fixed her gauntlet to her arm, then attacked. She raced over to Goofy and swung her gauntlet-clad fist at the knight. Luckily, the dog-man blocked with his shield that saved his life. It made a severe dent in Goofy's shield and sent him into the nearby wall, but he was still alive. Spinel sprang after him and prepared to punch the royal knight into the ground only to have the dog-man roll away. Donald jumped in and swung his staff at Peridot.

"FIRE!" he shouted. A fireball shot out of Donald's staff and sped towards Spinel. The Crystalli jumped up high enough for the crystal to absorb the fireball and sent a bolt of energy back at Donald. The duck mage squawked before scrambling away from the oncoming blast.

Goofy then charged in and brought his shield into Spinel's chin. A sickening CRUNCH rang through the castle interior as Goofy ground to a halt, sending the Crystalli Host tumbling backward.

"Gawrsh." Goofy said, looking at his now-dented shield, "Don't know my own strength…"

Spinel stood back up, albeit slowly. She grabbed her head and yanked it up to jerk it to the left a bit. With another movement of her hand and another crunch, she popped it back into place. She spun around to sock Donald in the bill with her ungloved hand and sent the duck flying into a nearby wall with a thud.

"DONALD!" Goofy screamed. He then tossed his shield like a discus. Spinel grabbed it and spun it away into a wall. The weapon clattered to the ground, its noise filling the entire room. She then delivered a kick to Goofy's face and sent him flying backward to land on his back, clutching his head.

Spinel shrugged, then popped her neck before saying, "They're not so tough."

"DON'T COUNT ON IT!" squawked a familiar voice before it shouted "WIND!"

A tornado appeared as Donald ran in and brought his staff into Spinel's face like a golf club. The Crystalli staggered backward, but had regained her balance. She felt the place on her jaw where the staff hit and winced when she touched it, just seconds before it healed over.

"You're dim, duck." Spinel spat, "You can't kill me like that."

"Which is why I'M takin' ya down like this!" shouted Goofy, who got on his shield like a sled and slid towards Spinel with his leg out-stretched. The dog-man's shoe tripped Spinel, sending the crimson Crystalli on her back. Goofy stopped sliding, then jumped on top of her gloved arm, planting the shield on top of it so she couldn't move it. Donald stood over her just as she looked up.

"You're not so tough." Donald taunted. He twirled his staff like a baton, then brought it crashing into Spinel's thigh, shattering the parasitic crystal like glass.

Spinel shrieked in pain as the thing that made her strong broke into pieces. She hacked up purplish-red blood with a few, violent coughs and then slumped to the ground and remained motionless.

Donald and Goofy stood back from their handy work, then high-fived. "That's a job well done!" Donald said, proudly.

"Now, let's see if we can catch up to the others!" Goofy said. With an approving nod from Donald, the two darted off into the castle's depths.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Quartz glanced over to the destruction he created—the Crystalli Colossus lay dead with its severed head a few yards away. He then shifted into his Gummi mode and took off for the top-floor. It was time he settled this score with Diamond once and for all.

Crystalli Colossus

A massive guard to the palace of Diamond. The Colossus is truly massive, easily as big as Quartz, and fiercely loyal to its ruler. It has a claw-arm emerging from its back that can hold its victims still while it attacks them.

That would be J's Vengeance Drive. In this form, Sora acquires all of J's martial art skills and gains the Genetic Ravager Keyblade. This Keyblade allows Sora to acquire the DNA pattern of any enemy it strikes and he'll be able to change into that enemy, with all its power at his disposal.


	224. Affection

Chapter 224: Affection

Second Floor…

Sora and co. began to advance through the castle's interior. Scott glanced over to April.

"Y'know, Sheila, we could die here." Scott said, out of the blue.

"Yeah. So?" April asked.

"I always figured that we'd live a good bit longer." Scott replied, "Y'know, get hitched, have a couple o' kids…"

"Scott, knock it off." April said, but grinning, and playfully punched Scott's arm.

"Alright, alright. I'll stop." Scott replied with a small laugh.

"Scott, you're the only person I know who could laugh at this point." J stated.

"I know." Scott simply said.

When J and April had their backs turned, Scott's smile faded and he looked at his boots.

_What if we never do get outta here?_ He thought to himself, _What if April dies? I don't think I could live with meself if…_

"HOLD IT!" screamed someone. In a flash of green light, Emerald appeared in front of him with his hand out, "You can't go ANY further!"

"And…you think you can stop us?" Riku asked.

"Uh…yeah. That sounds about right." Emerald answered, uneasily.

"How about we run past you while a member or two dukes it out with YOU?" Sora suggested.

"I don't see why not." Emerald said with a shrug, "Move along."

"Okay. Who'll fight him?" Sora asked.

"I'll do it, mate." Scott said as he stepped forward, "I've fought this wimp before."

"You're NOT doing it alone, Scott." April added, stepping forward before the Aussie could even utter a complaint.

"April, if you die, 'ow could I live with meself?" Scott asked. April then gave the Aussie a threatening glare, "Oh great, now she's givin' me 'the look'. A'ight, you can stay, too."

"Good." April said, folding her arms and nodding with every hint of satisfaction.

Sora and co. took off, leaving Scott and April to face the Emerald. Unfortunately, it was at this time that the green Crystalli realized what he had just gotten himself into. And he was regretting it already.

"O-kay, I guess we start fighting now." Emerald said, uneasily.

For a split second, Scott was actually feeling like this match would be VERY quick. But Emerald's little display of cowardice turned out to be a bluff, because in that short second, he summoned his boomerang blade and tossed it as quick as a flash. Scott wasn't too worried about it, because he sharply ducked under the oncoming projectile, catching himself with his hands before kicking himself back to his feet.

Emerald was a bit upset that his boomerang hadn't hit anything, but he caught it on the return trip and hurled it at April this time. This turned out to be a desperate move, however, because she simply flew out of its direction, causing it to miss by a mile. "Well, this is gettin' old fast, how about I turn it up a notch?"

Emerald caught his boomerang in his hand, then gripped it as tight as his Crystalli strength could allow him. Spikes sprang out of its surface as well as multiple blades. It also grew until it was almost twice its normal size. Emerald smirked, actually feeling pretty proud of himself, then tossed his new weapon at Scott.

The Aussie had only enough time to realize how much faster it was going before it caught him on the chin. The Australian Anatomy Changer felt like his neck was nearly snapped like a twig. He was sent into a wall with a crash that echoed through the castle.

Emerald caught his boomerang, then threw it at April, who flew to the side like a hummingbird to avoid it. She looked to the side to see the spinning blade swerve through the air and come back at her like it had a mind of its own. She also flew to avoid it, but rather than go back to Emerald, it continued after her. She flew around the entire room to avoid it, but it tracked her as though she were dragging it by a string.

Emerald turned on the sounds of footsteps and quickly ducked under a punch from Scott. The Aussie had recovered already and the green Crystalli jumped to avoid a sweep kick, which he countered with a spin kick that sent Scott tumbling to the floor. He would've attacked more when April got between him and Scott, who was now sprawled out on the floor. What surprised Emerald more was that she wasn't trying to attack.

"Well?" the Crystalli asked, "Are you gonna kill me or just stand there?"

"Neither."

Before Emerald could even ponder what she had just said, April flew upward. Emerald's green eyes widened as his boomerang came spinning at his head. It caught him across the face and left him clutching his face, a huge gash going from his forehead down across his nose and touching just below his eye. It healed over in seconds, and Emerald cursed himself for not seeing that coming. His boomerang's turning wasn't the best, and he certainly didn't want to get suckered again. He called back his boomerang, but realized he had been suckered…AGAIN.

April flew right behind the boomerang and was going so fast that she met Emerald full on. She seized Emerald by the back of his collar and brought him into the air.

"AAAH!! PUT ME DOWN!" Emerald shrieked, "I HATE HEIGHTS!"

"If you say so." April said, a devious smirk on her face.

Emerald knew that tone and knew this was going to hurt…she dropped him a good two stories to the ground. The Crystalli Host screamed the whole way down until he hit the ground with a sickening CRUNCH. Green blood poured from his body as his limbs splayed out in odd position. His broken bones mended themselves in seconds, but a trickle of blood still remained on the corner of his mouth.

"Ow…" the Crystalli whimpered as he, painfully, got back to his feet.

Before Emerald could fully regain his balance, Scott grabbed him by the head, tossed him upwards, and impaled him on one of his wrist blades. Scott pulled out another wrist blade and stabbed Emerald over and over again before kicking him into a wall. Emerald got back up, blood the color of fresh grass oozing from his body as if he were some monster from a science fiction movie.

At that time, Emerald remembered that he had an urgent appointment somewhere else. ANYWHERE else. Preferably one with a safe that was bolted shut or was locked from the inside or was welded shut (he couldn't decide), where he could lie in a fetal position and keep telling himself that it was a bad dream until this entire situation blew over. After all, running away was one of the few things that Emerald was ACTUALLY good at. Sure, when he still wielded a Keyblade he had been a bit braver, but those days were long over as far as he was concerned.

However, Emerald's thoughts of an escape were foiled as Scott cracked his knuckles with a mean look on his face. Sensing danger, Emerald quickly darted away from the punch aimed at his face. He took out his boomerang and fiddled with it.

"What's the bloke up to now?" Scott asked.

"THIS, STEVE IRWIN!" Emerald shouted, in an attempt to be brave…and failing miserably. He whipped out his boomerang blade, which was now a sword whose blade was at a ninety-degree angle. He stabbed it at Scott, who didn't move at all and was prepared to take it. Instead of piercing vital organs, the blade met with a complex network of bones, which sprung out of Scott's chest just in time.

"Thank the Lord I saw this comin' fast enough to make these extensions of me ribcage." Scott commented, casually. He then retracted the spikes as April flew forward and brought her heel smashing into Emerald's jaw. The Wimpy Crystalli fell to the ground, massaging his jaw.

"Jeez, girls kick good." Emerald moaned.

"But guys PUNCH better!" Scott barked. He threw his fist into Emerald's face. Moments before impact, Scott caused bony spikes to extend from his knuckles, maximizing damage. Emerald was sent into the wall and staggered up, four holes in his cheek, horizontal of each other. They healed over soon after, but April quickly flew over and grabbed him by the collar of his cloak. She dug her feet into his midsection and slammed Emerald into the ground with the force of dropping a cinderblock from a good distance up.

"Should we finish this, April?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, I'm getting tired." Replied April.

Scott caused his fingernails to extend into claws. Emerald knew what was coming. His mouth made a silent scream as Scott thrust his claws into his shoulder and dug them into his crystal.

"No! NO! I DON'T WANNA DIE…yet!" Emerald screamed, even as green blood began gushing out of his mouth.

"Everyone's gotta go sooner or later." Scott replied with a shrug.

Emerald began hacking up green ooze as he began shaking in a violent fit of sorts. He tried supporting himself on his weakening arms, but they gave way as the vital flame of his body died down. Emerald fell onto the ground and lay dead.

Scott pulled off his hat, dusted its rim off, then placed it back on and glanced at April.

"Thanks, April." Scott said, in barely more than a whisper.

"No, thank YOU." April replied. The two then noticed that they were getting…usually close.

"Y'know I love ya." Scott said.

"Yeah. And I love YOU, too." April replied.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Donald and Goofy ran into the next room to see…

"WAK?!" Donald squawked.

"I'm guessin' that Scott 'n April won." Goofy said, somewhat unsure.

Scott and April were kissing, fiercely, Scott's arms wrapped around April's back, and April's arms tied around the back of Scott's neck.

"NOW'S NOT THE TIME, YOU TWO!" Donald quacked, furiously.

The two stopped their little make-out session to glance over at the two, breathing heavily.

"What?" Scott asked.

"WHILE YOU TWO WERE DOING YOUR LIP-LOCK, WE WERE TRYIN' TO FIND YOU!" Donald screamed.

"Any idea what he just said?" April asked.

"None whatsoever." was Scott's answer.

"We should get goin'." Goofy said, "We've gotta catch up with Sora and the others!"

"Then, let's get crackin', mates." Scott said, punching his knuckles together. The four took off into the next room, ready for anything.


	225. Shapeshifter's Wrath

Chapter 225: Shapeshifter's Wrath

Third Floor…

Sora and co. ran through the next floor. Joyex then decided to ask a question. "So, which host will try and cripple our efforts next?"

"I hope it's Peridot." J said, his eyes scrunched in anger.

Ryan flinched at J's sudden choice of Crystalli. "Will your methods be violent?" Ryan asked, shakily, "Cuz you could have a shot at Ruby, Sapphire, or even…"

"JUST stay out of my way." J snapped.

Ryan winced, then said, "I'm just gonna stop talking now…"

"Best news I've heard all day." J stated.

The group didn't have to wait long, because when J finished that sentence, he stopped in his tracks. When others made to move past him, he held out his arm to stop them.

"What?" Kairi asked her cousin.

"Shh…" he hissed, his ears listening for even the slightest sound. For a while, he remained quiet, his eyes scanning the room around them. "Go." He said, moving his arm so that they could move, "I'll catch up…it's her alright."

"Okay, J." Sora said, "You can deal with her."

"Come out of this alive, cousin." Kairi added.

"They didn't call me 'Survivor' in Camp Greenlake for nothing." J said, his eyes still searching the room for his stalker.

Sora and co. nodded, then made for the door. As soon as they cleared the threshold, J called out, "Come on out. I know you're there…"

In a flash of dark green light, Peridot stood just a few meters from him. She applauded slightly then said, "Not bad tracking skills. I figured if I held back that you'd find me soon enough. Now…"

"The answer is 'no'." J said, taking a step toward her.

Peridot took a step back, then raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "To what?" she asked, a fleck of anger in her voice.

"To the question you were going to ask." J replied, "The one whether I liked you or not. I don't because I'm NOT going to love some self-centered bitch who prefers J for his appearance instead of ME as a person."

"WHAT?!" Peridot demanded, insulted by J's statement. Her tiger claws flashed into existence on her hands and she pointed them at J like an accusing finger. As much as she hated to admit it, J was right…no. No. She was going to make him pay for putting her down like that. "Well?" she challenged, "Are you gonna change into something to try and kill me or are you just going to stand there?"

"I'm not going to kill you with my power." J replied dangerously, "THIS is personal, so I'll kill you with my own hands." J cracked the knuckles in his gloved hand, the angered glare visible even under his sunglasses. He beckoned for her to come…and Peridot accepted the challenge.

Peridot darted forward and began to jab and slash, wildly, with her claws. Right now, J was thankful for a few years' worth of martial arts training. If it weren't for them, he would have been slashed into ribbons. He quickly jumped over a sweep kick from the green-clad Crystalli and thrust his foot at her chest as she got up. He misjudged it, however, and the soul of his foot landed in her face. She was sent to the ground, flat out on her back, and sat up to spit out a tooth that J had knocked loose.

"Is that it?" Peridot challenged, getting back to her feet.

"Not even close." J growled as he moved in.

He was just close enough to kick her when she jumped in the air to thump him in the chest. J flew back, but regained his balance in midair to land on his feet. J brushed the blow off, then sprinted towards Peridot and leapt into the air for a drop kick. His attack was blocked, however, when Peridot grabbed his ankle before he could land and he was soon tossed aside. J tumbled across the diamond floor, barely regaining his footing in time. He was soon met with oncoming claws and ducked away from them, avoiding serious injury, but still getting three scratches on the side of his face that stung like heck.

J ducked again, then bolted over to her to perform a spin kick. Peridot blocked both kicks, but failed to notice J's forearm, which slammed into her neck with enough force to crush a normal person's windpipe. She gasped for breath, trying to regain oxygen, then took a fresh inhale as her healing factor took care of the damage.

"You're going to wish you hadn't done that…" she growled at him.

"I only wish I'd done it sooner." J shot back at her, sharply kicking her hand.

Peridot yelped in surprise as something flew out of her grip: a Crystalli Shell. She saw it clatter across the floor and dashed off to retrieve it…but J beat her there. He jumped in the air and landed on his feet to crush it under his shoe.

Peridot stared in shock at the place where J put his foot, then clenched her teeth and roared after him. Now her claws were more like green blurs as she swung furiously at him. Dodging these claws, for J, wasn't impossible…just VERY hard.

"It's like I said before, J." Peridot snarled, slashing out again and again. One swing sliced J's hoody, causing a hole to appear just above his right pocket, "You're…" she slashed again; J ducked under it, "A caged…" she caught J on the side with one swipe of her claws, causing him to hunch over in pain. "ANIMAL!"

J clutched the wound to feel warm blood on his hand. Peridot's statement made him think—his powers seemed to match his personality, the same with Scott and the other superhumans. Scott was highly adaptable in the field, so he could change his anatomy to fit any situation the elements threw at him. Ryan was full of life and constantly moving, so his powers came from the ultimate energy source: the sun. April was always reaching a little bit higher to improve herself and help others, so she could fly to new heights. And himself…

J was always a caged animal who was trying to escape, so he could change INTO a wild animal. J stood up and pulled off his sunglasses, showing his eyes and the flames that burned behind them.

"Yes, I'm a caged animal." J agreed, but added, "But that doesn't mean I can't break free!"

J threw a punch at Peridot, who blocked it before pinning him to the wall with one forearm. J, however, wouldn't go down without a fight: he sharply brought his knee into her midsection and punched her in the face with his right hand. The left, however, was trying to free him from Peridot's forearm. But then Peridot pushed harder and he was soon forced to simply try and move her arm. The shapeshifter couldn't do much at this point. Her strength, though he never admitted it to ANYONE, was a good bit stronger than his.

"You want to break free?" she asked, getting VERY close to him now, "Break free of THIS, then!" For one brief second, J thought she was going to kiss him again, but he was wrong. She took her right hand and shoved the tiger claws into his left shoulder.

J roared in pain as he seized Peridot's wrist in his hand, pulling with all his might. Despite his effort, the blades went in a little, then went out of his flesh. Again and again he pushed against them, but they were getting nowhere.

"Shouldn't have destroyed that shell." Peridot said, seductively, "Maybe with it I could have fixed your injuries."

THAT tore it, because J's eyes were now filled with crimson flame. He took each of Peridot's hands in his own and began to pry them off him. Pain seared through his body as he pulled her claws out of his shoulder, but he didn't care. He had become used to pain for almost six years now.

Peridot's eyes slowly widened as she saw J slowly remove her arms from him and push back with almost-equal strength. For a while, they simply struggled against each other…but then J took things into his own hands.

"Block THIS…" J spat. He reared back his head, then brought it smashing into Peridot's. The impact on both of their skulls sent Peridot to the ground with J on top of her.

Peridot's jade-green eyes fluttered open, but only just. They were half-open, half-closed, yet she could see and feel J moving off her. He was barely supporting himself on all fours, his head probably throbbing with unimaginable pain.

"Why?" Peridot simply asked, barely conscious. Even with the Crystalli Shell enhancing her healing ability, she was barely able to talk due to near brain damage.

"Because love can't be demanded." J replied, his voice a little shaky but his expression still dead serious, "It can only be earned…and I did, a long time ago." He was dangerously close to unconsciousness. It was NOW or never. He grabbed Peridot's tiger claws and removed them from her hand, clenching it in his hand like a knife.

_For Maria_…J thought to himself. With his last amount of strength, J thrust the claws into the crystal.

The deathblow worked perfectly. Peridot shook violently, as though having a seizure, coughed up jade-colored blood, and emitted a hoarse scream in pain before laying back down. J left the claws in their owner's crystal and huffed at this disgusting thing. His revenge was complete.

J suddenly fell down to an elbow…he had momentarily forgotten about that little head injury that he had given himself. Eventually, it defeated him, sending him down to the floor. He let himself float into unconsciousness.

The next thing J knew, consciousness found him again…along with a splitting headache. His eyes barely opened to find that his jacket was mended and his wounds were healed…though he could still feel the place where Peridot had stabbed him in the shoulder.

"Strewth, mate. What'd ya put yerself through?" asked a familiar Australian accent.

"Scott?" J asked. He growled as a throbbing pain went through his temples.

"Yeah. It's me." Scott replied. J found that Scott had him slung over on his back and was being followed by Donald and Goofy.

"Ya gave us quite a scare there, J." Goofy said.

"A little bit of the Cure Spell and some of Scott's outback know-how and you're as good as new." Donald said, proudly.

"Okay, Scott. I have something to say." J said, contempt in his voice.

"What?" Scott asked, knowing he wasn't going to like this one bit.

"Put me down, bozo! I'm FINE!"

"Yup, I think he's back to normal." April sighed. After Scott put J down and allowed him to regain his balance, the group continued on their way to try and catch up with Sora and co.

_Man, J must feel good to defeat the girl who kissed him. I know I do…_


	226. Ryan's True Strength

Chapter 226: Ryan's True Strength

Fourth Floor…

Sora and co. entered the fourth floor of Diamond's palace and Joyex paused to catch his breath. "MAN…This place…is bigger than I thought." Joyex gasped, supporting himself on his knees.

"And it already looked big enough from the outside." Ryan added.

Sora glanced over to Riku and Kairi. "We've lost track of five members already." Sora stated, "Donald, Goofy, Scott, April, and J."

"Don't worry." Kairi assured him in a soothing voice, "I'm sure they're okay. They know what they're doing."

Riku nodded. "If I were to bet my money, it'd be that J's still alive." he stated, "The guy's hard to kill."

"But I bet that the rest of you aren't so hard." A cool, female voice echoed through the room. Ruby appeared in a flash of red light and the red-clad seductress took out her blade-like chakram, spinning them in her hands before saying, "Red means stop."

"We've already heard that joke, Joan!" Joyex shouted, barely getting any breath.

"It's RUBY, you twit." Ruby snapped.

"And I've heard that insult thrown at me before." Joyex simply said.

"Well, you know the deal by now." Ruby said, holding out her index finger, "One of you stays while the rest of you go on."

"Let me." Sakuzy said, "I'd like nothing more than to…"

"No, let me." Ryan said. Sakuzy froze in place. THIS was the first time Ryan was actually asserting himself. "I'll take her out. I haven't had any action all day…" Ryan said, somewhat over-dramatically.

"O-kay…" Sora said, uneasily, "You can deal with her, Ry. I'm counting on you." Sora's tone changed on the last two sentences to mild concern mixed with confidence.

Sora and co. left Ryan alone to deal with Ruby. The hyperfreak cracked his knuckles, but the crimson Crystalli just…stared at him.

"They left YOU of all people to fight me?" Ruby asked, barely holding back a scoff.

"Well, I've got the most powerful ability out of them all!" Ryan replied, somewhat offended.

"And you can barely control said powers." Ruby pointed out, rolling her red eyes and smiling, holding back a laugh.

"Uh…" Ryan was lost for words, so he just shouted, "Oh, heck. LET'S JUST FIGHT!"

Both streaked at each other, no more than crimson blurs, and Ryan hit first. He planted a punch in Ruby's arm…and instantly regretted it. His punch hardly did anything to her.

_Oh man, what have I gotten myself into?_ He asked himself. Even Ryan had to admit that he was a lightweight…and he wasn't really the type to work out, so he lacked upper body strength.

Ruby chuckled at Ryan's attempt at a punch, then gave him one of her own that sent him staggering back. He massaged his jaw, then shook the pain out of his head. When he got his fight back, Ryan decided that now was the time to use his power, and in a streak of red, he began running around Ruby in a kind of vortex. Every now and then, he would pause only to strike her with his fist, hard enough to hurt her this time.

Ryan's strategy was short-lived, because Ruby pulled out one of her chakram to rake Ryan across the arm. Ryan stumbled forward until he was sprawled on the floor. He clutched his injured arm, blood staining his red hoody, all the while wishing that his healing factor WASN'T lost that day in Twilight Town.

That simple distraction was all Ruby needed to gain the upper hand in the fight. With a fierce-looking smile, she came at Ryan, punching, kicking, and slashing at him with her chakram. Ryan evaded, jumping, sidestepping, and darting away in retreat. It didn't really matter how far away he went, because Ruby could throw her chakram in a way that they would return to the thrower. Ryan screwed his eyes shut as he felt his heart rate increase. His eyes sprung open to show that they were glowing.

"You're gonna go boom." Ryan said with a grin.

Ryan crossed his arms across his chest, then forced them apart as pure solar energy burst out of him with enough force to rival a small bomb. The diamond structure of the castle withstood the explosion and Ryan was left with hardly enough energy to stand.

"No one…could've…survived that…" Ryan gasped as he balanced himself on his knees.

"Think again." Ruby taunted. She reappeared in a flash of red light. "I barely escaped that explosion thanks to teleportation. Now, where was I?"

"You were…surrendering?" Ryan suggested with a gasp.

Ruby apparently didn't like that cheeky comment, because she delivered a sharp punch to Ryan's gut. The hyperfreak felt whatever breath he had left being forced out of his lungs and he was catapulted back, smashing into the crystal wall. It was unusually warm due to the explosion he emitted earlier.

Ruby pulled out her chakram and held them right in front of Ryan's neck, ready to behead him at the slightest move. "You're more pathetic than that Aussie friend of yours." She said, her voice still deep and seductive, "You should have seen him when he killed Opal; wishing he hadn't done it even though she was an enemy."

Ryan glared daggers at Ruby as he held out his hand. A sun ball appeared in it. He rammed it into her gut and the burst of energy blew her away, sending her to the ground.

"NEVER INSULT MY FRIEND IN FRONT OF ME!" Ryan shouted. He pulled Ruby up with surprising strength. "THIS IS FOR INSULTING SCOTT!" Ryan delivered a punch to Ruby's face, "THIS IS FOR TRYING TO KILL MY FRIENDS!" Ryan delivered another punch, "AND THIS IS FOR TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE UNIVERSE!" Ryan socked Ruby so hard, she flew out of his grasp.

Ruby got back up, crimson blood streaming from her mouth. She touched it with a finger, then wiped it off her face. "You're a slow learner, kid." Ruby said with a smile, "You can't kill me just by punching me."

"You insulted my intelligence!" Ryan said, dumbfounded, he then snarled, "Only J can do that!" On that last word, a solar ball appeared in Ryan's hand and he hurled it at Ruby, who flipped in midair and met the blow with the crystal on her ankle.

Ruby landed on her feet, then appeared to do a spin kick that sent Ryan's attack back in the form of a blood red energy ball. Ryan intercepted it with another blast of sunlight, causing a smokescreen to come from said explosion. Out of the smoke came Ruby's chakram, which Ryan intercepted with his solar bombs. But when he deflected the second one, Ruby charged out to meet him with a punch to his face.

_Man, this is tough…_Ryan cursed to himself, _No matter what I do, she can counter me. With that crystal, she'll be able to deflect my solar attacks._ Ryan suddenly took this into thought and a smile crossed his face._ Hey…I've GOT IT!_

Without any qualms, Ryan summoned another solar orb and hurled it at Ruby, who caught it with her crystal again. Ryan sent another one at her, this one actually aimed at her foot. She absorbed it again.

"You must be retarded." Ruby said, absorbing every blast Ryan sent at her, "I can absorb every energy-based attack you send at me and be able to return it to you."

"I know. That's why I'm doing it." Ryan replied, hurling more and more sun balls at Ruby.

The Seductive Crystalli then realized what Ryan was doing…a few moments too late. She realized that he was over-taxing her crystal, pushing it beyond its limits by throwing more and more sun balls. Soon, the crystal embedded in her ankle would burst like a balloon that was filled with too much air. It did. Ruby took this all in, then fell onto her hands, coughing up crimson blood and trying to get air into her lungs.

"No…No! NO!!!" she said between coughs, "I can't lose…to this…KID!"

"First rule of life, Crystalli." Ryan pointed out, "NEVER underestimate us kids!" Ryan said, proudly. Ruby hacked up blood one last time, then fell to the ground, dead.

"Ryan, did ya just kill that Crystalli?" asked someone. Ryan turned around to see Scott.

"Uh…yeah." Ryan replied, scratching the back of his head.

"YOU'VE MADE ME PROUD, LI'L MATE!" Scott shouted, embracing Ryan and giving him a good old-fashioned Dutch-rub.

"Scott, now's not the time to congratulate the little nimrod." J stated.

"Thanks, J!" Ryan said, no trace of sarcasm in his voice.

J cocked an eyebrow as he asked, "Did you just THANK me for calling you a little nimrod?"

"Yeah, Ruby kept insulting my intelligence." Ryan replied, "It's better to have an IQ insult from a friend than some psychopath." THIS caused J to roll his eyes.

"Let's get moving, guys!" Donald quacked.

"Donald's right." Goofy agreed, putting a fist in his hand, "We've gotta catch up with Sora and the others!"

"But you can't go in like THAT, Ryan." Donald said, "HEAL!" the Curaga spell danced around Ryan, healing the scars and bruises he received.

"Who needs a healing factor when you've got magic?" Ryan asked, more to his powers than to anyone else, then took off with the others close behind.

Ryan's time to shine. It's about time he got to take someone out, personally.


	227. A True Evil

Chapter 227: A True Evil

Fifth Floor…

Sora and co. continued running through the castle halls of the fifth floor.

"Another four floors and we'll be fighting Diamond." Sora said, stopping for a breather. It was no wonder this place was huge: it was made for a thirty-foot-tall Crystalli, not a human just over five and a half feet tall.

"Then we can finally stop that monster and end this war." Sakuzy added, voice filled with righteous fury.

"Don't count on it." A voice said, its tone reverberating off the crystal walls.

In flashes of blue-green and purple, Aquamarine and Amethyst appeared. From the looks, they had been expecting him…with great dislike, too.

"Oh, hello." Sakuzy said, as though he had run into someone he particularly disliked. He then nodded to Aquamarine and Amethyst as he said, "Depth. Adrian."

"You know…" Amethyst said, coolly, "I'm not going to roar my name at you. I'm not going to give you that pleasure, for you don't deserve it."

"What're you talking about?" Sakuzy asked, Eagle Feather flashing into his hand and ready to defend him.

"Does the name 'Bloodstone' mean anything to you?" Aquamarine asked, pointing a finger at him.

Sakuzy thought for a while before replying, "It rings a bell, but only that." It was true: Sakuzy only had small glimpses of when he was a Crystalli, but only that.

"Forget it, Aquamarine." Amethyst said to Aquamarine, "That traitor probably suppressed his memories."

"If you're talking about Quartz, he's not a traitor." Sakuzy snapped, "He's the loyal one. DIAMOND'S the traitor!"

Amethyst's scepter flashed into his hands as he pointed it at Sakuzy like a finger. "Wasn't talking about him." He corrected, "We were talking about you."

Sakuzy glowered at the floor, then turned to Sora, "Go. They're mine, and this is personal."

"Sakuzy…" Maya's objection was cut off when Sakuzy's words cut her off in mid-sentence.

"I'll be fine." Sakuzy assured her, "Now GO!"

"He's doing what his heart's telling him." Sora said, echoing the words of King Mickey at the World That Never Was. He turned to the rest and said, "And we must do what ours is telling us. We're going to find Diamond."

"Trash 'em, Sakuzy." Joyex ordered.

"You know I will." Sakuzy replied.

The rest ran past the two Crystalli as Sakuzy slowly walked over to them and pointed Eagle Feather at the two. "Alright, then." Sakuzy growled, "First to come is the first to be served."

For a few tense moments, all three just stood there, malice in their eyes. When those tense moments came to an abrupt end, Amethyst just couldn't hold his anger in anymore. He sprang at Sakuzy with an enraged roar, his scepter aimed for the kill. Sakuzy met him in midair, but Amethyst didn't even slow down, not even in the slightest. He simply landed on his feet and swung again, this attack faster than the last one, but Sakuzy met it again with a sharp parry of Eagle Feather.

These were two Keybladers from the same order, under the same mentor. How different they were now…

_Enter flashback…_

_A younger version of Sakuzy, probably no older than ten, was standing inside a building, Eagle Feather in his hand. He glanced over to Joey and Maya._

"_Finally got in here." Joey said, proudly._

"_And to think YOU doubted you could even USE a Keyblade!" Maya scolded, wagging a finger at Sakuzy._

"_Alright, I was wrong." Sakuzy admitted, trying to get Maya to lay off him._

"_So, you're the three that Master told me about." The three turned on being addressed and met a boy with lavender hair. "My name's Adrian, the resident Darkness user." He introduced._

"_Nice to meet you." Sakuzy replied, shaking Adrian's hand before beginning the intros "I'm Sakuzy. These are my best friends, Joey and Maya."_

_Adrian got a good look at Maya and raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Huh. Not too often I meet such a pretty girl like you." Adrian said to Maya, bypassing Joey completely. The girl giggled and blushed while Joey heaved a depressed sigh._

"_What am I? Chopped liver?" Joey asked._

_Sakuzy didn't know it, but this would be the start of a great friendship between him and Adrian._

_End flashback…_

Back in the present, all thoughts of the past lay forgotten as Sakuzy dealt and took blow after blow from Amethyst. The violet Crystalli thrust his scepter like a spear, its tip emitting a blast of magical energy that narrowly missed Sakuzy's head. He managed a glance at where the blast hit and saw that the diamond wall had a corona of soot on its surface.

Remaining focused on the fight, Sakuzy got in close to even the odds against Amethyst, who had the longer weapon. The two battled in close range combat until Sakuzy lashed out with his Keyblade and raked the Intellectual Crystalli across the chest. Purple blood gushed from the wound, but quickly stopped as the wound mended itself.

Suddenly, with a deep roar, Aquamarine charged into the battle and thrust at Sakuzy with his massive arm-shields. The weapons that the nautical Crystalli wielded were so huge and moving so fast that he could hear them whistle through the air as they narrowly missed him. If he so much as let them graze him, it would mean serious injury or near death.

Sakuzy evaded another magic burst from Amethyst, but had to roll away in order to avoid an attack from Aquamarine. Aquamarine had tried to staple Sakuzy to the ground with his massive weapons, but gave him a small advantage, too. He actually ran up the flat side of the arm shield and sprang off at the last second to bring his Keyblade across Aquamarine's face. Said Crystalli growled as he stumbled back a step, but recovered in time to find his target.

Amethyst took a turn and fired an orb of magic at Sakuzy only to miss when Sakuzy ducked. Aquamarine was almost hit by this energy orb, but repelled it with his arm shield. When he moved his massive weapons, a scowl was on his stern face.

Sakuzy met Amethyst head-on as the two exchanged blows faster and faster with each clash of weapons. He pushed away Amethyst's scepter and countered with a vertical slash that met with only Amethyst's scepter.

"Adrian, I don't want to kill you." Sakuzy warned, "But I will if I have to…"

"Strange. I want to kill YOU!" Amethyst barked, deflecting the blow, "Everything I wanted, YOU got!"

"DIAMOND'S EVIL!" Sakuzy screamed.

"HE'S NOT!" Amethyst snarled, "YOU ARE!"

"WHAT COULD BE MORE VILE THAN FORCING TWO FRIENDS TO FIGHT EACH OTHER?!" Sakuzy reasoned as he pushed Amethyst away. With one movement, Sakuzy used his version of Aeroga to blow Amethyst a good distance away.

Sakuzy dashed forward to attack Amethyst and end this, but he met with one complication: Aquamarine's fist. The nautical Crystalli had slammed his fist into Sakuzy full-force. It was a good thing he wasn't using his arm-shields, otherwise Sakuzy would have been impaled. Sakuzy fell back, clutching his stomach in agony while Aquamarine readied his arm blades and pointed them at Sakuzy.

"YOU WERE A GUARDIAN!" Sakuzy yelled, barely having enough breath to speak. He coughed slightly, uneasily getting back to his feet "YOU SWORE TO PROTECT KEY-WIELDERS, NOT KILL THEM!"

_Enter flashback…_

_Sakuzy, who was now around eleven or twelve, looked up into the eyes of the Master, who was standing next to a teenager around Sakuzy's age with a bald head, a well-toned build, and a mesh shirt._

"_This is Depth." Master explained, "He's the grandson of an old friend of mine. He'll be looking after you from now on."_

_Depth walked over to Sakuzy and stood next to him like a loyal bodyguard. Sakuzy shifted nervously; Depth was a pretty scary-looking guy. This did not stop him from trying a little small talk. "Hey, Depth." Sakuzy said, "I'm Sakuzy."_

"_I know." Depth grunted in response._

_Sakuzy took a slight step back. This guy was obviously not very chatty. "No need to get touchy." Sakuzy pointed out._

"_I don't get touchy." Depth corrected, "I get brutal."_

_THAT certainly got Sakuzy to remain silent for the next few hours. He didn't speak until he was sure that Depth wasn't around. Although he didn't know it, THIS would lead to a great friendship, too…sort of._

_End flashback…_

Sakuzy quickly did a Dodge Roll to evade an oncoming blow from Aquamarine's arm shields. The Futuristic Keyblader brought his Keyblade to meet the Muscular Crystalli's arm blades only to meet a resonating "clang". Aquamarine swung again, but Sakuzy, in an amazing feat, rolled over the arm-shield's flat surface and rolled out on the ground. He was on his feet in a second, and a good thing, too. Aquamarine had tried to chop him into julienne fries again.

"You didn't accidentally get hit." Sakuzy hissed, now locked in a test of strength with Aquamarine, Eagle Feather against arm-shields. "You blocked it, Depth. You took it so I wouldn't have to, and you KNOW it!"

Aquamarine clenched his teeth and growled as he sharply brought his arm-shield away from Eagle Feather. With a single flex of his leg, he kicked Sakuzy in the chest, sending him flying backward. Sakuzy regained his balance, but right there and then, he suddenly realized something.

Aquamarine was doing most of the fighting here. Amethyst was mainly holding back, his staff in one hand, but also intent on watching the outcome of the match. On the purple-clad Crystalli's face was a sick smile…one that reeked of ill content.

Sakuzy snapped back to the fight with Aquamarine and jumped away from an oncoming attack. Aquamarine's arm-shields missed Sakuzy so narrowly, it ruffled his hair and he heard the whistle of it passing through air. He flipped away and landed, but suddenly realized something when he heard a loud whistling noise: he had been suckered. Aquamarine had actually thrown one of his arm-shields at Sakuzy like a giant discus. Sakuzy jumped to the side to avoid it, but it still grazed his left leg. The impact was as though someone had slashed his leg with a sword and he clutched it with a scream in pain. He was then knocked off his feet when Aquamarine's fist slammed into the side of his face.

When Sakuzy looked up, he was met with Aquamarine's remaining shield aimed right at his throat like a knife. "Consider us even, not that you'd know it." Aquamarine growled, his expression as hard as stone.

Sakuzy could only stare up at Aquamarine's sea-green eyes with equal ferocity. His eyes only left the seafarer when he heard Amethyst applauding his comrade. "Well done, Aquamarine. Well done…" he said, a sick smile on his face. He then said two sentences, and six words that chilled him to the core. "Kill him. He can't fight back."

Aquamarine raised his arm blade, but was interrupted when Sakuzy spoke up. "You're going to kill the one who saved your life? Twice, for that matter?" Sakuzy asked, in barely more than a whisper. "You also saved my life." He pointed out, "You blocked that cannonball at Port Royal. I know you're in there, Depth. If Maya broke free, so can you."

Aquamarine froze in place and his arm-shield lowered slightly. Sakuzy's words puzzled him and, as much as Aquamarine hated to say it, he was right. He did save him at Port Royal.

"What're you waiting for?!" Amethyst asked, impatiently, "KILL HIM ALREADY!"

"You have a choice." Sakuzy said, ignoring Amethyst's rambling, "When you became a Crystalli, you were given that. Now, do what you think is right…"

"NO YOU DON'T!" Amethyst barked, "KILL HIM ALREADY!"

Aquamarine's response was to move his arm-shield away from Sakuzy's throat. With a war-like growl, Aquamarine wheeled around before sticking said arm-guard into Amethyst's gut. Amethyst was fine, thanks to the Crystalli in his system, but furious that his teammate would do such a thing.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!" the purple Crystalli demanded in a choked voice.

"Making my choice." Aquamarine replied through clenched teeth.

Amethyst kicked Aquamarine away and, before anyone could register what happened, stabbed his scepter into the crystal embedded in Aquamarine's heart. Aquamarine gasped at the sudden pain, then choked as sea-green blood slowly flowed out of his mouth and fell to one knee with one hand over his heart.

"I killed you, traitor." Amethyst said, voice ringing with cold indifference.

"You have." Aquamarine choked, coughing up bluish green blood, "But you left out ONE fatal factor."

Amethyst cocked an eyebrow in confusion, then realized what Aquamarine had just said. The pain in his thigh confirmed it and he saw the Eagle Feather lodged in his leg.

"No…Not here…" Amethyst cursed, his strength failing. Purple blood flowed from his mouth like water and he fell to the ground in defeat.

Aquamarine looked at Sakuzy one last time, then spoke. "Take Diamond down…" After those three words, he fell down as the last bit of life force left him.

Sakuzy limped toward his friend and gazed down at his lifeless face. "You died an honorable death, old friend." Sakuzy said, falling to one knee. Not in respect, but from exhaustion. The battle with both Amethyst and Aquamarine left him so weak he could barely stand. He then fell facedown on the ground, exhaustion steadily taking him. He saw a group of people running over to him, but he couldn't register who they were when he passed out.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Donald, Goofy, Scott, April, J, and Ryan ran into the room to see the unconscious form of Sakuzy. Aquamarine and Amethyst lay beside him, not moving an inch; they had to be dead.

"Is he…dead?" Ryan asked, the sight of it all shocking him.

April darted over and felt Sakuzy's vital signs. She had been training to be a doctor for years, so when he felt a pulse on the sides of Sakuzy's head

"No, he's still alive." April assured them, "Just exhausted."

"I can believe it." Donald quacked, inspecting him himself, "Will someone carry him?"

"I'll do it." Scott said as he heaved Sakuzy's unconscious form onto his shoulders. He looked around to check for more, then said, "Let's go. Diamond could be out any minute…"

_After a long battle, Sakuzy has finally defeated his rivals. One actually saved him while the other was killed by his hand. What do you think?_


	228. A Promise Kept

Chapter 228: A Promise Kept

Sixth Floor…

Sora and co. continued their trek through Diamond's castle. Riku noticed that Joyex had been unsually quiet.

"Penny for your thoughts." Riku suggested to the half-hearted Nobody.

"It's just, I promised Cloud that I'd take out Topaz for killing Aerith. But we've only met him two times since then and I had my butt handed to me both times." Joyex admitted.

It was true. Even before he promised Cloud that, he'd suffered defeat at the hands of the golden Crystalli, especially at Gamma Quadrant. Another time was in Radiant Garden and the most recent was in the Pride Lands…he still felt the place where Topaz bit him.

"Don't worry." Riku assured him, "I know you've gotten stronger, Joyex."

"Well, I didn't know you cared!" Joyex said, voice ringing with the joking edge he usually had.

"I don't." Riku deadpanned, "But you never know. Maybe he'll show up…"

"Stop! You go no further!" barked a very deep, familiar-sounding voice.

"Oh, man. I hate it when you're right." Joyex groaned.

In a flash of yellow light, Topaz appeared and he didn't look happy. It showed behind the yellow crystal that replaced his eye "Hiya, Vic." Joyex said, indifferently.

"Words do you no justice." Topaz said in a low, growling voice, "I'll use my weapon to silence you this time."

Joyex slapped himself in the forehead. "What have I gotten myself into?" he asked. He glanced over to Sora, "Let me handle this. This is personal. I made a promise to Cloud, and I intend to keep it."

Sora didn't say anything, only nodding. He made for the door and everyone else followed, leaving Joyex to face Topaz.

"Time to do some thrashin'!" Joyex said, his cocky grin appearing on his face as the Chain Thrasher appeared in his hand and sprung into battle.

Topaz rolled his single eye and parried Joyex's oncoming attack with relative ease. Joyex spun to strike again, but Topaz actually blocked the attack without so much as leaving the ground. He blocked each of the Nobody's attacks, even when said Nobody jumped to strike and attempted a sweep attack. Topaz, before he had become a Crystalli had dueled Joey so many times when they were training that he knew the latter's strengths and flaws as well as his own. Joyex was so similar that he was absolutely no different. Topaz could already see the acrobatics that Joey's style used coming out of Joyex's movements.

Joyex jumped in the air and slammed his Keyblade into Topaz's broadsword, then fired the Chain Thrasher to send him rocketing backwards by about ten meters. However, he missed Topaz's crystal eye, so it made no real difference to him. Joyex fired again only to miss Topaz and to wrap around the pillar that supported the wall. One push of a button pulled Joyex down its chain and he ended up rocketing at Topaz with his foot at the ready. The Aristocratic Crystalli simply moved to one side to dodge the kick by inches, actually feeling the wind of the attack passing over him.

Topaz jumped into the air and brought his sword down and Joyex barely rolled out of the way. The sword hit the ground with a resounding "CLANG", but had it hit, Joyex's skull would have been cleaved open.

"Too close." Joyex breathed to himself.

Joyex narrowly avoided having his upper and lower body separated, then activated his Chain Thrasher. Its blade shot out with a sound similar to a shotgun and tied itself around Topaz's blade. With a jerk of Joyex's weapon, the sword flew out of Topaz's hand and buried itself in the ground. Joyex retracted the Chain Thrasher and fired it at Topaz, who grabbed its tip at the last second.

"You never learn, do you?" Topaz asked, almost tauntingly. He then sharply pulled on the Chain Thrasher to bring Joyex closer to him.

"As a matter of fact, I do!" Joyex answered with adrenaline. As he flew through the air, he maneuvered himself so that his foot planted itself into Topaz's face while his other foot swung around to kick Topaz in the face so hard that the Aristocrat Crystalli was sent to the floor, golden blood gushing from his nose.

"So, you DO have some fight in you." Topaz snarled as he stood up, "But you'll need FAR more than that."

Topaz put his nose back into place, then held out his hand and his broadsword flew into his hand. He thrust out his sword only to see Joyex dodge around it like a monkey. Topaz swung again, this time with more muscle. Joyex jumped to avoid the arc of gold, but quickly saw Topaz's sword coming back for his shoulder. He moved to one side, but the blade was a bit TOO fast for him and it left a gash from his left shoulder to his right hip. Joyex howled in pain as he fell to the ground in agony and Topaz laughed at the Nobody's pain.

"What hope did you have, Nobody?" The yellow Crystalli asked, "I was stronger against that weakling, Joey, and I'm STILL stronger against you."

"I'm not dead yet." Joyex snarled to himself, eyes full of rage, "I CAN'T DIE YET! I PROMISED CLOUD!"

Topaz raised the brow of his crystal-embedded eye. "Cloud?" he asked himself, trying to remember why that name rang a bell…and he did soon enough. "Oh, right. I'm guessing that you want to get revenge on me for killing his dear friend, Aerith Gainsborough, right?" Topaz asked. Something then hit him and he sneered at Joyex; a sick, twisted expression that would humiliate anyone. "Don't tell me you had FEELINGS for her!" he taunted, earning a scowl from Joyex, and causing the Crystalli to laugh, "Oh, THAT is too rich!"

Joyex staggered up. He was still able to fight, but that gash was still drenching his shirt with blood. Although he was still standing, Topaz could tell that the Half-Hearted Nobody was already half dead.

"That was low, Vic. Even for YOU. I swore to avenge her because she was a kind person and you chose to end her life." Joyex admitted, but then added, "I also know that Cloud knew the same thing. THAT'S why I was the one who made the promise. So, in other words," Joyex grabbed the Chain Thrasher and pointed it at Topaz, "YOU'RE GOING DOWN! FIRAGA BREAK!"

A gunshot rang through the arena as the fireball shot from the Chain Thrasher's tip like a bullet from a gun. Topaz scoffed in disbelief, then casually moved his head to one side. The entire fireball was absorbed and sent back at Joyex. The Nobody barely dodged around the blow and fired his Chain Thrasher with one word, "SUCKER!"

Topaz then realized that the Nobody was right. He used the Firaga Break with the INTENTION of it getting absorbed and sent back. Topaz's body was immobile for one precious second to deflect the attack, and his line of sight was disrupted, making him blind as to what Joyex was really going to do. Joey was always one of the most intelligent of the Keybladers despite his playful and mischievous nature. It was obvious that Joyex was no different. He pretended to be an idiot to make people underestimate his problem-solving abilities. Joyex had timed his counterattack perfectly. The blade of the Chain Thrasher struck Topaz, right in the crystal eye. The Golden Crystalli screamed in pain as he fell to the ground. Joyex retracted his Keyblade and placed it at Topaz's throat.

The last thing Topaz ever heard was a word he always said when he defeated Joey, but it was coming from the lips of a Nobody with a black ponytail, "That's for Aerith. You're dead." And he was. Topaz coughed up golden blood before the breath he fought for escaped him.

Joyex felt the wound take its toll as one would do anytime they were injured in battle. He fell onto one knee, still clutching at the wound that Topaz gave him. The last thing he saw before unconsciousness took him was Sakuzy running over to him.

_Oh well…at least I kept my promise: sticking my Keyblade into Topaz's eye._

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sakuzy had recovered easily from his encounter with Amethyst and Aquamarine. All he needed was some rest and he was ready to go. At the sight of his friend in pain, Sakuzy took off ahead and grabbed Joyex's hand.

"He's still got a pulse." He said with some kind of relief, "He's alive, but barely." He held out the Eagle Feather and held it up. "HEAL!" Sakuzy shouted. In a flash of green light, Joyex's scar instantly knitted over and his breathing steadied.

"I'll take the moron." J groaned. Now that his conflict with Peridot was over, he felt that now was a good time to get back at the shapeshifting business. He transformed into an elephant to pick Joyex up and flip the unconscious Nobody onto his back.

"Let's keep movin'!" Donald shouted, "If the others found Diamond, they'll need all the help they can get!" The group was on their way again, but little did Sakuzy know that on the next level, only devastation awaited.


	229. Casualty of War

_For this song, I'd like to hear Mirror by Barlow Girl, Maya's theme song._

Chapter 229: Casualty of War

Seventh Floor…

Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Maya continued on their way. Maya was silent for the whole climb. First the boy she loved was left behind, then his best friend. What if Sakuzy died by Amethyst's hand, or even Aquamarine's? Joyex was willing to, seeing as he wouldn't completely fade from the universe if they trumped Diamond, but Sakuzy…

"They'll be okay." Maya turned to the speaker; Sora was there, giving her a confident smile. "Trust me. I thought Sakuzy was dead before, but he came back." He pointed out, in reference to when he thought Sakuzy was sucked into a black hole. "He dies hard."

Maya thought it over, then looked at Sora with a soft expression. "Thanks, Sora." She replied with a slight nod. Still, Maya could hardly believe that she was actually talking to Sakuzy's great grandfather.

"And here's where the Crystalli comes in to face one of us." Riku said as they reached another floor of the palace.

"Boy, you're faster than I suspected." Said a deep, female voice. In a flash of bluish-green light, Turquoise appeared at the room's center. She looked the group over, then pointed at Maya before saying, "I'll be fighting YOU, traitor."

Maya's eyebrows scrunched down. She hated it when people spoke of her time as a Crystalli. "Why should I be considered a traitor?" Maya asked, coolly, "I never wanted to join the Crystalli anyway. You FORCED me to."

"Yet you worked for us without question." Turquoise stated, her eyes closed. She opened her eyes again, ignoring the angered Maya in front of her, then said to the remaining three, "Move along."

Sora paused for one second, worrying about what Maya was going to do about this. But on seeing her gesture with her head, he took off for the exit. Riku and Kairi took off after him, leaving Maya to whatever fate awaited her.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Maya glowered at Turquoise with cold, green eyes, then summoned the Two-Winged Angel Keyblade. It seemed a strange twist of fate: one who was originally the wall-flower of the Crystalli going up against the most powerful female fighter.

"I'll make this quick." Turquoise said, summoning her armbands. With two sharp grating sounds, blades sprung out of the bands and she held them out with a certain amount of elegance. "Come."

Maya followed that last word in a split second, leaping at Turquoise and swinging her Keyblade down sharply. Turquoise swiftly deflected the blow and parried another one with relative ease. Without even breaking a sweat, the bluish Crystalli made a slash at Maya's face, the latter of the two avoiding serious injury by inches. The silver-haired girl fell back to the ground, landing on her feet, then felt the wound. She winced as she touched her flesh and also felt blood dye her finger red.

Maya didn't have time to contemplate her injury and sidestepped an attack from Turquoise's forearm blades. She swung her Keyblade and struck Turquoise full in the chest. Maya swung her Keyblade and brought it slicing down only to see the Crystalli avoid it and then step on the blade's end. Before Maya knew it, Turquoise kicked her on the side of the head and sent her tumbling sideways.

"It doesn't matter how hard you try, Maya." Turquoise pointed out as Maya got back on her feet.

"Glad to see you got the name right…" Maya grunted, wanting to be strong in front of her opponent. She brought her Keyblade up in a defensive ready. Turquoise then remembered the design of Maya's Keyblade just in time to dodge around the attack.

"No matter how hard you try," Turquoise continued, dodging around another blow and slicing at Maya's legs, narrowly missing her, "You cannot beat me, nor can you deny the fact you were in with the Crystalli."

"SHUT UP!" Maya screamed, swinging her Keyblade towards Turquoise's head. The Goth Crystalli dodged around and slashed at Maya's arm. Maya yelled in pain as she fell to the ground, blood staining her sleeve with scarlet blood.

"It's pointless." Turquoise deadpanned, placing a blade to Maya's throat and pricking it. A trickle of blood came out of it the hole it made. "Give up and die."

"NOT ON YOUR LIFE!" On those words, Maya swiftly swung her Keyblade to slice the blade off of Turquoise's armband. The blade clattered to the floor and for the first time, Turquoise actually looked shocked: wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

Turquoise's shocked expression disappeared to be quickly replaced by pure rage. "Why you insolent, little…" Turquoise's insult never came out, because Maya slashed her Keyblade, making a gash in Turquoise's midsection. Blue-green blood literally burst out of her wound and Maya jumped back before it healed over. Turquoise snarled before slashing at Maya, but only hitting a Keyblade on each strike.

Maya flipped back, then held her Keyblade up as if the heavens could swallow it. "Prepare to meet my family's strongest move!" Maya snarled, "TWILIGHT AURA!"

Maya slowly hovered in the air until she was a meter above ground, then vanished without a trace. The next thing Turquoise knew, Maya flew at her out of nowhere to strike. Once, twice, thrice, four times in a row Maya came at the Goth Crystalli, each attack shedding blood and leaving a golden light trail behind her. To top it all off, Maya planted her Keyblade in the ground and orange flames sprung out of it in a circle formation. Turquoise ran out of the path of the flames, so she avoided any further damage.

As the wounds from the Twilight Aura healed over, Turquoise scowled at Maya, who was now just in front of her. "You expected that to actually work?" Turquoise asked, coldly.

Maya didn't know what happened next, because a split second later, the Crystalli Host picked up her severed blade and thrust it into Maya's midsection. Maya grunted in pain, but it soon turned into a cry of pure agony as the blade went deeper in her, piercing tissue, muscle, and organ alike.

Turquoise removed the blade and let Maya fall to her knees, clutching her wound in an attempt to keep her blood in. As Maya coughed violently, Turquoise smiled her frightening smile again. "Don't worry. You won't die…immediately." she said to her, "I did enough damage to kill you within this minute. I want to watch you die, and when your little boyfriend gets here, I'll finish him off, too."

"I…don't…think so!" Maya's words started out as a cough, but quickly turned into a determined roar. She summoned her Keyblade and swung it at Turquoise with whatever strength she had left. The Goth Crystalli dodged the first blow, but forgot one crucial detail: the other end. It came up to meet her and went right through the crystal on her forehead.

Turquoise's sky-blue eyes widened as blood trickled down the wound and soon started to stream down her mouth. Her eyes were wide, remaining so even when blood rushed over them, blotting her vision. "Why…did you leave?" Turquoise asked, coughing up greenish blue blood by now.

In an ironic twist of fate, Turquoise was now on her knees, but Maya barely had enough strength to stand. She looked down at the Crystalli, her strength failing, but wanting to be strong. "Because…it's…the right…thing…" Maya answered, weakly.

Turquoise's form fell sideways to crash into the floor while Maya looked up at the sky, a dark fog covering her eyes. "Sakuzy…I always loved you…" she whispered before falling to the ground. A last breath escaped her lips and her mouth curved into a smile as she let the fog take her.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

The survivors arrived in the chamber and saw two forms, laying perfectly still…and both of them female. But among them, one stood out to Joyex and Sakuzy: the younger of the two, whose silver hair spread out to the side.

"Oh no…" Joyex said, hopping down from J and uneasily getting his footing back, "I hope that's not who I think it is!" he said, rushing over to them, but apparently Sakuzy beat him there.

"NO!" Sakuzy screamed. He ran over to Maya's body and got down to gently lift her off the crystal floor. Her face was serene in death and a small trickle of blood came from the corner of her mouth. "No…" he prayed to himself, then let it all out. He hugged her lifeless body to his own and let the tears fall down and dampen her blood-stained shirt. "SHE CAN'T BE DEAD!"

Donald went over to Maya and inspected her body…then he shook his head with a sad look in his eye. "I'm sorry, Sakuzy." Donald said, sympathetically, "There's nothing I can do…"

Sakuzy placed his head onto Maya's lifeless one, then placed his lips on her own as though this would bring her back. It didn't, and Sakuzy noticed that she was still warm.

"She died of blood loss and exhaustion." J said, solemnly. The shapeshifter knew EXACTLY what the Future Keyblader was going through. He then said, placing his hand on Sakuzy's shoulder, "She didn't die for nothing. She killed Turquoise, and it's most likely she was going to kill you when you got here." J gestured at the ruin of Turquoise, which lay sprawled out on its side.

Scott glanced down at his feet. He then looked up and said to Donald, "Can we have a moment?" Donald nodded. Scott walked over to stay in the front of the group and said, in a somewhat shaky voice, "I'm…not the best when it comes to eulogizing people, so I'll go with this." Scott took a deep breath before solemnly saying, "Let us 'ave a moment and remember Maya. NOT the cold Crystalli she once was, but the good friend she became to us, no matter how short a time it was. She was taken by the wrong side, but deep inside, her heart was pure and would not harm Sakuzy in any way."

Sakuzy still held Maya's body to his face as the rest stayed silent. Suddenly, a familiar voice addressed him.

"Sakuzy, look at her." Sakuzy took Joyex's advice and noticed what it was before Joyex even pointed it out. "I think she's smiling."

It was true. Sakuzy could barely make out the ghost of a smile on Maya's face; her last smile. She had died fighting to save the universe, to save him, and to make sure Diamond would be stopped.

"I know this is hard, Sakuzy, but we can't give up." April said, putting a hand on Sakuzy's shoulder, "And who knows? If you stop Diamond, she'll never have been infected by the Crystalli and she'll be back to her original self, alive and well."

Sakuzy's eyes flared open, filled with a righteous fury. He gently set Maya back down on the crystal floor, then summoned forth Eagle Feather. "They're going to PAY for this!" He then heaved the weapon over his shoulder and took off. The others followed, knowing that Sakuzy would fight to the death to avenge Maya.

Now Sakuzy knows how J felt about Maria's death. Next is Riku's turn. I don't think I'll have to say who he fights.


	230. Rematch

Chapter 230: Rematch

Eighth Floor…

Sora, Riku, and Kairi were the only three at the beginning of their journey across the worlds two years ago. Now, they were the last three advancing through Diamond's palace.

"One more floor and we can finally stop Diamond." Sora said, trying to put new heart into his friends. He had learned, long ago, that confidence was the main factor between victory and defeat.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Replied a coarse, English accent. In a flash of blue, Sapphire appeared at the gateway. "Now, I've had my fun with Sora and Riku." He said, remembering his past battles, then pointed at Kairi, "I think I'll fight you next, princess."

Kairi recoiled as Sapphire pointed at her while Sora simply positioned himself between the two. "You want her? Come through me first!" the Keyblade Master challenged.

Sapphire's look was that of indifference as he simply said, "Hardly worth the time. You're no threat to me, Sora, so I'll keep this quick."

Sora almost took a step towards Sapphire, but Riku put an arm out to stop him. "No, Sora." He said, shaking his head, "I'll handle this."

"Why can't I have him?" Sora asked, angrily trying to push Riku's arm away and failing. He hated to admit it, but Riku was stronger than he thought he was, physically.

"Sora," Riku said, turning to face him, "If anyone's to defeat Diamond, it has to be YOU. Not me, not Kairi, YOU. There's no other way for this to end."

Sora took in Riku's words, then knew how it was supposed to be. He had defeated Xehanort's Heartless, Marluxia (though he didn't know it), and most of Organization XIII single-handed. Sure, Riku helped him against Xemnas, but Sora still did most of the fighting.

"Okay." Sora said, then turned to Kairi, "Let's go." Kairi nodded, then they made for the exit.

Sapphire made to follow, but Riku was soon in his way. "Uh-uh-uh!" Riku said, Way to Dawn in his hand, "I think we still have a score to settle."

Sapphire rolled his ocean-blue eyes. "I've already fought you back at Prydain and you lost." Sapphire replied, blandly, "What makes you think I won't just kill you this time?"

"Care to try?" Riku asked, summoning the Way to Dawn, "If it's so easy, why leave?"

Sapphire stroked the sides of his thin beard, then shrugged of all things. "On your own head, be it." Sapphire said, bringing out his fan blades.

Sapphire's blade fans flashed into his hands, and then the two started circling each other like lions getting ready for a fight…which wasn't too far from the truth.

"Come." Sapphire challenged, his blades at the ready.

Riku obeyed instantly and charged in with a roar, swinging the Way to Dawn down at the Crystalli. Sapphire met him in midair, the fan blades catching the blow and diverting it to land, harmlessly, on the ground. Riku jumped back to avoid Sapphire's oncoming slash and jumped up before swinging the wing-shaped Keyblade into Sapphire's fans. Riku saw an opportune moment and swung his fist around the blades to catch the Elder Crystalli on the side of his face.

Riku's punch sent Sapphire stumbling backward slightly and Riku took that opportune moment to swing at Sapphire. The blue Crystalli simply began to flip backward with each of Riku's attacks, the wielder of darkness chasing after him. When Sapphire finally stopped flipping, Riku saw that he actually landed two blows on him. They were only minor wounds, but it was something he hadn't done before: harm one of the strongest Crystalli Hosts.

Sapphire regained his composure and countered an oncoming blow from Riku, the boy narrowly avoiding decapitation. He quickly deflected a blow and swung at Riku's midsection. Riku barely dodged this attack, but another slice from Sapphire's blade cut across Riku's right forearm, shedding crimson blood to blend with the ocean blue of the blood spilled from Sapphire. To top it all off, Sapphire spun on his heel and sharply brought the ball of his foot into Riku's jawbone. Riku rolled as he hit the ground, getting back on his feet and jumping clean over Sapphire, who had just charged him.

Riku landed back on the ground, but continued his fight. He held out his hand as though saying "stop" and shouted, "DARK FIRAGA!"

Sapphire sighed in exasperation, then asked, "You never learn, do you?" He swiftly raised his left forearm and the crystal embedded in it absorbed the silvery fireball and sent it right back at Riku as a bolt of blue energy.

Riku cursed himself for not remembering his encounter with Sapphire in Prydain and jumped out of the energy's path…mere moments too late. Riku's leg got hit by the blazing-hot energy and he felt a burning sensation that he hadn't ever felt…not since he fought his replica in Castle Oblivion. Riku fell to the ground and clutched his injured leg.

"And you're the Key-bearer who uses Darkness." Sapphire snorted, "And yet, you're on the ground after a few blows with an injured arm and burned leg. All I can say is I'm still not impressed."

Riku, in a rage, pulled Way to Dawn out and with speed that surprised Sapphire, landed an attack on Sapphire's left hand. Sapphire grunted in surprise and pain, because that swing had cut off three of his fingers. Sapphire's little finger and thumb still kept the fan blade in his hand while blue blood gushed from the wound. However, Riku was close enough to see bones quickly sprout from the blue muscle, then the same muscle material swirled around the bony digits, and finally skin enveloped them all until it was as though Sapphire hadn't even been injured.

"So, you can regenerate body parts, too?" Riku asked with slight disgust. He only saw something even worse than that once: Crescent at the Carnival of Chaos.

"Precisely." Sapphire answered, flexing his fingers to get feeling back in them. When he was used to the feeling in his fingers, Sapphire went on the attack again.

_He's moving too quickly._ Riku thought, savagely, _I can't get a blow in!_

It was true. Each step that Sapphire took was an attack, and each attack was a step, restricting Riku's ability to counterattack. If Riku slowed down when it came to defense, he would have been carved to ribbons in seconds. Riku spun his Keyblade around to deflect a blow from Sapphire, but another blow was there to replace the one Riku deflected.

"It's no use, Riku." Sapphire taunted, "Just give up already. The Crystalli have won. You lost. You put up an excellent fight, but still lost."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Riku roared. He swung his Keyblade out of the blow and stabbed at Sapphire. The blue Crystalli took the blows without question as blue blood poured out, yet he didn't look angry or hurt at all, just bored.

"It doesn't look like you have anything." Sapphire sighed, then took it right there and then to end the fight. He sweep-kicked Riku, sending the boy to the ground in an instant, and stood over the Dark Keyblader with all the authority of an executioner. He held out his fan to Riku's neck and the dark wielder sensed the end…until he realized which arm Sapphire was using.

"And now, Riku…" Sapphire said with a proud smile, "You will die."

"NOT YET!" Riku countered. With a flash of white sparkles, Way to Dawn reappeared in his left hand. Before Sapphire even had time to realize he had been suckered, Riku brought his Keyblade cutting across Sapphire's left forearm. Sapphire gasped suddenly as his valuable life force suddenly left him, then clutched his shattered crystal like it would fall off. He fell to the ground, ocean-blue blood pouring from his mouth.

Yet, despite his suffering, Sapphire managed to smile…a weak smile, but a grin nonetheless. "All my life, I've searched for a worthy opponent…" Sapphire said, weakly, but showing a sign of satisfaction, "And I finally did…Thank you…" He thanked in a shuddering voice. Sapphire breathed one last time, then died, the ghost of his last smile on his face.

Riku sighed in relief and exhaustion, but couldn't help but feel happy for Sapphire. The old man had finally found a worthy opponent in his last moments.

"Hey, Riku!"

Riku turned around to spot the others running towards him. The person who shouted was none other than Joyex. Riku smiled at their arrival, then noticed that someone was missing…something was wrong. "Where's Maya?" he asked.

There was a long silence, but only Sakuzy could bring up the words. "Dead."

Riku felt like an icy-cold hand had gripped his heart once more. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, mournfully. "I'm sorry, Sakuzy." Riku said, meaning every word of it.

"There will be a time to mourn Maya." J told them, his voice low and serious, "But NOW, we've got to move."

"Why?" Riku asked.

J simply jabbed a thumb behind him. The group saw a huge bestiary of Crystalli advancing on them. Donald cast a quick Heal spell on Riku, whose injuries healed in an instant.

"Remind me WHY we're fighting these things again." Joyex said, Chain Thrasher at the ready.

"Because we need to keep them off Sora." Sakuzy answered, "We can't let them help Diamond get an edge over Sora."

The group readied their weapons, save the superhumans. J cracked his knuckles, Scott caused the wrist blades to spring out of his hands, April hovered above the ground, and Ryan held out two sun balls in his hands.

"We could DIE here, mate." Scott said to J.

"You've said that a lot." J replied, his eyes scrunched into focused slits, "But again, that's what we have to live with."

"CHARGE!" Donald screamed. The group then ran into the army of Crystalli drones.

The next chapter is the final battle with Diamond! Stay tuned…


	231. The Final Battle

Chapter 231: The Final Battle

Quartz landed on the roof of Diamond's Palace, shifting to his true form in a flurry of shifting parts. He gripped a crystal spire, then searched around for his younger brother with every intention of killing him. But he also remembered that Sora had the Pure Heart he kept with him.

"This is going to be harder than I thought…" Quartz said to himself.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and Kairi entered the room, which was easily bigger than the Throne Room of Disney Castle. This had to be the throne room, judging by the massive crystal chair that was at the room's far end.

"Keep your Keyblade out." Sora advised, summoning the Ultima Weapon.

"Good idea." Kairi replied, summoning the Flowering Strength.

The two walked around the empty room, searching for the worst to come, and their heartbeats increased as the tension began to sink in. Every footstep seemed to cause a five on the Richter scale, for they echoed across the room.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sora noticed a red flash. He glanced to where he saw it only to see a boulder made of diamond. Nothing…Wait. No, it wasn't a boulder it was…

"GIVE ME THAT HEART, BOY!"

The "boulder" quickly shifted into Diamond in a flurry of moving parts and he charged after Sora like a stampeding elephant. Sora stumbled in surprise before running to Kairi.

"IT'S HIM!" Sora shouted, "BE READY!"

Kairi almost screamed at the sight of Diamond, but summoned her Keyblade as Sora slid between Diamond's legs and slashed at the giant Crystalli's ankles. The blows bounced off, doing no damage to Diamond's crystal hide.

"Keyblades cannot harm my armor, boy!" Diamond growled, "Your pathetic friend tried before, but he learned the hard way…" Diamond had Sora right where he wanted him, but he had just reached down to pick him up when…

"LIGHT!"

Kairi's spell shot a blast of white energy that hit Diamond's wrist, knocking his giant hand away in the nick of time. Sora dashed away as Diamond tried again only to meet another Light Spell. and held out his Keyblade.

"DEFENSE!" Sora shouted. He was surrounded by a shield of small pentagons as he dodged another blow from Diamond and began to scale his arm. He reached the Tyrant Crystalli's head and began lashing at the monster's eyes. Diamond roared, in frustration rather than pain, then batted Sora aside, causing him to fall off the shoulder.

"SORA!" Kairi shrieked in fright. She pulled out her Keyblade and shouted, "WIND!"

A tornado whirled out of Kairi's Keyblade. Good thing, too, because it slowed Sora's descent. She caught Sora before he landed.

"Thanks, Kairi, I…" Sora then noticed something that was bouncing across the crystal floor towards Diamond—the Pure Heart! It fell out of his pocket while he was falling! "THE PURE HEART!"

Sora and Kairi took off towards it, but unfortunately, Diamond noticed it, too. "MINE!" he snarled, reaching out his hand as the heart eagerly hopped towards him.

Diamond would have snatched up the Pure Heart…if not for an intervention. A huge milky-white Gummi Ship crashed through the crystal walls and shifted in mid-flight to slam into Diamond in a shoulder-tackle. The sheer force bowled Diamond right off his feet while Quartz regained his balance and readied himself.

"It's you and me this time, Diamond." Quartz growled, his visor sliding over his face.

"No, it's just ME, Quartz!" Diamond growled, getting back to his feet, "You chose to protect this puny organic, so you will share its fate: DEATH!

Quartz charged and brought his crystal fist across Diamond's face. The hit almost knocked one of Diamond's teeth out, but the tyrant of all Crystalli recovered from the blow and seized his brother's arm. He then applied pressure to it so that one of his claws pierced Quartz's arm and hit a special part of him. He had disabled Quartz's energy saber. Quartz wrenched his arm free, then used his other arm to form into a cannon to hit Diamond in the chest with a burst of plasma.

The explosion of energy caused Diamond to stagger back, but he shifted one arm into his mace and smashed the spike-ball across Quartz's face, sending the older of the two staggering. Diamond made to seize Quartz by the head only to meet Quartz's elbow in his midsection. Quartz turned to face Diamond, but Diamond grabbed Quartz by the head and smashed his head into Quartz's cranium, sending him to the ground with a grunt.

"STAY DOWN!" Diamond snarled at his brother, then turned to try and spot the Pure Heart. Unfortunately, he spotted that disgusting key-bearer roll across the palace floor to grab the Pure Heart and pocket it. Diamond snarled in pure anger, then tossed Quartz aside as if he were nothing. "GIVE ME THAT HEART, BOY!" Diamond roared as he thundered after them.

The engines of Diamond's vehicle form seemed to come from his back as well as a small pair of wings. The engines emitted a blue fire as Diamond rocketed forward. Sora's response was to grab Kairi's hand and take off with her trailing behind. The two were running through the cavernous throne room with the monster of a Crystalli on their tails.

As the two hid behind a giant crystal, Diamond deactivated his jets to allow for better control over himself. "I SMELL BOTH OF YOU!" Diamond snarled to the air around him.

"What now?" Kairi asked in a whisper. The last thing she wanted was for that monster to hear them.

Sora's eyes darted around and caught sight of something—namely an opening. "I think I have an idea." Sora answered. The two ran for the opening in hopes of getting to open ground for better attack, but Diamond spotted them and crashed towards them.

"YOU CANNOT RUN FOREVER!" Diamond roared.

"WATCH US!" Sora snapped behind him. Suddenly, he and Kairi changed direction and ran right between Diamond's legs and made for the opening.

"Maggots." Diamond cursed when he realized he'd been suckered, "Guess I'll have to get INTO this Keyblader to defeat him…"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and Kairi made for the opening as fast as they could, not even taking the precaution to look back. Only one thing was left for them to do—keep the Pure Heart away from Diamond at all costs.

Suddenly, a sharp noise like that of an engine rang through the room and Sora was knocked facedown on the floor. He quickly shot back up when he heard a scream.

"KAIRI!"

It was true: Diamond was now flying away with Kairi in his crystal hand. But Sora also heard something else shifting and Quartz had him on his shoulder now. "Hold on tight!" the Crystalli warned before activating his own jets.

Sora was very thankful that he had grabbed one of Quartz's ear-like antenna, because it was the fastest thing he had been on in a while. He had a feeling that neither Quartz nor Diamond could go top speed with just a jetpack of sorts, but it was still fast.

Quartz closed in on Diamond and Sora slowly made his way to Quartz's other shoulder. When Quartz was close enough, Sora jumped to latch onto Diamond's foot. Diamond could feel the Keyblader there and thrashed his leg to try and get the little parasite off.

Sora could feel Diamond trying to dislodge him, but he quickly latched onto the Crystalli's thigh. Soon, he was on Diamond's side and clambering up his arm: the one that had a screaming Kairi in its grip.

Sora was now on Diamond's wrist and summoned Ultima Weapon to his hand, but was soon met with Diamond's giant crimson eye. "How many lives do you possess?!" the Crystalli snarled as he prepared to swat Sora off. However, another hand seized his forearm and Diamond turned in surprise to see Quartz, flying level with him and holding back his hand.

"I don't think so." Quartz said, almost growling at his brother. Without even holding back, Quartz punched Diamond in the face and sent him swerving to the side.

When Diamond bucked, Sora almost fell several stories to his death, but managed to wedge the Ultima Weapon into Diamond's knuckle: namely his thumb.

"BLAST!" Sora shouted.

Diamond's thumb exploded off his hand. Sure, his whole body may have been made from Diamond, but the digit was made of parts. The blast was a very powerful, very hard push from the knuckle's inside, and that push managed to force it apart. Diamond roared in pain and did one thing that Sora was hoping he wouldn't…he released Kairi from several stories up.

"HANG ON!" Sora shouted, adrenaline in his veins. In a daring move, he jumped down after Kairi.

The wind whipped through Kairi's hair and the scream she emitted was even drowned out by the sheer noise of the wind. Suddenly, she felt someone take a hold of her middle and shout "GRAVIGA!"

The drop suddenly slowed to a descent, and Kairi soon found herself on the roof of Diamond's palace. Sora had saved her again. Before she could utter a "thank you", however, Diamond and Quartz smashed through the wall of Diamond's palace in a lower floor.

"Any other ideas?" Kairi asked.

Before Sora had an answer, the victor of that clash of titans for the moment was decided. Diamond smashed through the ceiling like it was glass, emerging from it like some kind of monster in a movie he saw. Sora shepherded Kairi behind him as Diamond crawled out of the hole he created, steadily getting to his feet.

"Is it fear or courage that compels you, organic?" Diamond snarled. He got closer and scraped his claws again, causing both to cringe at the sharp noise. "Give me the heart and both you and your girlfriend can live to be my PETS!"

Sora weighed the fate of the universe to his own life. It was no contest. "Never!"

Diamond's expression was of disappointment. "So unwise, but that's expected of an organic." Diamond said in a low, dangerous-sounding growl. He pulled out his mace and smashed it down of the ledge, shattering their only standpoint.

The two fell in a free fall, holding tight to each other. Kairi held onto Sora's jacket and Sora held Kairi close to him, preparing for whatever fate awaited them: good or bad.

"I gotcha, you two!" A giant hand grabbed Sora and Kairi. The two opened their eyes to see their savior—Quartz. "Hold on TIGHT!" Quartz shifted into a smaller version of his Gummi Ship mode and took off towards the ground below.

Diamond caught sight of Quartz before he flew off and roared, "NO YOU DON'T!" And in a reverse of things that happened in Twilight Town, Diamond jumped off his palace rooftop and landed on Quartz in midair. The attack damaged one of Quartz's wings and he fell, spiraling to the ground. He shifted before he hit and kicked Diamond away before tucking Sora and Kairi into his chest, trying to protect them from the impact about to come.

Quartz crashed into the ground with the force of a meteor strike , piling up the world's surface as he slid across it. Not far away, Diamond was already coming to, but Quartz had gotten there first. He had protected Sora after all…

"Sora…" Quartz said, getting Sora's attention, "You risked your life to save Kairi and the Pure Heart…"

Sora nodded slowly, then pointed out, "My friends are my power. I won't lose them…"

Quartz nodded, then rose into a sitting position. "If the worst should come, Sora, stab the Pure Heart." Quartz ordered as he stood up and gently placed them on the ground, "I will give my life to keep Diamond from spreading his reign."

"Quartz…" Kairi said, concern in her voice.

"Get behind me." Quartz ordered, taking a step forward. The two obeyed as Diamond arrived, Quartz cracking his knuckles. "Leave Sora and Kairi alone." The elder of the two said in a low voice, "Your fight is with me."

"And so it is…" Diamond said, malice in his tone, "Unfortunately for you, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO LOSE!"

Diamond roared as he pulled out his mace, then leapt at Quartz, swinging his mace down to smash Quartz into the ground. Quartz sidestepped it and grabbed Diamond by the shoulders. He kneed his brother in the gut, but soon Diamond dropped his weight and the two began rolling around, exchanging punches like professional boxers.

After a struggle, Quartz stood up and tossed Diamond clean into the air to send the tyrant crashing into the ground. The Elder Crystalli's hand shifted into a cannon again, and he shot a barrage of plasma bolts at Diamond. The blasts hit Diamond, but didn't seem to significantly injure him.

The Tyrant Crystalli's response was to wheel around and bring the back of his hand into Quartz's face. "YOU ALWAYS FOUGHT FOR THE WEAK!" Diamond snarled as he seized Quartz with his still-whole hand while his other aided in picking the rest of him up, "THAT IS WHY YOU LOST EVERY TIME!" With a grunt-turning-roar, he hurled Quartz into the ground with enough force to shatter the diamond floor.

"QUARTZ!" Sora shouted, running out to him.

Quartz heard him, apparently, because he got on his knees and said, "Sora! Destroy the Pure Heart NOW! He's too strong!"

"GIVE IT TO ME!" Diamond snarled, advancing on Sora with a predatorial roar.

Sora's response was to run over to Diamond and place the heart into Diamond's chest. The Heart phased through the diamond armor as if it were water, then began to pulsate a white light.

"SORA, NO!" Quartz shouted.

Diamond looked at the glowing inside him, then emitted a loud, echoing cackle. "Yes…YES! The power! The universe is MINE!!!" he roared to the heavens.

"What did you DO?!" Kairi asked in sheer shock of what happened.

"It's bonded with him." Sora explained, "If we stab the heart, we'll kill Diamond as well! You're safe now, Quartz!"

"Keyblades can't get through his armor!" Kairi pointed out, "How can we get through?"

Sora quickly thought it over, then said, "I have one last trick." He placed a hand on Quartz's arm and shouted, "DRIVE!"

As light engulfed Sora and Quartz, Sora felt as if his entire body would explode. THIS was probably a side effect of doing the Drive with someone as big as Quartz. But then the expanding sensation subsided and Sora felt…reborn in some way.

When the flash of light cleared, Kairi gasped at the sight. Sora's clothes were a bright yellow color and sparkled like diamond. Shards of crystals were emblazoned onto his shorts as did it protrude from his shoulders. The most noticeable feature was that the entire left half of his face was the same kind of crystal as Quartz's armor-like hide. His left arm was the same type of crystal as well as his right leg. The crystals didn't appear to be infecting Sora, but were more along the lines of united beings. They were helping him all this time.

Sora's eyes suddenly glowed the same way that Quartz's did. "You have done something Diamond could not comprehend." Quartz's voice said, "You created balance between the organic and inorganic."

Sora's eyes returned to normal as he admired his body, then said, "Now, let's see if it can kill him!" Sora said, summoning his Keyblade. It had the same basic look of the first Ultima Weapon, except it was made out of pure diamond. "I think I'll call it Crystalli Hero." Sora said, spinning the weapon in his hand.

"NOW, SORA!" Quartz barked.

Sora listened to Quartz and dodged around the oncoming hand and swung his Keyblade at Diamond's wrist. Normally, any Keyblade that struck Diamond would have no effect whatsoever, but THIS Keyblade actually carved through Diamond's hide. Diamond roared in agony as his hand fell to the ground, but felt the pain again when Sora jumped and spun to sever his leg just above the knee.

"WHAT?!" Diamond asked, falling to his knees, "How can you have this POWER?!"

Sora didn't answer, because he went right under Diamond, positioned his Keyblade, and stabbed upward with Crystalli Hero. It melted right through Diamond's armor and impaled the Pure Heart, leaving a burning-hot hole in it.

When Sora removed Crystalli Hero, Diamond clutched at the pain in his chest, then felt something on his remaining hand. When he got a good look at it to find that it was a molten substance the color of fire. He coughed violently and convulsed, almost as though he was having a fit. Inside him, the Pure Heart exploded in a shower of shards, causing Diamond's fit to come to an abrupt end. He fell to the ground and his crimson eyes flickered to black. The millennia-old reign of Diamond was over at last.

Sora's Drive with Quartz ended and Sora almost collapsed if Kairi didn't catch him and set him back on his feet. The Elder Crystalli walked over to Diamond's corpse and said, solemnly, "You gave me no choice, brother…"

Sora was amazed. Quartz's brother had tried to enslave the universe, yet he still felt pity for him.

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was fighting the army of Crystalli, but suddenly the Crystalli stopped what they were doing on the spot. They slouched over and remained perfectly still. Good thing, too, because a Soldier had its gun right at Ryan's head and was just about to fire.

"What's going on?" Donald asked, curiously looking an inactive Destroyer over.

"I think…" Sakuzy said, light dawning on his face, "I think that Diamond's dead…he can't command them anymore! Look!" To emphasize what he just said, Sakuzy pushed a Paladin, causing it to topple over on its back.

Thundering footsteps heralded the arrival of Sora, Kairi, and Quartz. They were battered, but not fatally injured. "It's true." Quartz announced, "The disease of Diamond has been destroyed."

On hearing those words, everyone cheered and exchanged hugs between themselves…except J, who simply folded his arms and glowered at the motionless Crystalli. It was strange, though, because when J didn't applaud, he wasn't alone.

Riku turned, then noticed that Joyex's fingers were slowly dissolving into darkness. "Sorry, guys. This is the end of the trail for me." Joyex said, sadly, "It's been fun…but my duty's done. Diamond's dead, so the Crystalli never invaded."

Sakuzy walked over to Joyex and nodded solemnly. "Thanks, Joyex." Sakuzy said, his voice quiet.

"Nah, thank YOU, Sakuzy." Joyex replied. He glanced over to Riku and ask, "Riku, could you do one thing for me?"

"What?" Riku asked.

Joyex darted over to Riku and began to noogie him. "Say it! Who's your daddy?!" he suggested.

"You are." Riku said, blandly, before playfully shouting, "Now, GET OFF ME!"

Joyex released Riku, then stood before the group as his body began to fade into nonexistence. He waved good-bye as he finally vanished…it was as if he had never been there…

Sakuzy took in the fact that Joyex was gone now, then took out the time machine he had stashed in his pocket. "Well, see ya on the other side." He said, solemnly, "It's the end of the trail for ME, too. And I believe that Maya's waiting for me, alive and well."

Sakuzy almost pressed the button on his gadget, but soon saw Sora and the others. He went over to Sora and put a hand on his great-grandfather's shoulder. "Goodbye, Sora."

Sora smiled, then hugged his descendant. "Will I see you again?" he asked, ending the hug.

Sakuzy could only smile. "Only time will tell, Sora." He replied, "Odds are you probably will."

Sakuzy took a step back, then pressed the button and waved goodbye. In a burst of green light, he disappeared to the future. Riku glanced down to see Sapphire's body and found that it had actually vanished in a burst of blue light.

"Looks like Joyex was right." Riku said with a smile, "All the damage that the Crystalli have done is being repaired."

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

Sora and Kairi jumped for joy and embraced each other, victory adrenaline rushing through their systems. But their celebration was cut short when the ground began to shake.

"What's going on?" April asked in fright. She had NEVER liked earthquakes, though she never admitted it.

"The world's being destroyed." Quartz answered, "Without the Pure Heart, this entire world will be torn apart." He then glanced over to the castle, "Let's get going…" Quartz shifted into his Gummi mode and beamed up Sora, Kairi, and everyone else in the castle.

While in space, Sora and Kairi peered through a rear viewport and saw the Crystal Empire collapse and eventually explode. They barely cleared the shockwave of the explosion. It was finally over…

_That is Quartz's Unity Drive. In this mode, Sora creates perfect balance between organic and inorganic matter and can use the Crystal Hero Keyblade, which can carve through even the toughest of substances and hit the shatterpoint._

Well, that just about wraps it up, save one or two more chapters!


	232. Goodbye or is it?

Chapter 232: Goodbye…or is it?

The next morning, Sora walked out to see everyone in the main living quarters. But one was missing from their number: a certain Prince of Heart.

"He's gone…isn't he?" Sora asked, taking a seat next to Kairi.

"Quartz must've dropped him off at Radiant Garden while we were asleep." She said with a nod. She soon felt Sora's arm on her shoulder and soon hugged him while tucking her red head of hair in the crook of his neck.

Ryan was quiet for a second, then said, "Never thought I'd say this, but I miss his death threats already."

Donald stared at Ryan in amazement. "Wow." He quacked, "Never thought I'd hear THAT from you."

Goofy sniffled slightly, then heard someone ask, "What's going on?"

"Oh, we're just sad 'cuz you're at Radiant Garden and we're gonna miss ya." Goofy answered, glumly, not even noticing the look of awe on everyone else's faces. "Kairi's gonna miss ya the most, 'cuz you're a part of her true family and she'll feel a little lonely."

For a few seconds, Goofy simply sat there, then recognized who he was talking to. "WAIT A MINUTE!" he exclaimed.

There he was: his black jacket, his blue jeans, everything on him…except his sunglasses, which were most likely in a pocket.

"What's going on?" Sora asked, "Why'd you stay, J?"

"I understand what Sakuzy meant when he revealed I was the Prince of Heart." J explained, "There's another way for my bloodline to survive…my sister is alive." He looked at them in turn as he added, "I've spent six years in Radiant Garden and haven't found her. I'm going to search the worlds to find her, even if it takes forever."

For a while, everyone stared in shock at what J had said, until Sora broke it with a question. "So…you're coming to the islands after all?"

J's response was a slow nod. He then told Quartz, "Let's get Donald and Goofy back to Disney Castle first…"

Time stream…

Sakuzy was floating through a torrent of reds, blues, greens, and yellows. He knew that the thing he was going to was better than the one that he left behind. He sighed, closed his eyes, and everything went black.

He came to reality a few seconds later to hear the sound of waves crashing into the shoreline of Destiny Island. Unlike the first time he returned here, he actually heard seagulls cawing and could have sworn that a hermit crab had crawled over his hand.

Slowly, his eyes opened and he saw a clear sky, the sun shining down on him, and hardly a cloud in the sky. When he first returned, the sun was completely blocked out in an endlessly cloudy night. He looked behind him to see green trees, a white, sandy beach, and small beach huts.

"Sakuzy! You're awake!"

Sakuzy turned to the sound of a girl's voice and a smile spread across his face. He also noticed a few old friends with her…

Destiny Island…

Sora, Riku, and Kairi sat on the Paopu tree, Sora and Kairi's hands interlaced with each other. Riku could only smile at the two. They were finally clear with each other.

"Think Sakuzy's okay?" Sora asked Riku.

"Of course." Riku replied, "Knowing what we did, he's probably got his best friends and his girlfriend back, good as new."

Sora sighed, then looked up at the clouds to see a formation of them that looked almost exactly like Sakuzy was looking down at them, smiling. He smiled. "It's good to be home."

"I know." Kairi said with her own smile. She gently turned Sora around, then kissed him on the lips. Sora was a bit…unsure at first, but calmed down and returned the favor.

Scott was watching Sora and Kairi's moment of bliss, then turned to J, who was leaning on the trunk of a paopu tree. The Aussie asked, "YOU helped 'em to see they love each other, didn't you?"

J almost cracked a smile before replying, "Only a little."

Quartz looked out on the setting sun with a solemn look on his face. Since the end of the encounter with Diamond, he had gained a part-time job in Disney Castle, working to help repair the damages done by the Crystalli.

_Quartz: With the Pure Heart gone, our world has crumbled, but I have found a new world with new beings that I can trust. And though these organics are different from us Crystalli, they have a capacity for courage and can have a heart that is built toward the light. I am Quartz and I send this message to any Crystalli who have escaped Diamond's wrath among the stars. I am here. I am waiting…_

Credits:

_Sakuzy and Joyex looking at Destiny Islands in their hoods._

**Sing it for me**

_Sora, Riku, Kairi, Sakuzy, and Joyex fighting the Guard Armor._

_Kairi riding on Aslan's back to the White Witch's Castle._

_**I can't erase the stupid things I say**_

_Sora and co. looking at the sunset with King Kong._

_Sora and Van Helsing fighting the Vampire Heartless._

_**You're better than me**_

_Scott showing his arms as a pair of wings in Camp Greenlake._

_**I struggle just to find a better way**_

_Sora Driving with Crescent in the Carnival of Chaos._

_Sora and co. driving off in Madame Medusa's Swamp Mobile._

_**So here we are  
Fighting and trying to hide the scars**_

_Sakuzy and Aquamarine fighting on the shore._

_Wheezy singing 'You've Got a Friend in Me' as Sora and co. are leaving._

_**I'll be home tonight, take a breath and softly say goodbye**_

_Sakuzy sitting on a snow bank in North Pole, all alone._

_**The lonely road, the one that I should try to walk alone  
I'll be home tonight take a breath and softly say goodbye**_

_Sora and Kairi near the Wheel Well in Radiator Springs._

_**You wouldn't like me**_

_Sakuzy showing himself, half-crazed, to Sora and Jim._

_**Keep moving on until forever ends**_

_Kairi on J's mural._

_Riku and Joyex flying in space in their Star Command suits._

_**Don't try to fight me**_

_Sakuzy summoning Zeus to finish off Hades._

_Kairi and a T-Rex-turned J on Kauai's beach._

_**The beauty queen has lost her crown again**_

_Riku and co. with Gurgi, who survived the Cauldron._

_Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy having a snowball fight._

_**So here we are  
Fighting and trying to hide the scars  
I'll be home tonight, take a breath and softly say goodbye**_

_April cuddling up to Melody._

_Kairi shoving past Sora in Timeless River._

_**The lonely road, the one that I, should try to walk alone  
I'll be home tonight take a breath and softly say goodbye**_

_Sora and Aladar leading a defense against the Carnotaur._

_Sakuzy confronting the crystallized Topaz._

_**Goodbye**_

_Sora and Kairi hugging after their apology._

_Riku grieving Kairi's death in an alternate timeline._

_Joyex flying the Gummi Ship to save Sora, Donald, and Goofy._

_**So why are you so eager to betray?  
Pick the pieces up  
Pick the pieces up  
**_

_Quartz emerging from the crater._

_Joyex with Aerith's body._

_Sora and Kairi kissing on her birthday._

_**So why are you the one that walks away?  
Pick the pieces up  
Pick the pieces up  
Pick the pieces up  
**_

_The ants celebrating the completion of the bird._

_Roxas fighting Mozenrath in Sora's mind._

_Sora and Flynn destroying the Crystalli Terminator Virus._

_**So here we are  
Fighting and trying to hide the scars**_

_Riku and J fighting the Android._

_Maya smiling as she was finally cured._

_Sora carving the Spy's face in half._

_**I'll be home tonight, take a breath and softly say goodbye**_

_Sora and Spider-Man fighting the Green Goblin._

_Baloo and Mowgli singing the Bear Necessities._

_Sora and Kairi sleeping with each other in Pride Lands._

_Quartz fighting the Crystalli Shogun on the mountainside of Land of Dragons._

_**The lonely road, the one that I, should try to walk alone**_

_Sulley and Sora defending Boo in Randall's lab._

_Sora and co. on the deck of the Galbana, striking conversation with the crew._

Bloodstone on top of the Balrog and confronting Diamond

_**I'll be home tonight take a breath and softly say goodbye**_

_Quartz turning to face the Crystalli Colossus at the entryway of Diamond's Palace._

_Donald and Goofy defeating Spinel._

_Scott and April taking out Emerald._

_J killing Peridot._

_Ruby getting killed by Ryan._

_Depth dying and Amethyst getting his crystal pierced by Sakuzy's Keyblade._

_Joyex firing his Keyblade into Topaz's eye._

_Maya using Twilight Aura against Turquoise._

_Riku slicing through Sapphire's arm._

_Sora stabbing the crystal Pure Heart._

_Joyex fading from existence._

_**Just take a breath and softly say goodbye**_

_Sora and co. sitting on the beach with Quartz gazing at the sunset._

_**Special thanks to Mrfipp for inspiring this fic. Fortune Glyph (a.k.a. Lucky) for reviewing it, faithfully, when I reposted it. Sakkee for being an encouragement. Dimensiondude for editing it. Lunatic121 for coming up with hilarious situations. And everyone who got the Name in the Story contests right: Sora-Kairi-4-Ever, Mrfipp, DaniCullen, Cynically Happy Peon, Captain A, Silent Keyblader, and WarSlaynHalo.**_

_**Also to Disney, Universal Pictures for inspiring Skull Island and Land of Horrors, Square Enix for Midgar and Ivalice, and Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios for inspiring Manhattan.**_

_**Special thanks also to Breaking Benjamin and BBMak for the songs, 20**__**th**__** Century Fox, Dreamworks & Paramount pictures, and Universal Studios for Crystalli Design.**_

_Disney Castle:_

_Mickey gets off a throne to realize that his tail is still diamond. Goofy smashes it with his shield and it breaks out, leaving the dog vibrating._

_Radiant Garden:_

_Leon and Vincent are talking, Petross is hanging around Cid and Riley, Yuffie is remaining as far away from a certain someone as possible, and Luneth is eating chips. All the while, Crescent is running around with a metal leg and Blader's hopping after him on one foot._

_Narnia:_

_The inhabitants of Narnia are in the castle Cair Paravelle. Aslan is talking while Mr. Beaver and his wife, Mrs. Beaver, place crowns on four children. Aslan then walks across the coast, off to another land._

_**It's good to see the sun**_

_**And feel this place**_

_Skull Island:_

_King Kong looks upon the island, looking lonesome. He then gets up, walks to a wall, and clambers around the ruins._

_Land of Horrors:_

_Frankenstein is rowing himself across the sea on a barge. Van Helsing looks at the sky and grins, remembering one of the best partners he ever had. Carl taps him on the shoulder and they ride out on horses, probably to fight some other monster._

_Camp Greenlake:_

_The inmates at Camp Greenlake are digging their holes until Armpit feels a raindrop land on his face. They then jump out of their holes and start dancing as the single drop turns into a downpour._

_**This place I never thought would feel like home**_

Marshlands:

_Bernard and Bianca fly off into a snowstorm, riding on an albatross with Ebenrude. Meanwhile, Penny's smiling in the arms of her new mom and dad on a television screen._

_Port Royal:_

_Jack looks at his jar of dirt, throws it behind his back, and starts steering the Pearl away. He quickly checks for his compass, but finds that it isn't there. He growls as he remembers that someone took it._

_Toy Zone:  
Wheezy is, apparently, singing a song with a voice similar to Robert Goulet. Buzz and Woody are constantly trying to get the main dance spot._

**And I ran forever**

_**Far away and I**_

_North Pole:_

_Santa Claus gets into his sleigh and the reindeer help the sleigh take off. Gary Coleman is sleeping. Jack Frost tries sneaking past him, but Gary wakes up and gives him a glare._

_Radiator Springs:_

_Lightning, with his Radiator Springs look back, and Sally drive off to the town. All the while, Mater's in a helicopter and is laughing his head off._

_Treasure Planet:_

_Jim, Doppler, B.E.N, and Morph are at some unknown inn. Jim sees a cloud formation that looks remarkably like Silver and he smiles. He hugs his mom and hands her the jewels and coins the old spacer gave him._

_**I always thought I'd end up here alone**_

_Beast's Castle:_

_Beast, who is now human again, takes Belle's hand and they start dancing across the hall where the Crystalli Parasites were changed into ornaments on their chandelier._

_Gamma Quadrant:_

_Buzz accepts an award as do Mira, Booster (with a Star Command Spacesuit), and XR. Upon receiving his medal, XR tries to kiss a now-normal Commander Nebula. All of them activate their jetpacks and take off._

_Olympus Coliseum:_

_Pain and Panic run from Hades, who seems to be in a REAL bad mood and the fact that Pain was wearing sandals that said 'Key to Speed' and Panic was drinking a 'Hercules' soft drink didn't help anything. Upstairs, Hercules and Auron are in some friendly sparring and there's an explosion. They glance to the place where it happened, shrug, and continue sparring._

_**Somehow**_

_**The world has changed and**_

_**I've come home**_

_**To give you back the things they took from you**_

_Kauai:_

_Gantu has an orb in his hand with three numbers on it. Stitch appears and growls at him. He then pounces on the shark-head and proceeds to beat him senseless. Lilo takes the orb he dropped and walks away while 625 munches happily on a sandwich, oblivious to what's going on._

_Prydain:_

_Taran is walking down a town with Gurgi, Fflewder, and Eilonwy. They're laughing out loud, probably at something Fflewder did, and Gurgi's munching on an apple._

_Halloween Town:_

_Jack is in Christmas Town with Sally and Zero. Santa sighs as he walks out to tell Jack to get out. Back in Halloween Town, Dr. Finklestein is working on something when someone in a black robe appears with a scythe and a list. The professor gulps._

_**And I feel you now**_

_**I'm not alone I'll**_

_**Always know where you are**_

_Atlantica:  
Ariel is playing with her daughter at the seashore. Sebastian crawls up the shore and little Melody picks him up. He sighs, obviously in exasperation._

_Destiny Waste:_

_Aladar, Neera, Baylene, Eema, and their lemur friends are in the Nesting Grounds. Plio pries open an egg next to Neera and holds out a baby Iguanodon. Yar picks it up and it starts peeing, he looks exasperated by this._

_Monstropolis:_

_Mike shows Sulley a white door with flowers that seems to be created from shards of wood. Sulley opens the door up and his face brightens up as he spots someone inside._

_**When I see myself I'll always**_

_**Know where you are**_

_**Where you are**_

_Ant Island:_

_Flik, Atta, Dot, and the Queen are seeing off PT Flea's Circus. Heimlich has small butterfly wings and is being heaved into the air by Gypsy and Manny._

_Agrabah:_

_Aladdin and Jasmine get ready to kiss, but Genie interrupts them by changing into a blue foghorn. He changes back and starts laughing his head off as Raja chases Abu and Iago. Aladdin and Jasmine are soon to follow._

_Space Paranoids:_

_Tron is looking at the system with his fellows. Bit glows orange while Mercury and Flynn nod, then they walk off to the Space Paranoids as Flynn vanishes._

_**And I found something**_

_**That was always there**_

_**Sometimes it's got to hurt before you feel**_

_Hundred Acre Wood:_

_Pooh is with his friends. Tigger ruins Rabbit's garden and Gopher tunnels through it. Rabbit looks exasperated at this as he tries to set it back in place. Eeyore finishes making a new house, which is collapsed instantly by a butterfly landing on it._

_Manhattan:_

_Spider-Man swings across the skyscrapers like he doesn't have a care in the world. He stops at the ledge of one building, remembering the responsibility he has on his shoulders._

_Wangunga Jungle:  
Mowgli walks off with a girl into the Man Village. Baloo picks up Bagheera so the panther's right paw is on his shoulders. They go back into the jungle, dancing to some rhythm._

_**But now I'm strong and**_

_**I won't kneel**_

_**Except to thank who's watching over me**_

_Pride Lands:_

_Simba and Red XIII are walking through the African plains, Simba looking at a small lion cub. Red, on the other hand, stares as Timon and Pumbaa flee from a group of crocodiles._

_Land of the Dragons:_

_Mulan and Shang are sitting on a chair in the garden. Cri-kee pulls Mushu back into a shrine of sorts. He's still stretched out because of his encounter with Joyex._

_Timeless River:_

_Moe, Larry, and Curly are working on the castle. Curly accidentally drops something on Moe's foot and gets attacked by him. Larry tries to help, but gets attacked also. Past versions of Mickey, Donald, and Goofy observe the scene. They smile, scratch their heads, shrug, and leave._

_**Somehow**_

_**I feel so strong and I've begun**_

_**To be the one I never thought I'd be**_

_Midgar:_

_The AVALANCHE crew walks in separate directions and Cloud walks to Aerith's old church, followed by Tifa and Marlene, who has Cait Sith in her arms. As they walk away, Aerith appears just behind Cloud, smiles, then dissipates into several green streams of light._

_**And I feel you now**_

_**I'm not alone I'll**_

_**Always know where you are**_

_**When I see myself I'll**_

_**Always know where you are**_

_**Where you are**_

_Ivalice:_

_Vann is looking at his reflection on his sword. He's joined by Penelo, who hugs him from behind. They start laughing. Basch rolls his eyes in an "Oh puh-leeze" sort of way and starts shaking his head. Balthier and Fran are talking until Balthier calls them over and they go off in the Galbana._

_**Now, it's all so clear and**_

_**I believe**_

_**That everything's been opened up to me**_

_**And I feel you now**_

_**I'm not alone**_

_**I always know**_

_**I always know where you are**_

_Twilight Town:_

_Hayner is licking an ice cream bar, walking down the street with his friends, maybe because Olette forced them to go shopping with her. Seifer beckons to Fuu and Rai and they knock them over. Hayner appears to get ticked off and tries to go after them, but Pence and Olette restrain him._

_Destiny Island:_

_Sora, Riku, and Kairi are gazing at the island at sunset with Quartz, who is towering over them. Scott's hanging upside down with ape-like feet, Ryan and April are flying, and J's sulking in the shade of a Paopu tree. Quartz gets into the water and shifts into a boat. They get on and go to the island. When they get there, Riku, Ryan, and J give Sora, Kairi, Scott, and April some alone time. Scott takes April by the hand and leads her away. The moment the two are out of sight, Sora and Kairi share a passionate kiss. On the other side of the island, Scott and April are on the sand and kissing._

_**When I see myself I'll**_

_**Always know where you are**_

_**When I feel the sun, I'll**_

_**Always know where you are**_

_**When I see myself I'll**_

_**Always know where you are**_

_Future Destiny Island:_

_Sakuzy wakes up in the same way Sora did when his adventures first began. He lays his head back down and notices Maya, Joey, Depth, and Adrian were looking at him. He starts. Maya giggles and Joey laughs. They all summon their Keyblades and begin sparring._

_**Where you are**_

**The End**

Before you think that this fic is over, it's not. There's still ONE more chapter…


	233. Bonus Chapter

Bonus Chapter: Sneak Peek

Crescent walks in and waves, joyously, "HI, EVERYBODY!" he greets, "If you thought I was gone after that cameo in Twilight Town, then you MUST be retarded! Anyway, TLSoulDude would like to thank everyone who's reviewed Prince of Heart Remix! He only wishes that the original one was finished before it got removed for Script format."

Crescent: LIKE THIS!

"Now, to finish things off, he has a SEQUEL planned out and is letting ME show it!" he continues before pulling up a screen, "Enjoy!"

3, 2, 1…

Last time, Sora and his friends destroyed a being who was trying to eradicate organic life…

A hooded figure stands in front of Sora.

???: Well, Sora, allow me to introduce myself…

THIS time, he will be facing a different foe…

???: BECAUSE OF YOU, MY LIFE HAS BEEN RAVAGED BY DARKNESS! YOU WILL PAY!

In their latest adventure, you will see new worlds,…

Sora stands in front of a magnificent castle that overlooks a lake and a forest.

New friends,…

Sakuzy is standing in front of Maya along with a bald man and someone who looks like Joyex.

Confused feelings,…

Ryan's standing next to a girl with blonde hair.

Girl: You're…different.

Ryan: You have no idea.

Secrets revealed,…

Sora: Who was that guy talking about?

J: You're looking at him.

New enemies,…

Two cloaked figures, one tall muscular, and one shorter and thinner.

Muscular figure: They're already annoying me. Can I kill them?

Short figure: Feel free, but try not to overdo it.

_And J…turn down a date._

Girl: No one here's interesting, so do you wanna…

J: No.

Girl: I didn't even say any-

J: No.

Girl: So, you know what I'm think-

J: Yes.

Girl: Well, what number am I…

J: Six.

**Prince of Heart II!**

**Coming soon. The Nobodies are back… with a vengeance.**

Hooded figure: I don't want to fight you. Leave now!

Scott: Not in a million years, mate.

Hooded figure: I warned you…

Two metallic tentacles burst out of the hooded figure's back and fly towards Scott.

_Well, it's been a long journey. I started this, with all intentions for it to be less than twenty chapters long. Here we are, two years later and it's over two HUNDRED chapters. I couldn't have done it without my brothers, my parents, but mostly to my loving fans._

_Who did I enjoy writing about the most? Joyex. DEFINITELY Joyex. I grew up with people like him and he was just so likeable. I guess I kinda based him off my dad. He pesters me, but it's to help me loosen up. And he's still a nice guy and a good man._

_Who did I NOT enjoy writing about the most? Peridot. I HATE people like her._

_The world I enjoyed writing? Pride Lands. I love the Lion King. It's a GREAT movie!_

_Well, thanks for your kind reviews and I look forward to seeing you in Prince of Heart II…and I PROMISE that it won't be as long as this._

_Incidentally, I'll be putting up a POH Meme in my profile later._


	234. FM: Origin of Chrysallis

Prince of Heart: Final Mix scenes…

Part 1: Chrysallis' Origins

It was sunset on Destiny Island, and to some, the sun appearing to sink into the ocean would have been a truly beautiful sight. But when it came to one lonely man, it was no different than anything else he had seen.

He had once had everything: a wife, a family, a life, and anything a man could ever want. But soon, all that happiness came to naught because in one day, he lost everything. Turned out his wife had not kicked smoking like she had told him and carelessly threw a cigarette in the trash. The result was that the whole house had burned down, the man being the only survivor.

With nothing left to live for, he turned to drinking and spent several nights on the beach, watching the sun rise and set. It slowly transformed the man into a shadow of what he once was; his hair was scraggly, and his teeth were crooked. His clothes were tattered as a result of wear, and all his money had gone into drinking in an attempt to drown out his pain. Sometimes, he just wished that he would go to sleep and never wake up. He just wanted it all to end.

Then, everything changed…

On one fateful day, the man sat at the seashore again, waiting for whatever fate awaited him. Then, he spotted something just to his right: something shiny. What was weird, however, was that something was calling him from the light's source.

_Come to me…Come…_the unknown voice said, the man being the only one who could hear it.

The man slowly went over to the source of the voice. It was a chunk of crystal the size of a basketball…and it was still calling to him. Curious as to what was going on, the man slowly extended his hand and picked up the crystal with both hands.

_I feel your pain. _The crystal told him, _You have lost everything due to one fatal flaw, and you have no reason to live._

The man stared in awe. How had this voice known? He was about to throw it back into the ocean when it spoke again.

_But I have a way for it all to end. _The crystal offered, _If you accept my help, I will make all your pain go away, and you won't remember a single thing. If you refuse, then you may do with me what you will._

The man had no second thought. "Make it go away! I CAN'T take it anymore! MAKE IT STOP!"

Had anyone been in the area, they would have certainly thought the man had one too many drinks. But the crystal answered him.

You have made a wise choice…

Much to the man's surprise, the chunk of crystal seemed to shatter. For a while, the man thought that all was lost, but then he noticed something about the shards.

They were moving…

The shards shuddered, then sprouted spidery legs as they skittered across the ground. One skittered up his leg and planted a razor-sharp end of its body into his body. The man screamed in pain, but hadn't even thought about taking it out when the other six crystals began to clamber up his body. Some planted themselves in his arm, others in his shoulders, one over his heart, and some in his back.

The man clutched his head, screaming as he felt some unknown presence enter his mind. And when he opened his eyes, he found he was in a big, black nothing.

"This has got to be a dream…"

_Far from it…_The man turned to see a figure moving towards him. And this figure turned out to be a pair.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

_I go by many names: the Living Crystal, the Gemstone king, and Lord Diamond. You may call me what you prefer. _The figure beckoned with a large, clawed hand, to the second figure. _This is my lieutenant, Onyx._

The second figure, which was about a head shorter than the first, nodded. There and then, the man realized that this thing had its hands clasped behind its back like a loyal soldier.

_You are now part of a much larger project. _This "Living Crystal" pointed out, _Onyx and I consist of a group of silicon-based organisms known as Crystalli._

"And…what do you want me to do?" the man asked.

_To simply aid us in bringing peace to the universe. _Onyx answered, _The universe is corrupted by unstable organisms that need to be destroyed._

"And…what organisms are those?"

_Organics. _Diamond answered, disdainfully, _But you have nothing to fear from me or Onyx. You have been purified now that you have Crystalli essence flowing in your veins. THAT is the gift of the Crystalli Shell._

For a while, the man was at a loss for words, but before he could say anything, the Living Crystal spoke again.

_Organics must all perish when they wear out, but the Crystalli cannot be harmed by the decay of time. _The Living Crystal held out a suggesting hand, then asked, _Do you want a person to stay with you forever? You will never have to erode in the river of time, and neither will they._

A thought occurred to the man. No one would die even after a century? Was that even possible? Could he actually find a way to save anyone he cared about? Yes…yes there would. There HAD to be…

"I'll do it." The man said with a slow nod, "Just end my pain…"

The Living Crystal was obviously smiling, the grin apparent in his voice. _You have made the right choice. I will take away all your pain and your sorrow. You will have no memory of your past life, or of any pain you received in the past. You will also have a new name: Chrysallis, Vanguard of the Crystalli._

The figure extended its clawed hand until his enlarged middle finger touched the man's forehead. In a flash of light, the man came back to reality, face-flat on the ground. He sat up, saw the crystals in his body, then smiled a crooked smile.


	235. FM: A Day in the Keyblade Order Act I

**Part 2: A Day in the Life of the Keyblade Order, Act I**

Two weeks before Crystalli Invasion…

"Sakuzy, I'm not going to tell you again. Get UP! You're going to be late!"

Sakuzy's mind was awake and raring to go, but there was one slight problem. He didn't have the strength to get up. It seemed that, even though his mind was wide-awake, his body wasn't. He groaned as he felt some form of strength enter his muscles. His strength spread, and soon he was awake enough to sit up.

Sakuzy ran a hand through his spiky hair, then let it shoot right back into place. He kicked himself out of bed and dragged himself to school.

Sakuzy sighed as he walked out the door. For almost a month now, things had NOT been going his way: Maya had not spent a lot of time with him, not since she began dating that Adrian guy. Victor was meaner than usual and Sakuzy didn't know why. And to top it all off, that desperate girl Yvonne was trying to get his attention.

He would have to think about it later. He was already at the Keybladers' Institute.

FMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFM

"Sakuzy…? Sakuzy…SAKUZY!"

Sakuzy came back to reality in time to see the Master of the Keyblade Order looking down at him. "What?" Sakuzy asked, wondering if this was the wrong time to drift off.

"I said, 'who were the people who forged the first Keyblades?'. Care to answer?" The Master asked.

Sakuzy hated it when he was right. He nervously scratched the back of his head, struggling to think of an answer that sounded right, but in the end, he couldn't find one.

"Pass?"

Right next to him, Sakuzy could hear his friend, Joey, smacking himself in the forehead.

"A pass means you don't get the right answer." The Master pointed out, then gestured with his hand. "Next."

Adrian, it seemed, had the answer downpat. "The cetras are the ones responsible for the first Keyblades. The oldest model was the Ankh of Life, said to have been created over five thousand years ago."

The Master smiled at the answer, but got a good look at Sakuzy. He eyed his right-hand man, Victor, who was giving a snobbish look at said boy. After a brief thought, he snapped his fingers.

"Class dismissed." The old man announced, "And remember, tomorrow is our next training session." As the students stood to leave, the Master held out a hand, as though saying "stop". "Sakuzy? Could I have a word with you?" He turned to Victor and gestured for the door. "Leave us."

Victor's face looked like it could have been carved from stone. He gave Sakuzy one last glower, then turned and made his leave. If looks could kill…

When the Master was absolutely sure that Victor had left, he closed the door so that only he and Sakuzy were in the room. "Sakuzy, what happened?" the old man asked, his tone going from dead-serious to more calm question.

Sakuzy blinked. He had never seen this side of the Master before, but he knew he wasn't in trouble. "Huh?"

"You seem a little…distant from everything, and everyone, else." The Master answered, "You're behind in all your studies, you hesitate when you're in combat, and you won't even talk to Joey and he's your best friend. What's wrong?"

Sakuzy remained silent and the Master sighed. He took a seat and gestured to the ground in front of him. "Take a seat." It wasn't a request. It was an order, but a calm order. And Sakuzy knew better than to disobey the leader of the Keyblade Order. He took a seat in front of his master.

"You will feel better if you talk about it." The Master said, sagely, "Now speak." Sakuzy remained quiet for a while, then spoke…a little too quietly for the Master's liking. "I'm sorry. Didn't quite catch that."

Sakuzy sighed, knowing this was harder than he bargained for. "I dunno, Master. I guess my life is taking a turn for the worse…"

"Really?" the Master asked, "Care to explain?"

"For starters, Vic is acting like an attack dog towards me." Sakuzy answered, "And I guess it's the fact that Maya won't spend time with me anymore."

"Maya?" the Master asked, "The girl with the Two-Winged Angel Keyblade?" Sakuzy nodded and the Master stroked his mustache-beard combo, then put a hand on Sakuzy's shoulder. "Listen…I know you're feeling lower than dirt, but you have to remember that it could be worse."

"Really?" Sakuzy asked, suddenly finding the floor more intriguing than his master's face.

"My wife is dead, Sakuzy, and all my children have grown up and had kids of their own. And I've had to work my way up to my status through focus and determination." The Master pointed out, "You have the making of greatness in you, but unless you start using it, you'll never reach it."

The load on Sakuzy's mind seemed to lighten a bit as he realized that his master was right. He stood up, and almost left when he remembered. He turned to his master and said, "Thanks for listening."

The Master also stood and actually smiled a warm smile. "I'm always here to talk, Sakuzy. Remember that."

FMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFM

At lunchtime, Sakuzy sat at a table with Jim and Joey, the two people he could hold a conversation with these days. He didn't seem in the mood, though, because the day was still having some toll on him. Sure, he felt a little better since his talk with the Master, but he wasn't quite over it yet.

"Hitting the milk cartons pretty hard, buddy. You gonna be okay?" Joey asked.

"I'm fine…" Sakuzy assured his friend, and not quite convincing him.

"C'mon, dude. What's got you down in the dumps?" Jim asked.

Sakuzy sighed. Might as well come clean now…

"Yvonne tried to ask me out again." Sakuzy answered, "Ever since Maya stopped hanging out with us, Yvonne won't leave me alone."

"Ooh." Joey said, wishing that he didn't ask, "Just our luck when it comes to the girls of this order. Joan goes through more boys than anyone here, Yvonne can't seem to get a guy no matter how hard she gets, and we don't even WANT to get on Tani's bad side."

"Yeah, when you do, she gets all sarcastic and feisty." Jim asked, then shuddered to emphasize his point. "And if you want worse things, check out who else we have to deal with…"

Jim pointed in two directions with his finger and Sakuzy followed their paths. At one table was Myra, who was possibly the smartest girl in the entire order. It was a wonder she hadn't been promoted to Victor's level. She was currently reading a book labeled, "Keyblade: History of the Key of Worlds".

At another table was Bonn, who was pretty much the ultimate Goth. She looked like she had crawled out of a cave, wore black every day, even on St. Patrick's Day (no one would dare pinch her, though). Her black hair had a white streak and it covered one eye like an eye patch. Out of all the female fighters, though, no one could match her in raw power.

"You're right." Sakuzy said, then raised his milk carton, as did Joey and Jim. "Here's to the future."

"To the future." Joey added.

"To the future." Jim finished.

But before either could down their drinks, Joey spotted someone: a young man with no hair, a silvery jacket, and a fishnet shirt underneath.

"Careful, Sakuzy, I think he's also after you…" Jim warned out of the corner of his mouth.

Suddenly, the young man got out of the lunch line and started walking to…

"Oh, he is NOT coming over here…" Joey said, nervously gulping down the last of his food.

The man, or Depth, went over to Joey, then spoke in a low, tough voice. "You're in my seat…" Joey just looked at Depth and, with no question whatsoever, he hopped out of the seat and ran off to…well, somewhere else.

What both had failed to see was that Victor was at the door to the cafeteria. But when the bearded man saw Depth giving him a glare, he growled, then backed out of the room.

Depth sighed with some form of relief. _Careful, Sakuzy…_he thought to himself, _I can't keep him off your back forever._


	236. FM: A Day in the Keyblade Order Act II

Prince of Heart: Final Mix scenes…

**Part 3: A Day in the Life of the Keyblade Order, Act II**

Ten days before Crystalli Invasion…

Sakuzy thanked every heart in Kingdom Hearts that today was the last day of the school week. The weekend would give him at least two days without Victor, without Adrian, and without Yvonne. Still, he had an entire school day to go through…

"Hey, Sakuzy!"

Sakuzy just kept walking forward, but it didn't matter. Yvonne had already shown up and was walking alongside him. Sakuzy rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't you have someone ELSE to annoy? Friends? Family? Depth on a bad day?"

Yvonne completely ignored the comment aimed at her. "Do you want to go with me?" she asked.

"To what, dare I ask?" Sakuzy asked, fearing the worst.

"Take a look for yourself." Yvonne said, pointing to the doors.

Sakuzy looked at the doors and he felt his heart drop into his stomach. On the door was a poster that read "Junior Prom: Tomorrow at 7:00".

"The PROM?" Sakuzy said in disbelief, "Somebody shoot me now…"

"You know…" Yvonne said, getting a little TOO close for Sakuzy's own liking, "Since you're single, would you like to take me?"

Sakuzy's response was to simply walk through the doors, leaving a confused Yvonne in his wake.

"Was it something I said?"

FMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFM

Sakuzy whirled through the air with a scream in surprise and landed face-flat on the ground for the third time in a row. As he lay there in a crumpled heap, he felt something on his shoulder heave back onto his feet.

"Well, it's nice to see you're improving, Sakuzy." The Master said with an amused smile. "You may even be developing your fighting style: circle and search."

"Uh, thanks. I think…" Sakuzy said, a bit unsure of what to make of the compliment.

The Master made a formal bow that Sakuzy returned the favor to, then said, "I will see you later. Pray that your progress continues."

A few minutes later, Sakuzy was with his usual table buddies: Joey, Jim, and Depth. Depth didn't talk too much, though. It was abnormally quiet until Joey decided to break the silence by asking Depth, "Why are you bald?"

Depth merely gave Joey the "evil eye" and Joey instantly dropped the subject there and then.

"Hey, did you see that prom poster?" Sakuzy asked after taking a bite of pizza.

Jim shuddered. "Yeah. Our worst fears have come true…" Jim said, a little shudder still in his voice, "Having to ask a girl we don't even KNOW to dance with us."

"Alright, so who are you taking chances with?" Joey asked, "I think I'll take my chances with Myra."

"The nerdy girl? Well, guess beggars can't be choosers." Jim said, prodding at the mashed potatoes on his tray like it was some dead animal.

Depth, for the first time since they got to the table, spoke. "Even if you have to go with Yvonne, Joan, or Bonn?"

All three's eyes widened at the statement as they quickly added, "BESIDES THAT!"

"A-and besides, I'll try my hand at asking Tani. Maybe she won't snap at me…" Jim said, ruffling his head of brown hair.

"Tough luck, kid." Depth grunted.

"KID?" Jim asked, almost spastically, "I'm just a few years younger than you! We ALL are!"

"Exactly my point, kid." Depth said, closing his eyes. He got a good look at Sakuzy, then pointed out, "Sorry, Sakuzy. It's something we all have to attend."

Sakuzy, with no regard of how he looked, slammed his forehead onto the table in defeat. How could this day get any worse?

FMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFM

After the next class, Sakuzy was at his locker and ready to just go home and end this day…until the next one, that is. In this class, he had the answer right on the tip of his tongue until Adrian took the words right out of his mouth.

Sakuzy, just as he was about to reach into his locker, felt a presence to his right and immediately took his hand out of his locker. Good thing, too, because the door almost slammed shut on his wrist. He turned to meet an all-too-familiar face…one he particularly disliked.

"Sakuzy? Long time, no see…" Adrian said, circling Sakuzy away from his locker.

"What do YOU want, Adrian?" Sakuzy asked, "What are you going to take, dare I ask?"

"Maya to the prom, that's what." Adrian answered, coolly, "And if you ask, I'm pretty sure she deserves someone like me. Someone smart, on-schedule, hard-working…"

"And a selfish jerk. Don't forget." Sakuzy shot back.

"She doesn't need you anymore." Adrian said, brushing a lock of his lavender hair. "She's all MINE."

Sakuzy, for one brief moment, merely stared in shock at what Adrian had just said. Then he just couldn't hold it in anymore. Sakuzy, not even bothering to summon his Eagle Feather Keyblade, clenched a fist and brought it into Adrian's face.

Both were soon on the floor, rolling around and trying to hurt the other as much as possible. No Keyblades were summoned, for there was no time to do it. In seconds, a crowd of people had surrounded them, chanting "fight, fight, fight" in a unified fashion.

"She's. Not. Yours!" Sakuzy fumed with each punch he landed, "She's. A. PERSON!"

Suddenly, someone seized Sakuzy around the collar and pulled him off Adrian. Adrian would have sprung after him if it wasn't for the Master stepping forward and holding out a hand. "SILENCE!!!" the Master ordered in a loud, clear voice.

The crowd kept chanting for Sakuzy and Adrian to fight, but a deep, gruff voice from behind Sakuzy ordered, "SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" And right there and then, Sakuzy knew it was Depth.

Once the whole crowd had quieted down, the Master let it settle, then spoke. "There is nothing more to see here. Return to your business. As for Sakuzy…he will come with me."

FMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFM

Sakuzy kept his gaze on the desk in front of him, never looking up at the Master's face directly. The Master took his seat, and apparently noticed Sakuzy.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you." The Master ordered. He wasn't shouting, but had said it with enough clarity to make Sakuzy slowly look up at his fierce eyes. "What happened? It is NOT like you to suddenly pick a fight with someone."

Sakuzy remained silent for a while, then slowly answered. "Adrian."

"What about him?" The Master asked, leaning over his desk to look Sakuzy in the eye.

"He…" Sakuzy paused. He REALLY didn't like what Adrian had said, especially since it was about the best friend he ever had. "He said that Maya was his, like she was some kind of possession."

The Master's serious look slightly faded into one of curiosity. "Go on…" he said, nodding slowly.

"He said that she didn't need me anymore…that he was the perfect guy…" Sakuzy was now finding it hard to suppress angered tears.

The Master shushed Sakuzy gently. "Just take it easy." The Master coaxed, his frustration gone, "Sakuzy…I can understand why you did what you did, but fighting outside the dojo is forbidden unless your own life is in danger. I will have a talk with Adrian later, but your actions cannot go unpunished. You're going home early today."

Sakuzy slumped forward in his seat, putting his face in his hands with a heavy sigh. The Master, it seemed, was not finished, for he cleared his throat.

"Let me finish, Sakuzy." The Master suggested, "I WILL, however, give you the privilege of going to the prom tomorrow. Any objections?"

Sakuzy took his hands off his face, then shook his head. "No, sir."

"Good. You are free to go." The Master said, beckoning to the door.

FMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFM

Sakuzy walked out the door of the building and began to trudge home. Things couldn't possibly get worse today: his best friend was dating a jerk, he had been suspended from school for a day, and he would be going to the prom without a date.

As he opened the door to his house, he merely went into his room…and flopped down on his bed with a defeated sigh. There was just no way to turn things around.

Or…was there?


	237. FM: A Day in the Keyblade Order Act III

Prince of Heart: Final Mix scenes…

**Part 4: A Day in the Life of the Keyblade Order, Act III**

Nine days before Crystalli Invasion…

"How do I look? Be honest with me." Sakuzy asked, his mom gently tightening his bow tie.

"Sakuzy, you look FINE." Sakuzy's mom repeated, stifling a laugh, "Now just hold still. I've almost got this…"

Sakuzy rolled his eyes as he felt the tie tightening around his neck. He almost felt like a prisoner at the noose.

"There we are." His mom said with satisfaction.

Sakuzy turned to look in the mirror and sighed. He never thought he'd end up in a tuxedo…not today anyway. He sighed, then said, "Yeah, I'm sure I'd look great…provided that I actually HAD…what's the word for it? Oh yeah. A date."

"Son, it could be a lot worse." Sakuzy's dad pointed out, "I didn't have a date when I went to my first prom. But you know who I met there?"

"Mom?" Sakuzy said, scratching the back of his head.

"Exactly." Sakuzy's dad said, gently taking his son by the shoulder, "Whether it's THIS formal or the next, or your sixty-fourth, you'll find someone."

"You mean it?" Sakuzy asked, but before his dad could give him an answer, the doorbell rang. "Oh! There's the guys, I gotta go!"

Sakuzy ran out the door, having to go at a kind of trot due to the fact that his formal shoes weren't his favorite tennis shoes. And he was met with a white limousine. As he stared at the ride, Joey met him at the door.

"Hey, Sakuzy." He said, "Liking the ride? Rented it for today, 'cuz I thought we could travel in style."

"Wow…" Sakuzy said, stroking the car with glimmering eyes, "I can TOUCH it…"

"Yeah, but could you not touch it?" Joey asked, "I'd prefer not to get grease on it."

Sakuzy's hands immediately rocketed off the car, then opened the door and took a seat inside. Around him were Jim, Depth, some other guy who seemed to say he'd rather not be here, and Joey, who had gotten back in the car.

"Can't we just walk?" Depth asked, "It's just a five-minute walk from here to the school."

"Yeah, but I'd rather not get my dress shoes dirty…or wet, for that matter." Joey said, finger-combing his shoulder-length hair back.

"Why? You're only wearing that tux once." Jim pointed out.

"It's a rented tux." Joey corrected, "I'd prefer to return it as clean as it was when I bought it."

Depth rolled his eyes at Joey's attempt to be suave, then closed his eyes as he waited to arrive.

When they arrived, Sakuzy sighed. Might as well get this over with…and avoid Yvonne whenever possible.

Just as Sakuzy expected, there were tons of kids his age doing the usual stuff. Some couples danced to a slow-paced love song, some single guys drank punch until they couldn't anymore. And last, but certainly not least, single girls simply sat at some secluded table.

Sakuzy did NOT feel like doing any of that now. He just sat at a table, his friend Depth sitting across from him. From the table, Sakuzy had spotted Joan sitting at a table in the corner by herself. It seemed that she couldn't keep this boyfriend for long either…and at a record-breaking five days, too.

Suddenly, Sakuzy spotted something that made his heart leap and fall again. Maya was here, clad in a pink, sparkling dress, her silver hair tied back in a ponytail. He could only sigh as he found the tablecloth of his table surprisingly interesting.

He failed, however, to spot that Adrian had yet to arrive.

--

Maya looked around the ballroom, wondering why Adrian was nowhere to be seen. She guessed he had yet to arrive when she heard a commotion not to far from where she was. She turned to spot Joey, Myra, and another girl, Rouge, talking about something.

"I'm telling you, it's true! I saw it all happen!" Myra said, nodding enthusiastically.

"You're ABSOLUTELY sure about that?" Rouge asked, her brow raised. She was more feisty than most of the other

"Absolutely." Myra answered.

"Joey?"

Joey turned to meet Maya and a smile crossed his face. "HEY! Long time no see!" Joey said with a laugh as he hugged his friend. "How ya been?"

"Great." Maya said with a smile, "You?"

"Doin' mighty fine, thanks." Joey answered, "As you can see, I've hooked up with Myra for tonight."

"ONLY for tonight." Myra corrected.

"Good, good…" Maya said, nodding, then asked, "I heard you talking about something. Care to explain?"

Myra seized her chance and immediately set to work. "I was getting my 'History of the Keyblade' out of my locker when I heard two people behind me. I believe one was your date, Adrian, while the other was Sakuzy."

Maya's heart froze when his name was mentioned. "Sakuzy?" she asked, almost shocked.

"Yeah. He's Joey's best friend, right?" Myra asked, earning a nod from Joey. "Anyway," she continued, "I heard some VERY unfriendly things from Adrian…something about you NOT needing Sakuzy anymore and that you were all his."

Maya's eyes widened. At first, she didn't want to believe Myra, but she soon found herself doing it. Myra may have been just as smart as Adrian was, but she was an honest person, and even took to tutoring for other students. Maya knew from experience; she had Myra tutor her once.

"Anyway, after Adrian said that, Sakuzy suddenly punched him." Myra continued, "I had to watch then, and when I did, he said that you weren't a possession of Adrian's. You were a person. I would have stopped the fight there and then, but the Master and Depth beat me there. Guess that's why Sakuzy didn't show up at school this morning…Maya?"

Maya was gone now…

--

Maya had gone into the hallway where the bathrooms were and backed into a wall. She struggled to breathe: somehow, she had let Adrian usurp Sakuzy completely. Was what Myra said true?

She would get her answer soon enough because Adrian had just walked through the door. His yellow eyes scanned the area, searching for his prize…which was now coming at him from behind.

"Adrian…"

Adrian whirled and recognized the silver hair and aqua-green eyes of Maya. He smiled. "Hey, babe. Sorry I'm late." Adrian said, making sure his hair was neatly combed.

"Is it true?" Maya asked, not even attempting to smile.

Adrian winced, but asked, "Is what true?"

"What Myra's talking about." Maya answered, folding her arms.

"Myra?" Adrian asked, "That girl at school? What's she been talking about behind my back?"

"Something about you referring to me as 'yours'." Maya answered.

"She doesn't know what she's talking about." Adrian said, rolling his eyes.

"She does to me." Maya countered, "She says she was a witness as to what happened between you and Sakuzy."

Adrian's eyes darted back and forth as he tried to find some reason. "I merely told him to respect his superiors."

"Hope you're not talking about yourself because he does respect his superiors." Maya responded, "He respects the Master and Depth."

"He needs discipline and knowledge."

"The Master is helping him with that and you know it."

"I stay on task and do everything the right way."

"Including treating people with respect, Adrian?"

"You deserve someone better than him!" By now, Adrian was straining every muscle in his body to keep from shouting. But it was obvious that he had just said the wrong thing.

He realized it, too, because Maya's eyes widened and her mouth gaped at what she had heard. Slowly, Maya's mouth closed and her eyes filled with angry tears. And before Adrian could say a single word, Maya raised a hand and slapped him across the face. A sharp pain flew through his face and he had just raised a hand to touch it when Maya slapped the other side of his face.

Maya, tears streaming down her face, actually had trouble describing her dislike for this man right now. In the end, she could.

"So, that's what your 'acts of kindness' were? Attempts to take me away from Sakuzy and prove you're better than him?" she asked, her voice cracking, "Then that makes you just like Xehanort." She turned to storm away, but Adrian seized her shoulder.

"I am BETTER than Sakuzy in EVERY WAY." He said, his voice steaming with rage, "I am smarter and stronger than he ever will…"

Adrian never finished his sentence because Maya wheeled on him. "We are THROUGH! Don't you get it?! I HATE YOU!" she screamed, hot tears streaming down her face nonstop.

Maya wrenched herself out of Adrian's grip and soon became aware that everyone was staring at her. Then she couldn't hold it anymore, she ran out of the ballroom, her face in her hands, and her emotions in shambles.

_So now Maya finally dumped Adrian._


	238. FM: A Day in the Keyblade Order Act IV

Prince of Heart: Final Mix scenes…

**Part 5: A Day in the Life of the Keyblade Order, Act IV**

Eight and a half days before Crystalli Invasion…

Sakuzy looked over to the center of the ballroom to see a VERY ticked-looking Adrian storming towards the door. This was weird…

"Hey, guys, look at that." He said, watching Adrian continue to trudge towards the door, "Adrian's only been here for three minutes and already he's gone."

Depth and Jim watched Adrian, who looked just about ready to beat up the next person he saw. He forced open the doors, a resounding "thud" came from outside, and with the revving of a car, he left.

"Three minutes?" Jim asked. He whistled, then said, "Wow. That's a new record…"

At that very moment, Joey returned to the table, red lipstick on his cheek. But at the same time, he didn't look too happy.

"Joe? Where've you been?" Sakuzy asked.

"Well, it sorta goes like…" Joey began, only to be cut off by Depth.

"Clean your face first."

Joey felt his cheek…lipstick. Taking a hankie from the table, he quickly wiped it off. He gave Depth a questioning look. On receiving a nod from Depth, he continued.

"Well, first, I have OFFICIALLY hooked up with Myra." Joey explained, "She's actually pretty nice."

"Good for you." Jim said, nonchalantly. He massaged the side of his face. "I still feel the place where Tani hit me…ow." Jim had winced when he felt a particular spot on his face.

"THANK YOU, Jim." Joey said, getting back on subject, "Anyway, Maya spotted me and asked what we were doing. Turns out that Myra heard, and saw, what happened between you and Adrian, Sakuzy."

Sakuzy stared in slight surprise. "How'd Maya respond?"

"I don't know. When she heard the whole story, she just…walked away." Joey answered, "But I DO remember her sounding VERY ticked at Adrian. I think she may have dumped him…"

Sakuzy, without any warning whatsoever, got up from his table and began to search the ballroom. Depth merely closed his eyes while Jim and Joey stared after him.

"Talk about seizing an opportunity…" Jim said, impressed.

--

Sakuzy searched the room around him. If what Joey said was true, and it usually was, Maya was probably in terrible pain. He had to find her and set things right…

As Sakuzy neared the edge of the ballroom, he heard a sound that made his heart pang. A girl was crying near the bathrooms down the hall. He opened the door and, just as he suspected, there she was. Maya was sitting on the floor, her face in her hands and her knees tucked into her chest. Sakuzy could hear her crying even at the doorway, and the sound of her sobs made his heart ache.

Slowly, Sakuzy walked over to her. When he was close enough, he spoke in a quiet, concerned voice. "Maya? You okay?"

Maya peeked up at him, but on recognizing his face, she winced and hid herself again. "Go away…" she choked.

Sakuzy did not go away as she ordered, but he didn't come any closer. "Maya…it's okay. It's just me." When she remained silent, he suggested, "Can I at least sit down?" Maya nodded, still not turning to face Sakuzy. Sakuzy slowly walked over to her and took a seat. "Maya…" he said, his voice as comforting as one could be, "I know we haven't talked in months, but it's never too late to start again."

"I don't deserve to be your friend…" Maya said, her voice choked and quiet.

"Why would you say that?" Sakuzy asked, leaning a little closer.

"When I announced Adrian and I were dating, you told me not to…" she answered, her voice still a little choked, "But I didn't listen to you. I thought…" She struggled to find the right words. "I thought you were trying to restrict my life…until I saw what Adrian was really like."

Sakuzy remained quiet for a while, then took a deep breath through his nose and out his mouth. "Maya…everyone makes mistakes, whether we admit it or not. You make mistakes, I make mistakes, and Joey makes mistakes…thought THAT much is obvious."

Maya emitted a small chuckle, still not showing her face to Sakuzy. Sakuzy put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her in for a small hug.

"Maya, I have something to tell you…" Sakuzy whispered in her ear. He took a moment to regain himself, then admitted, "I've had a crush on you since seventh grade."

Maya had to look up now and looked at Sakuzy, her eyes still a little red from crying…and wide, too. She turned to look at the wall, still a little shocked, then chuckled to herself.

"What's so funny?" Sakuzy asked, raising a brow slightly.

"I guess…I always knew." Maya answered, more to herself than Sakuzy. "I had something in my heart only you filled. Even when I was dating Adrian, I never truly felt…happy." She had paused, trying to find the right word, then turned to Sakuzy. "I guess what I'm trying to say is…I like you-wait, scratch that. I love you, too."

Sakuzy had to smile as both exchanged a hug worthy of the talk they had had. Slowly, he stood, her hand in his. "Could you undo your hair, please?" Sakuzy asked. On seeing a playfully questioning look from Maya, he said, "What? You look much better with it down."

Maya stifled a laugh, then reached behind her head and undid her ponytail, letting her silver hair hang down to her shoulders. On hearing a new song start up, Sakuzy asked, "Wanna come to the dance floor? I haven't danced since I got here…"

Maya nodded, and they walked out to the dance floor, hand-in-hand. And as both swayed to the calm rhythm of a soothing song, Maya closed her eyes as she leaned her head onto Sakuzy's chest, listening to his heartbeat.

Sakuzy just couldn't help thinking to himself as he closed his eyes. _"Oh yeah…this is just my day."_


	239. FM: A Day in the Keyblade Order Act V

Prince of Heart: Final Mix scenes…

**Part 6: A Day in the Life of the Keyblade Order, Act V**

Twelve hours before Crystalli Invasion…

Sakuzy just couldn't believe himself. In just under a week, he had gone from the bottom level of the totem pole all the way to the top. Maya was now hanging out with him on a regular basis, just as she did before…possibly more. His grades in school were on the rise, now higher than what he used to do. And to make matters even better, during sparring courses, he was now much more focused and flexible.

But right now, Sakuzy had been called over to the Master's quarters for reasons yet to be explained. He knew the whole area by heart, so each step he took made his heart hammer harder.

Sakuzy pushed the door open and the Master was there to meet him…as well as Adrian and Victor, the two people he REALLY didn't want to meet. The Master then took notice of him.

"Sakuzy, glad you could come." The old man gestured to a spot adjacent to Adrian. "Take a seat."

Sakuzy hesitated, then hesitantly took a seat next to Adrian, who was giving him a glare hard enough to pierce the soul.

He decided there and then to avoid eye contact until this was over…

"Sakuzy, Adrian, Victor, do you know why you have been summoned?" The Master asked, holding out a hand in a friendly gesture.

"No, sir." Victor answered in his formal, gentlemanly tone, "Do tell us. Yes…"

"You are here for different reasons…or at least two of you." The Master's eyes darted between Adrian and Victor.

That single motion caused both of them to raise a confused eyebrow.

The Master cleared his throat, then spoke once more. "Adrian, I only want to tell you that YOU had a great amount of potential."

Adrian's look of confusion seemed to fade into one of pride. "Thank you, Master. I…"

"Let me finish speaking, young student." The Master quipped, causing Adrian to quiet down in an instant. "I said you HAD great potential. But rather than use it for the greater gain for future Keybladers, you used it only to please yourself."

Adrian's jaw fell open. He struggled to find words, but apparently, Victor beat him there. "Wha-?! I beg your pardon?!"

"SILENCE." The Master ordered in a firm voice, gesturing for Victor to sit down. And it seemed there and then that Victor had realized he had just stood up. He sat back down, and the Master continued.

"You had such potential, the both of you, but you took it the wrong way." The Master continued, "Adrian, you thought that Sakuzy and his friends were so below you that they were scum. You also thought that, just because you were smarter than most, you deserved any girl you wanted and tried to take away Sakuzy's oldest friend."

The Master turned to Victor next and told him, "Victor, as teachers, we are supposed to respect the next generation and their talents. YOU, on the other hand, seem to think that only YOU matter judging by the way you keep harassing Sakuzy."

"Sakuzy is only a reckless child." Victor defended, "And what good is power if not structured by discipline, a quality that I have?"

The Master stood, now looking Victor in the eye, and spoke in the sternest voice possible. "Then that gives you reason to TEACH him, NOT bully him. And that doesn't hide the lie you're telling me." The Master folded his arms as Victor's expression was one of mild shock, then explained. "You have seen the potential in Sakuzy just as I have, and you think your status is threatened. You're jealous that, until Sakuzy came around, you were the youngest person elected to the 'Keyblade Master' rank."

"That is a downright…" Victor said, his teeth clenched.

"SIT DOWN!" The Master ordered, cutting the blonde Keyblader off.

Victor growled, then took a seat. He was unfortunate, however, that Sakuzy was just out of his reach.

The Master took his seat, but his expression remained as hard as stone. "Now, you are dismissed. But should I catch ANY of you misusing the honor of being a Keyblader, the consequences will be VERY severe. Do you understand?"

Adrian and Victor slowly nodded, but Adrian's expression was one of slight regret. Victor's, on the other hand, was one of bottled up fury. Sakuzy, from afar, could tell that Victor would like nothing more than to wring his neck.

"Sakuzy…" The Master said, catching said Keyblader's attention.

"Y-yes, Master?" Sakuzy asked, nervously.

The Master's expression had gone much softer than before: he was now giving a small smile. "I'm sorry you had to hear that." He apologized, "I usually don't have an innocent student hear that…"

"Yeah…" Sakuzy said, scratching the back of his head, "You had me scared for a moment…"

"As I was saying, Sakuzy, I have a little proposition for you." The Master said, taking a sheet of paper out from his desk, "Since your record is showing that your grades are on the rise, I've decided that you will now be taking my special training."

"Special…training…?" Sakuzy asked.

The Master nodded. "Yes. You've already gotten the basics in swordplay and magic. Now I think you're ready for the techniques that are at my level."

"Are you SERIOUS?" Sakuzy asked, wide-eyed.

The Master nodded, and Sakuzy barely held in the urge to whoop. "Yes. I will meet you for your first lesson tomorrow. Don't be late." He gestured to the door, then said, "You're dismissed."

Sakuzy made for the door, then turned to his master and said, "I won't let you down, sir."

--

Throughout all his classes, Sakuzy noticed something VERY different. During history lessons, Adrian didn't even try to answer the teacher's questions; he just remained quiet the whole time, not saying a word even when another student tried talking to him.

At the end of school, Sakuzy noticed that Adrian was nowhere to be seen. He was just heading home down the seashore when Joey, Jim, and Maya found him first.

"Hey, Sakuzy! Congrats!" Joey said, slinging an arm over his friend's shoulder.

Maya smiled at him, then said, "I KNEW you had it in you."

"Hey, hey, easy, guys…" Jim said, holding up his hands, defensively, "Guy's probably had enough attention from the Master. Lay off him for a sec."

Sakuzy sighed as he went along with his friends. "Yeah…things are REALLY looking up for me."

"At the rate you're going, you'll be our leader instead of the Master." Joey said, "I can see it now: 'boy genius leads Keyblade Order'…"

"THANK YOU, Joey." Maya said, cutting him off.

Sakuzy looked around, then asked, "Hey, where's Depth?"

"Oh, he's on patrol today. Said he had to start as soon as possible." Jim answered, "He'll be at it all night if we're lucky."

"Sakuzy?" Another voice asked, causing said Keyblader to turn around to see who had spoken to him.

It was Adrian…

"What do you want?" Maya asked, still not over the fact that Adrian had treated her like some possession.

"A minute of Sakuzy's time. That's all." Adrian answered, his expression not even close to the smugness he once had.

Sakuzy, not one to back down from something, slowly stepped forward. Joey almost stopped him, until Sakuzy said, "Let me go. I must settle this alone…"

Sakuzy followed Adrian to a small spring that was not too far from where his friends were, then spoke. "What do you want?"

Adrian paused, then answered. "I just want to apologize."

Sakuzy raised a brow, still a bit unsure of what to make of this. That is…until Adrian continued.

"What the Master said was true." Adrian admitted, "I've given it some thought and I know I should have treated you better." He turned to Sakuzy, then said, "I know you have reason to hate me…but I want to leave behind that life."

Sakuzy was quiet, but not out of disrespect. Adrian could tell that he was thinking several thoughts at once.

Had Adrian said what he thought he did? Was he really trying to make amends to him, or was he merely trying to deceive him again? These thoughts and several others raced through Sakuzy's mind.

"Adrian…" Sakuzy said, earning a curious look from Adrian's yellow eyes, "I'd like to believe you, but I can't…not right away." He turned to walk away, then turned and spoke. "I'll think about it, but for now, I'm proud that you've done the right thing."

"Thanks." Adrian said, slowly nodding.

As night crept over the islands, Sakuzy stared at the ceiling from his bed. Life just couldn't get any better. The person who was once his enemy was now trying to be his friend, he was getting special training from the Master, and he had his old friend back…and it seemed VERY possible that they would take things a little farther.

_Oh yeah. Nothing could possibly go wrong now…_Sakuzy thought to himself, closing his eyes with every hint of satisfaction.

Meanwhile…

Depth sat, perched upon one of the posts around the Keyblade Order. This order had been his home for three-quarters of the twenty years of his life. Ever since he had joined, people had let him down. His parents assured him that they would never do anything to upset him, yet a year later, his parents had divorced. His friend promised that they would be friends forever, yet the next month, his friend had moved on to "better things". To make an oath that he would never make mutual bonds with anyone, he had shaved his head and would keep shaving it. He trained to become one of the most powerful Keybladers when it came to physical strength, and he succeeded.

He didn't count Sakuzy as a "friend" or as "family". What he did to protect the boy was something that the Master had assigned to him. But recently, he had found himself protecting Sakuzy for reasons other than what the Master had ordered. He had protected him from Victor because he had seen something in the Right Hand man's eyes.

Victor had seen something in Sakuzy; something from the boy's ancestral Keyblade Master. And at that moment, Depth had seen it, too. He knew there and then, that if Sakuzy fell, The Keyblade Masters would most likely die with him.

And Depth knew his duty there and then. It was not just to protect one boy from the rest of the world. It was to protect the very universe himself.

And he had saved Sakuzy, and for the first time, he had intended to.

Depth looked out over the ocean, then up at the sky. A meteor shower was in full effect, and Depth had the perfect opportunity. Everyone else was fast asleep, and he would be here until sunrise if he was lucky.

Wait…no. There wasn't supposed to be a meteor shower…not for another two months. Depth brow raised as he watched the meteors actually stream down into the sea. Distant splashes reached his ears and it made him worry even more as the distant splashes multiplied…and didn't end.

Depth continued to look out to sea, but then something caught his ear. He turned, and soon, something caught his eye. Something was emerging from the sea…wait. Not just something: some THINGS. Not just some…an entire multitude of creatures that were just over five feet high, had no visible heads, and had guns mounted on their arms. And they were made of pure crystal to top it all off…

"Oh no…" Depth said, removing himself from his perch and heading to the one place in the Keyblade Order's building that was necessary. Inside this special room was a button that was only to be pressed during times of emergency.

And he pressed it…


	240. FM: Invasion

Prince of Heart: Final Mix scenes…

**Part 7: Invasion**

THIS is the end of the Keyblade Order. It is how almost a century of training young Keybearers comes to an end. It is too late to stop it now, and it has already been done. THIS is the true end of the Keybladers…

--

An earsplitting siren rang all across Destiny Island to herald the arrival of strange creatures…creatures that were not friendly. All who heard it quickly got out of bed, dressed or in pajamas, all no longer tired or even remotely sleepy.

Except one…

Sakuzy woke groggily to a siren. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes at the shrill sound.

"What the heck?" Sakuzy asked, not even bothering to get dressed. And why should he? It WAS three in the morning after all.

Soon, an explosion accompanied the ringing siren, and it was more than enough to shake Sakuzy awake. Now realizing that something was up, he quickly dressed and made for the door. But he hadn't even reached for it when the door burst open.

"SAKUZY! RUN!" Sakuzy's dad ordered. He didn't say anything else save a garbled scream. He fell to the ground with three sharp crystals embedded in his back.

"NO!!!" Sakuzy screamed, then saw another thing that horrified him. His mother was just a few meters away…and had met a similar fate to his father.

Sakuzy looked up to see the culprits; strange crystal creatures with guns for an arm. A few of them got a good look at the boy, then aimed their guns to fire at him. However, something rushed over to him, seized him, and jumped away from the line of fire. It was Depth.

"C'mon, kid!" he said, slinging Sakuzy over his shoulder, "We have to go NOW!" At that moment, Joey ran out of his house and Depth shouted, "ORDER EVACUATION! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!"

As Joey ran with Depth, he said, "I gathered that when the siren sounded off!"

Both had arrived at the docks, but just in time to see Victor fending off a few of these Crystal creatures. He had hacked down ten of them and was still going, but it came to an all-too-abrupt end when one of the Soldiers took aim and fired. The crystal whistled through the air and buried itself into Topaz's eye. He fell on his back and Joey actually screamed at what happened. Unfortunately, the scream alerted the soldiers to their presence and they opened fire on the group. Depth heaved Sakuzy behind him and whipped out his Keyblade known as "Omega Weapon". With just a spin of his weapon, he deflected all the projectiles, sending them right back at the soldiers. All of them were dead in an instant.

_Five down, _Depth thought to himself, _only thirty-thousand to go…_

Sakuzy slowly got to his feet, then spotted a few more of these soldiers surrounding something. No…not something…someone. And when he spotted a dash of silver hair, he felt his heart stop.

"MAYA!" he exclaimed.

It was Maya, and she was currently fending off these soldiers…and beginning to break down. Acting in an instant, Sakuzy took his Keyblade and threw it at the strange, crystalline creatures. The blade lodged itself into one of the creature's back and the beast fell to the ground. In a flash of light, Eagle Feather reappeared back in his hand and he began to chop through them.

Maya, now having found a way out, quickly sprinted away with Sakuzy. Both reached the boats in no time flat and soon, any survivors of the bloody battle were already rowing off the island. Unfortunately, Depth was already rowing the last boat out…and they were losing ground fast.

"Maya! Grab some air!" Sakuzy ordered.

Maya knew what that meant and, taking out her Keyblade, the Two-Winged Angel, she leapt into the air. The Keyblade's wings grew to almost ten feet across and spread like they were alive. The wings kept both Maya and Sakuzy airborne for a few seconds, letting them come to a smooth landing in the boat.

It didn't end there, though. The crystal creatures fired at them from the shoreline, and it was not uncommon for people in the boats to be hit and fall into the sea. Fortunately, the better warriors were skilled enough to deflect shots until they were out of range.

The sea seemed to be the only refuge for them. And even there, they could simply look back and see the carnage that had ravaged the island. Smoke was emerging from the giant tree at the island's center, and flames were still visible from destroyed huts and houses.

Sakuzy looked over at Maya, who was at the back of the boat and staring at what was once her home since birth. "It's gone…it's all gone." She said, lowering her head into her hands.

"I'm sorry, Maya." Sakuzy said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "There was nothing we could do to stop it. But I can promise you one thing: I will put an end to this, one way or another."

"And how do you intend to do that?" Maya asked, seeming to have lost hope.

"I don't know." Sakuzy answered, "But I promise you that I will."

--

Meanwhile, back on the island, the man that was Victor lay on the sand with a crystal in his eye. Suddenly, the crystal in his eye turned a bright yellow and he opened his remaining one to show it was an equal color.

The crystal had told him the truth now…organic beings were mortal beings with an inescapable fate that had to be wiped out. But the crystal had told him something else…he had been saved…and he could save others by bringing them under the wing of one race.

"Crystalli…"

Around the man that used to be Victor, other people that the Crystalli had claimed were beginning to rise. Some didn't awaken, for they had been mortally wounded. Well, that had been the Soldiers' fault, not his. More hosts rose, hosts that used to be Keybladers.

Ugh…Keyblades. Now, what used to be Victor saw the truth about those hideous weapons, they were only a symbol of how weak organic beings really were. Now that he had these "Crystalli" on his side, Victor…no. That name meant nothing to him. The Living Crystal had taken him as one of its own, so he had been assigned a new name.

"Topaz."

Back to subject, Topaz could now prove that he didn't need to wield a Keyblade just to be a mighty force. And he would make other people see it as well…willing or not.

_In loving memory of Wayne Allwine (1947-2009): The voice of Mickey Mouse for more than thirty years has passed away. 'Tis a sad day for Disney fans everywhere._


	241. FM: Blitzkrieg

Prince of Heart: Final Mix scenes…

**Part 8: Blitzkrieg**

Weeks had passed since Destiny Island was claimed by these strange, crystal beings. They had sought refuge inland, where the crystalline invaders had not shown any influence. Sakuzy had been elected as leader of the Keyblade Order by just ONE vote thanks to Depth.

Taking his leadership well, Sakuzy had tried several times to find the weakness of these creatures. There had been several attempts to try and find the crystal creatures' weak point, but so far, none of them worked.

One attempt involved luring out troops and knocking them down in hopes of reducing their numbers. This idea was discredited because, no matter how many troops they knocked down, the creatures would keep coming and coming.

Another attempt was to send scouts to find their homeworld in hopes of eliminating their source. But any scouts sent out via Gummi Ship never returned. Chances were that the creatures intercepted them and forced them into exile or they were killed.

Most members of the Keyblade Order that fought these creatures firsthand had been shot down. Among them were Bonn (the local Goth), Rouge (the tough girl), Joan (the hopeless romantic), and Victor (the Master's right-hand man).

Sakuzy looked back on the losses they had already suffered…along with his own. His parents had been killed by these crystal beings, and he didn't even try to save them or say goodbye. And Victor…even though he was a bad man, Sakuzy never would have wished such a fate on him.

"You cannot dwell on the past, Sakuzy." Sakuzy turned to the Master of all the Keyblade Order and the old man spoke again. "I know things are harder than they ever had been, but we must keep up hope. The war is long. Only by surviving it will we achieve victory."

"Well, if there is a way to kill these guys, I'm not seeing it." Sakuzy said, "They'll come no matter how many times we kill them and our order is so much less than what it once was."

"Do you think your great-grandfather gave up when he first achieved the Keyblade?" Sakuzy turned to see Maya giving him a VERY stern look. (Man, if looks could kill…) "He could have just left my grandfather to be alone in the darkness or to leave your great-grandmother to die, but did he? No. He kept fighting the Heartless, Nobodies, and many more to come."

"But I'm not him." Sakuzy said, glumly. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot across his face, leaving a raw, red patch.

"Don't say that." Maya said, strictly, "I know you're not your ancestor, but you have to keep trying. There IS good in this universe, Sakuzy. I would gladly risk my life for the safety of the universe. How about you?"

Sakuzy didn't answer, not because of him, but because of the powerful tremor that suddenly went through the entire building. And with an almighty "BANG", the door blew off its hinges.

At that moment, Joey shot out of the room, his hair still very damp from a shower. "What's going on here? And I want a logical explanation!" At that moment, new crystal creatures poured into the room. They resembled dinosaurs with four-clawed hands, sharp claws and teeth, and a trident-growth from their heads. "Oh man, I hate it when I'm RIGHT!"

These crystal creatures roared their challenges, then sprang like raptors at the Keybladers in the current area. Sakuzy had barely summoned Eagle Feather when the dinosaurian creature's head came free of its body. The Master had summoned an Ultima Weapon Keyblade and slain the creature.

"They're here already?" The Master said in astonishment, "This can't be possible…"

"Oh, but I'm afraid that it is." A sophisticated voice filled in. All in the room turned to meet a man…with blonde hair and a mustache-beard combo. The main difference was that he now had a golden robe and a yellow crystal where his right eye should have been.

"Victor?" Sakuzy asked. It couldn't be him…he had seen him shot dead.

"DON'T EVER refer to me as THAT! Victor was a weakling, but I have been reborn…as Topaz." the man that was once a Keyblader roared, "I have seen the truth. The Crystalli have shown it to me. And soon, they will show you, too."

Joey took a step back. "Whoa. By the way what are these Crystal…things?"

"They are the Crystalli." Topaz answered, "And they will be the key to the cleansing of the worlds. They have redeemed me…as well as a few friends."

Topaz snapped his fingers, and three other people stepped into the room. One had black hair with a white streak, one had bright red hair that was almost waist-length, and one had shorter, red hair that was just shoulder-length.

Sakuzy would have spoken, but the truth soon hit them. The crystal creatures had corrupted these people just as they did Victor. He had spotted crystals on different parts of their bodies.

"Wait…" Sakuzy said, remembering that his father had been shot by these…Crystalli. "Where's my father?"

"I'm afraid that…the Crystalli did not see him fit to live." The woman who had once been Joan said with mock-sadness.

"Didn't live up to expectations." Said the girl who was once Bonn.

Sakuzy couldn't believe it. These…monsters…had killed his father without consent. "No…" he said with a soft whisper, but then it turned into a roar of fury. "YOU MURDERERS!!!" Without any regard for his safety, Sakuzy took Eagle Feather and thrust at Topaz.

"DON'T!!" The Master warned, but it was too late.

Sakuzy's blade pierced Topaz's midsection, going right through to the wall behind Victor. For a moment, Topaz pretended to be in pain, blood trickling down his middle…blood the color of liquid gold. Then, Topaz actually smiled.

"That's one of the things the Crystalli have given me…" Topaz said, smugly, "I am now immortal."

Topaz pulled back a fist, then smashed it into Sakuzy's face, sending him backward. Topaz then pulled Eagle Feather out of his midsection and looked at it in disgust. "Such a FILTHY weapon. It's a disgrace to living beings everywhere…" With a very furious grunt, he tossed the Keyblade to his side, the weapon clattering across the floor.

Sakuzy got up and saw the wound that his Keyblade had inflicted on Topaz. And to his astonishment, the wound began to heal over at a phenomenal rate. Topaz held out his own hand and, in a flash of yellow light, a broadsword appeared in his hand.

"Take them." Topaz ordered.

In a few more flashes of light, the women summoned their own unique weapon. One that would later be known as Turquoise summoned a pair of forearm blades. The host known as Ruby summoned a pair of chakram. And finally, one known as Spinel summoned a heavy, metal gauntlet on her right hand.

Sakuzy called Eagle Feather back to his hand, then said, "You want me? Come and GET ME!"

"GET HIM!" Spinel ordered.

"Darn. That never works…" Sakuzy cursed. He couldn't say anything else because Topaz just couldn't wait anymore. He had sprung.

Sakuzy met him head-on, parrying his attack and pushing with all his might. But within seconds, he realized that was a horrible mistake. Topaz was far bigger and stronger than him, so challenging him to a fight of strength was a big mistake.

Sakuzy was soon on his knees, but he had one ace in the hole. Victor, when very angry, didn't stop to think things through. Apparently, the same went for Topaz. So, when Sakuzy stepped to the side, allowing Topaz's heavy sword to come crashing down on the ground. Sakuzy used that time to sharply bring his Eagle Feather slamming into Topaz's jaw, sending the gold-clad man to the ground.

Sakuzy bolted for the door, but at that time, a pair of the same soldiers that invaded the island appeared. They cocked their guns at him and would have opened fire if a blade hadn't pierced each of them. One was fired on a long chain while the other appeared to have been thrown. Joey and Maya had saved him from ending up like Topaz.

However, it looked like they wouldn't get a second chance. Soon, Joey was met with someone who resembled the lovesick girl; Joan…now armed with a pair of chakram. And now the girls that resembled Bonn and Rouge had backed Maya into a corner.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?" the person once known as Rouge asked, flexing the metal hand.

Suddenly, something pierced the side of Rouge and deftly kicked Bonn away. It was the Master, using moves beyond anything Sakuzy had ever seen.

"GO!" the Master barked, "I'll hold them off!"

Sakuzy shook his head as he went to try and help his mentor. "Master, NO!"

"GO!!!" the Master barked again, "Your lives are more important than mine, now GO!!!"

Sakuzy was about to help the Master, who was now fending off all three warriors single-handed. But Sakuzy had barely taken a step forward when Joey and Maya seized him by the arms and began to drag him away.

Sakuzy knew the Master was an expert fighter, but he also knew he wasn't without weaknesses. Using magic required more energy than it would a younger person, and the Master was, after all, not a young man. His spirit was virtually limitless, but his body was another story since he was over sixty years old.

Sakuzy eventually came to his senses and began to get on his own two feet. He ran as fast as he could…and he didn't look back.

--

Sakuzy and his friends continued sprinting through the city refuge as fast as their legs could carry them. When he was running, however, he noticed something other than Crystalli that were against them.

"Oh no…Heartless!!!" Maya said, wide-eyed.

It was true: several black things were among the Crystalli and chasing those with Hearts. The hearts of the fleeing townsfolk were VERY obvious bait for the Heartless; fear, sorrow, and pain. The Crystalli, however, didn't seem to fear the black beings. They were mindless soldiers, following orders from some outside source. If they had hearts, it didn't show.

Sakuzy saw an Armored Soldier try to impale a person clad in a violet cloak. However, the person raised a hand, as though focusing something at it. The Heartless backed off completely and, with a scared-sounding shivering noise, began to cower away from the man.

The man lowered his hood, sensing someone's presence, and Sakuzy suddenly recognized that familiar lavender hair. To confirm it, the man turned and was none other than…

"Adrian?" Sakuzy asked in shock.

The being that was once Adrian scowled at Sakuzy, then summoned a scepter made of pure crystal into his hand. "YOU." He growled.

Sakuzy then saw Adrian's eyes…they were no longer yellow, but the color of a fresh-cut amethyst. "Oh no…"

"Don't EVER call me that name." The young man ordered, "It's Amethyst. And it's time for me to take back what should be MINE!"

Sakuzy noticed that Amethyst's glare wasn't on him, but the girl right behind him. Maya shook her head at him, then raised her Keyblade in a defensive position. And at that time, Joey took a step forward.

"If you want her, you'll have to go through us first." Joey said, showing bravery that Sakuzy hadn't seen from him.

Amethyst scoffed. "I won't." he said, strictly, "They will."

Amethyst stepped to the side and a beastly Heartless sprang from nowhere to bowl Joey right off his feet. A quick swipe of Chain Thrasher disposed the beast in an instant, but in seconds, another one was on him like a hungry dog. Yet, as Joey repelled the Heartless, more began to come. Soon, he was on the ground, thrashing to get them off as the Heartless tore at his body with tooth and nail.

Soon, Joey's entire body began to leak of darkness, his limbs still thrashing wildly to dislodge them. Suddenly, he froze, as though he had been stabbed through the gut with a sword. And slowly, a pink heart began to levitate into the sky.

"NO!" Sakuzy screamed, and with a fluid movement of his hand, he tossed the Eagle Feather in a Strike Raid.

The Keyblade-turned boomerang cut through all the Heartless, coming back to Sakuzy's hand in an instant. He ran to Joey, but he was too late. His friend's body was slowly dissipating into darkness. In a last-ditch effort to save his friend, Sakuzy jumped up and seized a piece of the heart. For a while, it was a stalemate…until the heart actually snapped.

For a while, Sakuzy stared at the heart fragment in shock, but then he was shaken back to his senses. Maya had shoved him.

"COME ON!" she shouted above the Heartless, "There's a Gummi hangar not far from here!"

Sakuzy looked into Maya's sea-green eyes, then at the Heartless. He'd take his chances at staying alive…

_Sorry for the wait. Writer's block and moving was such a drag._

_Still, R&R._


End file.
